How to Build an Interstate

Building anything takes several steps.  You have to decide you want to build it and what you have to do to build it.  You have to get the materials you need and maybe get help from people who know how to do it.  Then you can build it. The same is true of the Interstate highways.  So let’s go through the steps and see what’s involved. Purpose and Need When officials decide they have a transportation problem they need to solve, such as congestion or safety, they must decide how to meet the need.  This is not as easy as it sounds.  Will a road solve the problem?  If so, what kind of road?  Maybe transit would be better.  If they decide an Interstate is needed, people may argue about whether a big road would cause problems to the city or the community or the environment it passes through.  These are the types of questions officials study before deciding the purpose of the project.

Environmental Review

In deciding whether to build an Interstate, officials prepare an “Environmental Impact Statement” (which is known by its initials: EIS) to consider ways of meeting the need for the project.  One choice is to build the Interstate.  Maybe the current roads could be improved instead.  Transit is another choice.  Maybe a combination, such as improving the current road and adding transit.  There are lots of choices officials have to study to see if there would be a better way to meet the need than building an Interstate highway.

The EIS studies all these choices to measure their impacts on air quality; area water; endangered species; forests or parks; historic buildings; safety; wetlands; and, other parts of the environment.  The EIS considers how the project will affect churches, schools, libraries, businesses, and other activities near where the project will be built.  The EIS also considers how much land—including how many homes or businesses—might have to be purchased to make room for the project. 

One of the most important parts of the EIS study is getting people involved.  Officials hold meetings all through the study to inform people about the project, show maps, discuss choices, and answer questions.  The most important reason we get people involved is they help us identify problems we might not see.  This helps officials identify the bad side effects the project may have and figure out how to eliminate or reduce them. 

In the case of a need where a new Interstate highway might be the solution, finishing the EIS can take several years. 

After the EIS is completed, the Federal Highway Administration signs the “Record of Decision” (which is called the ROD). If the decision is “yes, the Interstate is the best solution,” the ROD explains why we decided to say “yes” and explains where the Interstate will be built.  It also lists the steps that will be taken to reduce or eliminate any bad side effects.

Design

If the ROD okays the new Interstate, officials begin designing it.  The design includes every detail about what the road will include.  Some of the design details are:

• Exactly where the road will be built, including straight sections and curving sections;
• How wide the lanes and shoulder will be (the “shoulder” is the paved area next to the highway lanes for emergency parking);
• How far apart of the lanes going in opposite directions will be and what the area between them, called the median, will include (trees, bushes, grass, wildflowers, a ditch to carry water away when it rains, guard rail, and so on);
• Whether the pavement will be asphalt or concrete and how thick it will have to be to handle expected traffic, especially the trucks that will use it;
• What bridges will be provided to carry the Interstate over rivers, roads, railroads, or other features;
• What type of roadside safety barriers—such as guardrail or concrete barriers—will be needed;
• Where lights will be placed;
• How much land will be needed for the road, the shoulder, the addition of extra lanes if they are ever needed, and a safe roadside area;
• How rainwater—which can contain pollution from the drips from vehicles on the road—will be drained off the road to keep it from damaging rivers, streams, or the water we drink;
• Where interchanges will be built so vehicles can enter and leave the Interstate;
• How utilities (such as telephone wires, water pipes, and fiber optic cables) will be handled.

These are just a few of the hundreds of details decided during the design stage. 

Buying Land

Once the detailed design is complete, officials purchase the land needed for the Interstate.  This involves negotiating with the current owners of the land and the people who live on it or have businesses on it.  Often, negotiations go smoothly, with agreement reached on fair payment.  The State helps the owner find a new place to live or operate a business.

If an agreement isn’t reached, the State goes to court and asks a Judge to approve a takeover of the land for the public highway.  Since this doesn’t sound very fair to the property owner, here’s a brief explanation:

The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution states that private property shall not “be taken for public use, without just compensation.”  (The people who included this amendment in the Bill of Rights wanted to keep the new government from doing what the British in America had done before the Revolutionary War—take land and goods without paying for it.)  State constitutions have a similar requirement.  To make sure property owners are paid fairly when their property is taken, officials use “eminent domain.”  The word “eminent” means high in rank.  “Domain” means ownership or control of the land.  Put them together and they mean that the government has the right to decide how land will be used when it is needed for a government purpose.  If the owner of the land disagrees or does not want to sell the property, the government goes to court under “eminent domain” and asks to take the land so everyone in the area will benefit from the planned work.

That doesn’t mean the property owner is out of luck!  Instead, if the Judge approves the government’s eminent domain request, a trial takes place to consider what the State thinks the property is worth and what the property owner thinks.  The Judge then decides what the property owner should be paid.  While the judge is deciding on a fair price, the State can build the road.

Construction

When the land is bought, construction can begin.  Virtually all construction is performed by companies called contractors.  The State develops the PS&E (that’s what we call it, right down to the “&,” but it stands for "plans, specifications, and estimates") that describes the project in great detail—so there can be no doubt about what the project involves.  Each interested contractor submits a bid, which tells the government the amount he or she believes the work will cost (plus profit).  The agency picks the contractor who submitted the lowest bid while still being able to meet all the requirements of the contract.  (The low bidder will have a very hard time if he wants to cheat to make more profit by promising to use good materials and then substituting cheaper stuff—the State provides inspectors to ensure the contractor uses the material required by the contract.)

Once the contractor has been chosen, construction can get underway.  It goes in several steps:

Survey – A survey crew marks on the ground where the highway will be built.  Usually the crew picks short sticks or poles in the ground with little flags on them.

Drainage – The drainage pipes and structures are built to carry water and keep it out of the road.

Bridges and Structures – Construction on the bridges and structures that will be part of the road begins at this point.

Grading – “Grading” means the land is flattened or built up so that the sections of the road will be on the right level when it is completed.  The land where the highway will be built is graded with heavy machinery, such as bulldozers.  The contractor also does some grading when building the drainage, bridges, and structures.

Roadway Base – Material, such as gravel, is laid out on the roadway to provide solid support for the pavement structure.  A well-built base helps make sure the road will be able to carry all the traffic that will use it.

Roadway Surface – The road is paved, creating the surface vehicles will drive on.

Signing and Striping – The last steps are to paint the stripes on the pavement and place signs on the road to let motorists know where the lanes are, what the speed limit is, and other useful information.

Inspection – All through construction, inspectors check to be sure the project is being built right.  They make sure the steel for bridges is strong enough, that the asphalt or concrete is the right mixture, that the roadway base is prepared properly before the pavement is put on it top of it, and that the contractor follows every step to complete a well-built highway.

The Highway Opens

When the work is done, officials hold a ceremony to celebrate the new highway.  A ribbon is placed across the road for officials to snip.  That signals it’s time for the officials to get out of the way and let the traffic start moving!