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Title: CONQUEST OF THE DARIEN
Accession Number: 00229762
Record Type: Component
Abstract: A MEANS OF UNITING THE AMERICAS BY LAND COMMUNICATION HAS BEEN FRUSTRATED BY THE INACCESSIBILITY OF THE VAST JUNGLE REGION ADJOINING THE REPUBLICS OF PANAMA AND COLOMBIA IN THE REGION KNOWN AS THE DARIEN GAP. THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC ROADS NEGOTIATED AN AGREEMENT WITH THE COLOMBIAN MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS PERMITTING RECONNAISSANCE SURVEYS IN 1964 OF THE ATRATO SWAMPS. THESE STUDIES AND THE SUBSEQUENT DETAILED GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS CONDUCTED ARE DESCRIBED. THE ATRATO RIVER SWAMPS ARE APPROXIMATELY 65 TO 100 K WIDE AND MORE THAN 250 K LONG. ALL SOURCES OF AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY, AND PARTIAL PHOTOGRAPHIC COVERAGE OF THE AREA WERE ASSEMBLED AND STEREOSCOPIC EXAMINATION AND PHOTOGRAPHIC INTERPRETATION MADE OF THESE UNCONTROLLED EARLY PHOTOGRAPHS. INFORMATION FROM THESE PHOTOGRAPHS LED TO THE SELECTION OF FIVE POSSIBLE ROUTE LOCATIONS THAT MET THE CRITERIA ESTABLISHED FOR THE LEAST DIFFICULT CROSSINGS OF THE SWAMP. THE FIVE SELECTED ROUTES WERE DELINEATED ON THE UNCONTROLLED PHOTOMOSIAC AND COMPARATIVE INTERPRETATION OF THE FIVE TENTATIVE ROUTES WAS PLANNED USING AERIAL INFRARED IMAGERY. THE INFRARED IMAGERY OBTAINED DID NOT CONTAIN SUFFICIENT THERMAL DIFFERENCES TO REVEAL SUBSURFACE CONDITIONS AND MATERIALS. THE ONLY OTHER ALTERNATIVE WAS VISUAL INSPECTION ON THE GROUND IN THE SWAMP BY HELICOPTER ACCESS. A LIMITED GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY WAS UNDERTAKEN, UTILIZING ELECTRORESISTIVITY METHODS AUGMENTED BY SOUNDINGS WITH A PEAT SAMPLER AND BY PROBING. THESE TESTS LEAD TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THE HIGHWAY CROSSING OF THE SWAMP APPEARED FEASIBLE. IN 1967, THE DARIEN SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE PAN AMERICAN HIGHWAY CONGRESS PROVIDED FUNDING AND REQUESTED THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC ROADS TO DIRECT THE COMPREHENSIVE GEOPHYSICAL STUDIES OF THE ATRATO AREA. THREE METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION ARE CONSIDERED ACCEPTABLE ALTHOUGH THE FIRST IS RECOMMENDED AS LEAST COSTLY: (1) PLACEMENT OF FILL MATERIAL OBTAINED FROM THE LOMAS LAS AISLADAS AND THE HILLS WEST OF THE ATRATO RIVER ON THE ROGANIC MAT WITH CONSEQUENT COMPRESSION OF THE ORGANIC MATERIAL AND THE SOFT SUBSURFACE LAYERS, (2) REMOVAL OF ORGANIC MATERIAL AND THE SOFTER SUBSURFACE MATERIAL AND REPLACEMENT WITH FILL MATERIAL OBTAINED FORM THE LOMAS LAS AISLADAS, AND (3) USE OF TRESTLE CONSTRUCTION ACROSS THE ENTIRE SWAMP.
Supplemental Notes: Paper sponsored by Special Committee on International Cooperative Activities and presented at the 48th Annual Meeting. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Monograph Title: Monograph Accession #: 01410238
Report/Paper Numbers: Paper No 2
Authors: Ghiglione, Angelo FPagination: pp 18-25
Publication Date: 1969
Serial: Media Type: Digital/other
Features: Figures
(2)
TRT Terms: Uncontrolled Terms: Old TRIS Terms: Subject Areas: Construction; Finance; Geotechnology; Highways
Files: TRIS, TRB
Created Date: Mar 9 1970 12:00AM
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