The Big Dig
The Central Artery Tunnel Project, more commonly known as the Big Dig, is said to be the largest, most complex and technologically challenging highway project in American history. It is the culmination of decades of planning and forethought and is hoped to alleviate the traffic congestion that has plagued the Boston area since the invention of the automobile. The project incorporates a major underground highway system, a revolutionary cable-stayed bridge, and a series of impressive tunnel crossings, each a considerable feat on their own, all constructed in the midst of a bustling city.
The idea for a Central Artery through Boston has been talked about since a 1909 special commission determined that a 100-foot wide road should be built through the center of downtown Boston. Little was done with the project until the 1940πs when Boston city planners saw on the horizon a tremendous proliferation of automobiles and decided something must be done.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Works eventually came up with a plan that called for an elevated highway 1.5 miles long through the heart of downtown Boston, accompanied by an Inner Belt that wrapped around downtown Boston to the west. In 1948 City and State officials approved a master plan, construction commenced in 1950. As soon as construction had started it became quite clear that the supposedly revolutionary highway had major flaws.
The roadway devoured and divided neighborhoods, cut off the city from waterfront, and created confusing traffic situations below. In 1954, it was decided to sink the rest of the roadway underground. Once completed the artery was able to handle about 75,000 vehicles a day. However, a lack of breakdown lanes, an abundance of on and off ramps, and numerous sharp curves makes the artery a treacherous drive. Residents were so unhappy with the Central Artery that officials decided not to build the Inner Belt. That meant that the Central Artery had to handle all of the traffic that was meant to be split between the two. This only exacerbated the existing problems. By the 1980πs conditions on the road had worsened so much that officials were forced to once again step in. Toda the Central Artery carries 190,000 vehicles a day. It has an accident rate four times the national average for urban highways, and is backed up bumper-to-bumper six to eight hours a day.
Homeostasis is the biological process that maintains a stable internal environment despite what occurs in the external environment. Chemicals and bodily functions are maintained in a balanced state so the body may function optimally. There are various systems in the human body that require maintenance through the processes of biochemical checks and balances so they may function properly. One of these systems includes the rise and fall of blood glucose and is under the control of the homeostatic regulation process. Homeostasis is essential in blood glucose regulation as high blood glucose levels (hyperglycaemia) and low blood glucose levels (hypoglycaemia) are dangerous and can affect the human body in many ways and can also lead
Throughout the book Tom Lewis goes back and forth between the good and bad that came about from building highways. While the paved roads connected our country, made travel time faster, provided recreation, and pushed the development of automobiles they also created more congestion and travel time, divided communities, and made us slaves to automobiles. The author is critical of the highways, but he does realize the great achievement it is in the building of America. Lewis said, “As much as we might dislike them, we cannot escape the fact that ...
...o do something illegal. I do not believe his speech produced imminent action because nowhere in his speech did he include a date or say when he wanted them to bring the guns to school. If Jason’s speech were to include a date or something stating that he wanted them to do this action now or tomorrow then his speech would be producing imminent action. I do believe his speech was likely to produce such illegal action because some students could have taken his post seriously and brought a gun to school especially if they felt the same way about guns like Jason did. After looking at the facts of Jason speech and applying them to the Brandenburg test we can see that Jason’s speech only met two of the parts set forth in Brandenburg. Therefore Jason’s speech is protected by the First Amendment and the First Circuit court violated his rights. So I reverse the conviction.
Many mass construction projects in the history of the United States have had a major impact on the economy and culture; however, not many of these have had as large as an impact as the Interstate Highway Act of 1956. The Interstate Highway Act revolutionized the way that we think about highways today. The act created an extremely easy mode of transportation for people across the country. Not only was the Interstate Highway Act extremely helpful in making rural and urban transportation for normal people, but it also helped commercial businesses in increasing sales across the country. These businesses were now able to transport their goods cheaper and faster. The Interstate Highway Act was tremendously beneficial in regards to its economic, social, and cultural significance. The legislation was significant economically in the way that it promoted business and cut travel costs, it was significant socially in the way that it allowed people to see friends and family even if they did not live close, and it was significant culturally in the way that it allowed people to move out to the country for low costs in order to live a happier life.
1. Government role in RR building- Congress was impressed by arguments supporting military and postal needs and began to advance liberal money loans to two favored cross- continent companies in 1862 and added enormous donations of land and tracks. Within the routes the RR’s were allowed to choose alternate mile- square sections in checkerboard fashion
Homeostasis mostly works through negative feedback, this is where the effectors response lessens the effects of the original stimulu...
The first and most challenging problem associated with building the Mackinac Bridge arrived long before the bridge was even designed. Financing such an enormous project was no easy feat. In 1928, the idea of connecting the upper and lower peninsulas was proposed to Congress for the first time (Brown 4). At the time, the suspected bridge project was very much under government scrutiny and control. In fact, the initial boost in interest in pursuing the construction of a bridge came about due to the depression. The Public Works Administration (PWA) had been created under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal economic plan which would fund certain construction projects with th...
Moby-Dick is the one American story which every individual seems to recognize. Because of its pervasiveness into our country’s collective psyche, the tale has been reproduced in film and cartoon, and references to the characters and the whale can be found in commercials, sitcoms, and music, proving the novel to still be relevant today. It is the epitome of American Romanticism because it delves into the human spirit, the force of imagination, and power of the emotions and the intellect. The novel praises and critiques the American society in sharp and unequivocal terms, while, at the same time, mirroring this mixed society through the “multinational crew of...the Pequod” (Shaw 61). Melville, through his elaborate construction of the novel, “makes the American landscape a place for epic conquest” (Lyons 462). The primary draw of this novel is the story itself: a whaling ship, headed by a monomaniac, and the pursuit of a whale, or the American dream and its attainment, making a clear “connection between Romanticism and nationalism” (Evans 9). The novel calls upon the reader’s imagination, emotions, and intellect to fully understand the journey of the story, the journey which takes the reader on a most unusual trip into the soul of mankind.
... line the canal today. The development of the railroad in the 19th century and the automobile in the 20th century sealed the fate of the Erie Canal.
This was the day of my big game, the day where we had to win this lacrosse game. If we didn’t win this game, we would get knocked out of the playoffs. If we didn’t beat Dedham, our season would be over.
Boarnet, Marlon G. "National Transportation Planning: Lessons from the U.S. Interstate Highways." National Transportation Planning: Lessons from the U.S. Interstate Highways. Elsevier Ltd., 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2014.
The characters also are involved in the belief of the anti-transcendental philosophy. The story shows how each character acts with nature and each other. Many of the whalers must protect the boat and each other as they trek through the wild tides and horrible weather conditions. They try their hardest to fight these conditions, but sadly the narrator is the only survivor. These men exemplify the philosophy by fighting the animals; especially the whales ...
That project extended the beleaguered bridge at Florence in 1917. In the previous year, Congress reflected the nation’s quest to build roads and bridges by approving the Federal Road Aid Act of 1916 and President Woodrow Wilson signed the measure. Quickly, Arizona and Pinal County collaborated to raise the funds necessary to match $20,000 in federal aid. The project improved a bridge that remained in service until the late 1950s, when the Arizona Highway Department built a new one.
Melville uses Moby Dick to challenge views on different opinions about Good vs Evil, Determination vs being content, Nature vs Humans. Moby Dick plays on both sides of each opinion and floats back and forth with his actions that make the audience use their own opinion as to which is true. There is endless symols held by the giant white whale.
...dom and power of his soul, as the great artificer whose name he bore, a living thing, new and soaring and beautiful, impalpable, imperishable". (Joyce, 433) Stephen is now fully able to create from within himself, without being dependent on others to feel whole. This is accentuated by Joyce’s description of the beach scene— "He was alone. He was unheeded, happy and near to the wild heart of life". (Joyce, 433) Stephen the artist is alone and needs to be alone, not to search in vein for companionship that, even if attained, could only drag him from his newfound freedom. This realization of self-fulfillment and self-control is the single defining point in Stephen’s education; it is the brushstroke that completes the "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man."