A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
The innovation of the interstate highway system
Abstract Strategies used to deploy technological innovations are central determinants of the degree to which those innovations realize their potential effect on social and economic productivity. The U.S. Interstate highway system was a deployment mechanism for the design innovations of high-speed geometric design and the control of highway access. This strategy was defined by rigid uniform minimum standards of facility design, severely constrained alternatives for configuring the network of facilities, and an inflexible and, in some cases, inappropriate institutional structure for constructing facilities. This strategy compromised the realization of productivity improvements available through the deployment of these innovations. This paper explores the origins of this deployment strategy and generalizes to a discussion of deployment strategies for large engineered systems. It shows that each of the Interstate program's provisions derived from traditions of the agency charged with implementing it and from political expedients embraced to enact the program.
The innovation of the interstate highway system
Abstract Strategies used to deploy technological innovations are central determinants of the degree to which those innovations realize their potential effect on social and economic productivity. The U.S. Interstate highway system was a deployment mechanism for the design innovations of high-speed geometric design and the control of highway access. This strategy was defined by rigid uniform minimum standards of facility design, severely constrained alternatives for configuring the network of facilities, and an inflexible and, in some cases, inappropriate institutional structure for constructing facilities. This strategy compromised the realization of productivity improvements available through the deployment of these innovations. This paper explores the origins of this deployment strategy and generalizes to a discussion of deployment strategies for large engineered systems. It shows that each of the Interstate program's provisions derived from traditions of the agency charged with implementing it and from political expedients embraced to enact the program.
The innovation of the interstate highway system
Gifford, Jonathan L. (author)
Transportation Research Part A: General ; 18 ; 319-332
1984-01-01
14 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
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