Word: highway
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...world's highway Goliath become the superpower of potholes? A major reason is that in its haste, America built on the cheap. Across the nation, state and local governments have tended to award competitive contracts to the lowest bidder, often meaning they got the shoddiest materials and the sloppiest work. In addition, the Federal Government has encouraged neglect by subsidizing new construction or major restructuring at 90 cents to the dollar but awarding no subsidies for maintenance work. One expert likens it to not reimbursing drivers for the cost of changing oil in their cars while paying...
Alas, few of these improvements are landing where the rubber meets the road, because American contracting procedures discourage the use of novel techniques. In Europe, governments dictate only how long a highway should last under what conditions, and contractors are left to their own devices to deal with the challenge. In the U.S., contractors must meet an avalanche of government specifications on materials and procedures but are not required to guarantee the road's performance. "The Europeans create a contract climate that stimulates innovation; here we squash it," laments Douglas Bernard, director of the Office of Technology Applications...
Bernard and other highway officials would like to see the U.S. move to a performance-contract system, similar to one advocated by the National Academy of Sciences, but they face roadblocks from builders. Heavy lobbying from the construction industry eliminated such a provision in the 1991 federal highway act, passed last fall. The industry especially dreads being asked to guarantee the life-span of its products, arguing that it is unreasonable without knowing for certain what the traffic will be like, despite the fact that European contractors routinely make these assurances. Such warranties, insists David Lukens of the Associated General...
...fact, many U.S. road builders are small mom-and-pop operations that would be hard pressed to pay for the new equipment and training that innovative techniques sometimes require, let alone to post the insurance bond necessary to guarantee their product over several years. In France, by contrast, the highway-construction business is dominated by half a dozen or so well-financed giants...
...highway act does address some of the problems with American road building by giving more emphasis to maintenance and research and development. In part, the government is recognizing the exciting possibilities that truly lie down the road: innovations that go well beyond surface improvements. Initial government contracts are already out for an "intelligent vehicle" system involving electronics embedded in roadways that will someday permit drivers to punch in their destinations and watch TV or snooze while their cars or trucks race merrily on their way. But before the country can turn to such 21st century roadway wizardry, it must first...