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The Pan American Highway

Started by DrZoidberg, April 12, 2009, 02:59:24 PM

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mgk920

#25
Quote from: Steve on February 20, 2012, 10:17:02 PM
Quote from: mgk920 on February 20, 2012, 08:42:00 PM
Interesting in that even if/when the Darien Gap is crossed, as the road network in South America is currently wired together, in order to drive from it to, let's say, Rio de Janeiro, without using ferries, one would have to go by way of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, complete with a crossing of the Andes.  This is because in Brazil, there is a complete non-ferry road system disconnect at the Amazon River.  There is a massive new bridge about to open at Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil, but it only crosses the Rio Negro, not the nearly Amazon.  The major Brazilian highway that runs southward from Manaus to the rest of Brazil south of the Amazon, along with Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, still uses a ferry to cross the Amazon.

I would suspect that the continent is very fertile country for 'fictional highway' musings for South American roadgeeks.

:nod:

Mike
Wonder how far up the Amazon you'd have to go to be able to drive a pier into the river? That's one fierce flow.

I'm thinking that one should be able to build an Amazon River bridge at Manaus, one is nearly open on the Negro there and that river has about an equal water flow rate as the Amazon at that point.  Yes, that is one looooong bridge.  The confluence of those two rivers is just east of the city.

IIRC, authorities do have long-range plans for an Amazon bridge there, too.

See:
http://maps.google.com/?ll=-3.140516,-60.292969&spn=6.917805,7.064209&t=m&z=7

The north branch is the Negro, the south the Amazon.  Zoom in to see the Rio Negro bridge under construction.

Mike


Grzrd

Quote from: mgk920 on February 20, 2012, 11:59:11 PM
I'm thinking that one should be able to build an Amazon River bridge at Manaus, one is nearly open on the Negro there and that river has about an equal water flow rate as the Amazon at that point.  Yes, that is one looooong bridge.  The confluence of those two rivers is just east of the city.
IIRC, authorities do have long-range plans for an Amazon bridge there, too.
See:
http://maps.google.com/?ll=-3.140516,-60.292969&spn=6.917805,7.064209&t=m&z=7
The north branch is the Negro, the south the Amazon.  Zoom in to see the Rio Negro bridge under construction.
Mike

Amazing view.  It is easy to see how the Rio Negro got its name.  This article indicates that the Manaus-Iranduba bridge over the Rio Negro opened in October:

Quote
The Manaus-Iranduba bridge, also called Ponte Rio Negro, is a 3.6km river crossing across the Rio Negro in the Amazon region of Brazil.
The bridge connects the cities of Manaus and Iranduba. Manaus is an industrial city of the Amazon state that is largely secluded by rain forest and Iranduba is a municipality located south of Manaus.
The bridge was opened in October 2011 ....
The bridge was installed with a span of 400m cable stay by using 56 cables.
The length of the central beam of the bridge is two x 200m, the width is 20.70m and height of the bridge in the middle is 55m. The lateral side walk of the bridge is 22.60m, the trafficable area has a width of 16.50m and height of the main pylon is 103m. The navigation clearance under the deck is 57m from high water level ....

Build the next bridge over the Amazon and Pan American Highway-E may come into existence.  :sombrero:


kkt

My dad made a trip mostly along the Pan-American Highway about 1955.  When he got out of the Army, he got a plane down to Punta Arenas and spent about six months making his way by local buses and hitchhiking north to the U.S.  He got a ferry to pass around parts of Central America.  He says the roads were almost all dirt outside of the cities and usually just two very narrow lanes.  The U.S. (he said) paid for clearing the land and grading the road, but not for paving.

Grzrd

Quote from: Grzrd on February 20, 2012, 05:56:06 PM
Reviving a vintage thread ...
This Jan. 27, 2012 article indicates that Colombia is experiencing a surge in infrastructure construction, and that construction of the Darien Gap "missing link" may be one of the projects

No new developments in this revival, but I thought some might find this August 14, 2014 BBC News article to be of interest:

Quote
Stretching from Alaska to the pencil tip of Argentina, the 48,000km-long Pan-American Highway holds the record for the world's longest motorable road. But there is a gap - an expanse of wild tropical forest - that has defeated travellers for centuries ....
Every so often, the dream of completing the Pan-American Highway is resurrected. The last push came a decade ago from former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, who anticipated a boom in commerce as the conflict between the government and guerrillas waned. It's bandits who benefit from keeping the Gap a no-go area.
But Panama, along with the US and local indigenous populations, have a range of objections. A road would pose a threat to indigenous cultures, accelerate deforestation and allow the spread of disease - such as foot and mouth cattle disease, which the Gap has so far effectively prevented from spreading to North America ....
"The worst thing that could happen to the Darien would be the completion of the highway across the Darien Gap," says Michael J Ryan, a University of Texas biologist who researches the amphibians threatened by chytrid fungus in the Darien National Park.
"The loggers will follow the road, forests will fall, and huge chunks of paradise will be lost forever."

OCGuy81

I've recently discovered two really interesting items that play into this thread on the Pan American Highway.

First, is a book I read entitled "Road Fever".  It's a chronicle on a few guys who drove a truck from Tierra del Fuego, Argentina north to Alaska, ferrying around the Darien Gap.  Majority of the book deals with the drives through South and Central America.  Once they enter the US, the book is rushed and concluded, but still a great read on this highway nonethtless.

Second, I found a documentary on Netflix called 180 South.  It's a documentary on a guy's ambition to recreate a trip made down to Argentina, in a van, by the founders of The North Face back in the 60s.  He does a lot of the trip by boat, but there are some cool shots of the road as he heads south.

Grzrd

#30
Quote from: mgk920 on March 18, 2011, 04:39:31 PM
Quote from: Grzrd on March 18, 2011, 03:59:08 PM
In 1961, Chevrolet launched an attempt to have 3 Corvairs drive across the Darien Gap.  Undaunted by the lack of a road, they used machetes, etc. to make their own roadway and bridges.  Since we are at the 50 year anniversary, I thought I would post a link:
http://offroadaction.ca/corvairs-crossing-the-south-american-darien-gap
So, I guess the road is doable if enough people want to build it.
Interesting in that a couple of minutes into the second section of that clip, they finally reach Yaviza, Panama - where the road now ends.
Mike
(above quote from Pan American Highway Route Through Darien Gap? thread)

This Jan. 27, 2015 article reports that, although Panama does not currently intend to extend the Pan American Highway from Yaviza through the Darien Gap, it does intend to renovate the highway from Agua Fria to Yaviza:

Quote
The Ministry of Public Works in Panama is putting out to tender the renovation of the Pan American Highway to the Province of Darien.
The main objective of this project is to renovate all the way from the town of Agua Fria to the town of Yaviza, divided into four sections to be tendered, as follows:
Section 1: Agua Fria # 1 - Santa Fe ............ (Length approx. 23.880 Km)
Section 2: Santa Fe - Metetí ............ (Length approx. 24.256 Km)
Section 3: Metetí - Canglón ............ (Length approx. 25.338 Km)
Section 4: Canglón - Yaviza ............ (Length approx. 26.745 Km)
The deadline for submission of proposals is March 18, 2015.

mgk920

Quote from: Grzrd on February 28, 2015, 10:19:01 PM
Quote from: mgk920 on March 18, 2011, 04:39:31 PM
Quote from: Grzrd on March 18, 2011, 03:59:08 PM
In 1961, Chevrolet launched an attempt to have 3 Corvairs drive across the Darien Gap.  Undaunted by the lack of a road, they used machetes, etc. to make their own roadway and bridges.  Since we are at the 50 year anniversary, I thought I would post a link:
http://offroadaction.ca/corvairs-crossing-the-south-american-darien-gap
So, I guess the road is doable if enough people want to build it.
Interesting in that a couple of minutes into the second section of that clip, they finally reach Yaviza, Panama - where the road now ends.
Mike
(above quote from Pan American Highway Route Through Darien Gap? thread)

This Jan. 27, 2015 article reports that, although Panama does not currently intend to extend the Pan American Highway from Yaviza through the Darien Gap, it does intend to renovate the highway from Agua Fria to Yaviza:

Quote
The Ministry of Public Works in Panama is putting out to tender the renovation of the Pan American Highway to the Province of Darien.
The main objective of this project is to renovate all the way from the town of Agua Fria to the town of Yaviza, divided into four sections to be tendered, as follows:
Section 1: Agua Fria # 1 - Santa Fe ............ (Length approx. 23.880 Km)
Section 2: Santa Fe - Metetí ............ (Length approx. 24.256 Km)
Section 3: Metetí - Canglón ............ (Length approx. 25.338 Km)
Section 4: Canglón - Yaviza ............ (Length approx. 26.745 Km)
The deadline for submission of proposals is March 18, 2015.

I'm piqued by this one - in that even though the country's government still officially opposes connecting the road through into Colombia, are they never-the-less preparing for that as an inevitability?

:hmmm:

Mike

US 41

Quote from: mgk920 on March 14, 2015, 04:39:20 PM
Quote from: Grzrd on February 28, 2015, 10:19:01 PM
Quote from: mgk920 on March 18, 2011, 04:39:31 PM
Quote from: Grzrd on March 18, 2011, 03:59:08 PM
In 1961, Chevrolet launched an attempt to have 3 Corvairs drive across the Darien Gap.  Undaunted by the lack of a road, they used machetes, etc. to make their own roadway and bridges.  Since we are at the 50 year anniversary, I thought I would post a link:
http://offroadaction.ca/corvairs-crossing-the-south-american-darien-gap
So, I guess the road is doable if enough people want to build it.
Interesting in that a couple of minutes into the second section of that clip, they finally reach Yaviza, Panama - where the road now ends.
Mike
(above quote from Pan American Highway Route Through Darien Gap? thread)

This Jan. 27, 2015 article reports that, although Panama does not currently intend to extend the Pan American Highway from Yaviza through the Darien Gap, it does intend to renovate the highway from Agua Fria to Yaviza:

Quote
The Ministry of Public Works in Panama is putting out to tender the renovation of the Pan American Highway to the Province of Darien.
The main objective of this project is to renovate all the way from the town of Agua Fria to the town of Yaviza, divided into four sections to be tendered, as follows:
Section 1: Agua Fria # 1 - Santa Fe ............ (Length approx. 23.880 Km)
Section 2: Santa Fe - Metetí ............ (Length approx. 24.256 Km)
Section 3: Metetí - Canglón ............ (Length approx. 25.338 Km)
Section 4: Canglón - Yaviza ............ (Length approx. 26.745 Km)
The deadline for submission of proposals is March 18, 2015.

I'm piqued by this one - in that even though the country's government still officially opposes connecting the road through into Colombia, are they never-the-less preparing for that as an inevitability?

:hmmm:

Mike

I would say yes. Colombia is going to build a highway to the Panamanian border and just dead end it there. They believe that Panama will eventually connect their part of the road to it. It would be stupid not to build the road. The United States has even agreed to paying Panama 1/3 of the cost of building the road. Panama and Colombia have a few issues with one another, but for the most part they have friendly relations (the Panama Canal issue is pretty much non existent now). In fact I believe in another 10-15 years, either the road will be under construction or completed. The road would save so much money since items from North and South America could be trucked into each others' continents rather than shipping or flying items. Also the road would probably help out the local economies of the two countries a little bit.
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Desert Man

What a driving adventure it would be to drive on the Pan-American highway: from the US-Mexican border...through Mexico, Central America (including the unpaved part from outside Panama city to northern Colombia), entering South America...all the way down to the tip of the continent in Punta Arenas on the Chile-Argentina border. Getting to see the sights of so-called Latin America up close and personal, compared to flying from one point to another skipping many towns or villages or countries...it's worth a memorial road trip of your life. 
Get your kicks...on Route 99! Like to turn 66 upside down. The other historic Main street of America.

Grzrd

This article includes a prediction that the Pan American Highway's Darien Gap "missing link" will be completed by a twenty-five mile bridge (apparently under discussion):

Quote
"WE ARE MOVING TOWARD an era of mega-projects,"  says futurist Thomas Frey, pointing to four primary bridge projects under discussion now that could connect the planet in previously inconceivable ways. "We'll finish the Pan-American Highway with a 25-mile bridge over the Darien Gap in Panama," Frey says, referring to the 30,000-mile route that stretches from Prudhoe Bay, U.S., to Ushuaia, Argentina, and the 60-mile stretch of rainforest that, due to environmental concerns, is its only missing link. "If we were actually able to connect that stretch, we would see trucks hauling freight back and forth between North and South America and could potentially double the size of the trucking industry."

kkt

Very speculative.  Why do they see trucks as the mode of choice?  Seems like a case of "if a hammer is the only tool in your toolbox, every problem looks like a nail."  For long distances, ships or rail are much more efficient both in skilled labor per ton moved and in fuel.  The Darien Gap would be very challenging technically, rain forest is not very friendly to road construction, and chasing the guerrillas out would make the technical challenges look easy.

The Gibraltar Bridge is the only project on their list I see as reasonably likely to happen in the next 50 years.  And even that would be more likely to be a rail bridge than a road bridge.  Spain and Morocco both have pretty well-developed rail networks.

lordsutch

As far as I know, Panama has virtually no rail infrastructure to speak of except a railroad paralleling the canal itself; all the bridges over the canal are road bridges. And I don't think Columbia's network is integrated well, if at all, with its neighbors. Unless you're looking at a truck shuttle setup like the Channel Tunnel you're looking at intermodal delays, in which case there's no point in making the gap any smaller than it is today - might as well just run RORO truck ferries.

Honestly the challenge of the Darien Gap is more political than anything else. I-H3 made it through substantially more rugged terrain.

cpzilliacus

Quote from: lordsutch on October 29, 2015, 04:23:33 PM
Honestly the challenge of the Darien Gap is more political than anything else. I-H3 made it through substantially more rugged terrain.

As have many other highways, including sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway (in particular in North Carolina); I-70 across the Rockies and through Glenwood Canyon in Colorado and the Rafael Swell in Utah; and completed sections of ADHS Corridor H in West Virginia. 
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

AlexandriaVA

The Appalachian highways are money pits that should have never been built. It would be better to pay for all of the Appalachia residents to move to higher-income lower-unemployment areas.

Brandon

Quote from: AlexandriaVA on October 30, 2015, 08:28:49 PM
The Appalachian highways are money pits that should have never been built. It would be better to pay for all of the Appalachia residents to move to higher-income lower-unemployment areas.

That's kind of elitist.  It's like saying everyone should move to cheaper to live in areas than the overcrowded East Coast.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

mgk920

Quote from: Grzrd on October 29, 2015, 01:20:53 PM
This article includes a prediction that the Pan American Highway's Darien Gap "missing link" will be completed by a twenty-five mile bridge (apparently under discussion):

Quote
"WE ARE MOVING TOWARD an era of mega-projects,"  says futurist Thomas Frey, pointing to four primary bridge projects under discussion now that could connect the planet in previously inconceivable ways. "We'll finish the Pan-American Highway with a 25-mile bridge over the Darien Gap in Panama," Frey says, referring to the 30,000-mile route that stretches from Prudhoe Bay, U.S., to Ushuaia, Argentina, and the 60-mile stretch of rainforest that, due to environmental concerns, is its only missing link. "If we were actually able to connect that stretch, we would see trucks hauling freight back and forth between North and South America and could potentially double the size of the trucking industry."

The actual 'gap' in the road networks is much shorter than that, about 50 km (+/- 30 miles), about the same as the distance between downtown Appleton, WI and downtown Green Bay, WI.  And yes, I can see the use of viaduct bridging to cross the more difficult parts.

Mike

cpzilliacus

Quote from: AlexandriaVA on October 30, 2015, 08:28:49 PM
The Appalachian highways are money pits that should have never been built. It would be better to pay for all of the Appalachia residents to move to higher-income lower-unemployment areas.

I disagree.  There are assets along these roads that are of benefit to the rest of the nation. 

In the case of Corridor H it includes state parks like Blackwater Falls, as well as the vast Monongahela National Forest.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

Alps

Quote from: cpzilliacus on November 06, 2015, 02:19:39 PM
Quote from: AlexandriaVA on October 30, 2015, 08:28:49 PM
The Appalachian highways are money pits that should have never been built. It would be better to pay for all of the Appalachia residents to move to higher-income lower-unemployment areas.

I disagree.  There are assets along these roads that are of benefit to the rest of the nation. 

In the case of Corridor H it includes state parks like Blackwater Falls, as well as the vast Monongahela National Forest.
Included. They've all been blasted away for another corridor.

Grzrd

The sales pitch contained in this travel expedition press release is basically "Come see the Darien Gap before the road is built":

Quote
(TRAVPR.COM) UNITED KINGDOM - January 25th, 2016 - In six weeks, a Secret Compass expedition team will plunge into Panama's notorious Darien Gap jungles, aiming to join the few to have crossed one of the world's finest rainforests and final adventure frontiers on foot.
Panama's mountainous Darien Gap is the only break in the 30,600km Pan-American Highway which connects Circle (Alaska) with Puerto Montt (Chile). This 150km of unfinished business is described as "˜the last roadless place' by Lonely Planet and was a Sunday Times Top 10 Wildest Trips of the Year.
Kerry O'Neill, marketing director with Secret Compass, said, "The Parc Nacional Darien is the most ecologically diverse land-based park in Central America ....
Highlights of Darien Gap expedition
·       Discover the 150km gap in the 30,600km Pan-American highway

·       Explore the ecological diversity of Central America's mountainous rainforest
·       Travel alongside the Emberá Indians on foot and in dug-out canoes
·       See 5,000-year-old Petroglyphs, remnants of an ancient culture
Though mired in political indecision and tempered by environmental concerns, there are rumours that a road connection, the "˜Interamericana', might one day be built due to increased trade benefits.
O'Neill continued, "For now, the Darien's undisturbed wilds remain filled with endemic flora, fauna, cultures and ancient petroglyphs. This makes it prime expedition territory for our pioneering team.
"To discover the hidden histories and raw adventures this pivotal Central American region and its rainforests have to offer before roads encroach into it, ambitious adventurers seeking their next challenge are invited to apply to join March's Darien Gap expedition team today," concluded O'Neill.

I suppose a creative roads enthusiast could somehow craft a "pre-clinch" opportunity out of this expedition.

Grzrd

#44
Quote from: Grzrd on February 28, 2015, 10:19:01 PM
This Jan. 27, 2015 article reports that, although Panama does not currently intend to extend the Pan American Highway from Yaviza through the Darien Gap, it does intend to renovate the highway from Agua Fria to Yaviza
Quote from: mgk920 on March 14, 2015, 04:39:20 PM
I'm piqued by this one - in that even though the country's government still officially opposes connecting the road through into Colombia, are they never-the-less preparing for that as an inevitability?
:hmmm:
Quote from: US 41 on March 21, 2015, 11:51:15 AM
I would say yes .... I believe in another 10-15 years, either the road will be under construction or completed.

This January 25, 2016 article reports that the primary purpose of the Agua Fria to Yaviza upgrade is "to further develop agriculture, tourism and commerce in the provinces":

Quote
The Government has also put for tender more than 200 roads all over the country to further develop agriculture, tourism and commerce in the provinces. Among those projects are the road from Agua Fria-Yaviza in the Darien province

The Agua Fria to Yaviza road improvements should increase agriculture, tourism, and commerce in Darien province, which in turn may lead to a greater demand for a road across the Darien Gap.




The article further reports that, also in Panama, the Pan American Highway will be expanded from four lanes to six lanes between La Chorrera and San Carlos in order to facilitate tourism in that area:

Quote
The Ministry of Public Works will concentrate all its efforts on mega projects such as the Fourth Bridge over the Canal, which will give another access to the interior. The bridge will benefit more than 1.7 million people who travel to and from Panama West every day, and whose only option is to use the Bridge of the Americas or the Centenary Bridge.
Another important project is the widening of the Panama-Arraijan highway to eight lanes, two of them reserved for the future Line 3 of the Metro, to improve the traffic in that area. Following the road improvement program, there are plans to expand the Panamerican Highway from four lanes to six, from La Chorrera to San Carlos, which is the region with most growth because of its tourism expansion.

Grzrd

I bumped this thread because some motorcyclists became the first to travel from Alaska to Patagonia, including the Darien Gap:

https://www.mensjournal.com/travel/first-trek-from-alaska-to-south-america-entirely-over-land-by-motorcycle/

Bickendan

Holy crap! That's awesome, it finally happened! :D
Makes me wonder what's going to get completed first -- the Darien Gap or the Bering Gap.

MNHighwayMan

An overland gap should be far easier to fill than an aqueous one, even if the overland gap is full of mosquitoes and jungle and disease.

Never mind the political and practical issues that'll probably prevent a Bering Strait crossing in our lifetimes.

Plutonic Panda

Give I-11 the PanAmerica Highway designation from Mexico to Canada. I'm partially serious  :-D

As for the Darian Gap and the reasons such as deforestation and spreading of cattle disease, why don't we come up with solutions for that instead of just saying no. Build a checkpoint for those transporting cattle and surely there is a way to check if the cattle have the disease? Designate the forest around this corridor as national forests and ensure it is built as a freeway with limited interchanges in sensitive areas. This project can be more than just about building a road.

vdeane

I made this as a parody of the proposals to have I-11 along I-19 and through eastern Oregon/Washington (with some inspiration from the Immigration Freedomway thread): https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=12994.0
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.



Opinions expressed here on belong solely to the poster and do not represent or reflect the opinions or beliefs of AARoads, its creators and/or associates.