1957 | The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development signs an agreement with the Imperial Ethiopian Government for a $15 million highway loan for several purposes, including construction under BPR supervision of 510 miles of roads to open up a potentially rich coffee-producing area. |
1969 | Ralph Bartelsmeyer, Director of Public Roads, represents FHWA at the opening of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge's lower deck, which had been built the same time as the upper deck (opened November 21, 1964) but kept closed until needed--which turned out to be 11 years sooner than planned. Robert Moses, whose Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority built the bridge, tells the assemblage, "The ex-post-facto boys of course know just how it should have been done [but give] practical folks their due. Who shall challenge their assertion that man cannot live by ecology and esthetics alone?" |