Rust Never Sleeps: Road Trip in Search of Solutions to America’s Infrastructure Crisis
** watch future Linda Hall Library lectures live at new.livestream.com/lindahall ** September 22, 2016, in the Main Reading Room of the Linda Hall Library About the lecture: The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways is marked by its iconic red-white-and-blue shields—the same ones marking I-70 in Missouri and Kansas. The Interstate System, as it is known to most, was the world’s largest civil planning, engineering, and construction endeavor when it was launched in 1956. The engineering marvel modernized the United States more than any civil project before or since. Join best-selling author and award winning journalist Dan McNichol in a lively discourse on how the superhighway network has been transforming the nation since its inception. McNichol contemplates how “Ike’s Grand Plan” continues as a model for planning, delivering, and financing mega infrastructure projects. McNichol walks us through the false starts, the high hopes, and the reality of President Eisenhower’s vision. Having authored The Big Dig, McNichol shares his insights into the “last mile” of the original construction of the roughly 47,000 mile system built in Boston. The Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel Project delivered what is arguably the world’s most complex tunneling system. In closing, McNichol shares how President Eisenhower’s vision may lead us to building a network of high-speed trains. About the speaker: Best-selling author and award-winning journalist Dan McNichol is a nationally-recognized expert on the U.S. Interstate System. His published books, articles, and thought-leadership work focus on mega construction projects in the U.S. and around the world. His writing and work have appeared in the New York Times, USA Today, and Engineering News Record, and he is a frequent contributor to ABC World News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, BBC, China Central Television, TV Tokyo, MSNBC, PBS’s The NewsHour, National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel, History Channel, and NPR. Video produced by The VideoWorks of Roeland Park, Kansas.
