The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 was championed by Dwight D. Eisenhower. When he was in Germany during World War II, Eisenhower was inspired by the country’s system of high-speed roads and wanted to bring this concept home to the United States. This law originally funded the first 41,000 miles of paved roads in the United States. Currently, this specific system runs through all 50 states for 46,876 miles.

Even though this is an impressive system, estimates show that more than a third of these roads aren’t in good condition. As a result, accidents happen on a regular basis. Almost a third of the highway fatalities that occur, for instance, are connected to substandard road conditions, obsolete road designs, and/or roadside hazards.

While over half of the country’s interstate miles are at 70% traffic capacity, others are being strained considerably. Recent data shows that almost 25% of the nation’s interstate miles are at over 95% capacity. Furthermore, over 25% of America’s bridges are in need of significant repairs. One of the primary reasons for this is that they weren’t designed to handle as much traffic as they are required to do.

In addition to roads and bridges, there are other infrastructure issues that need to be addressed. The American Society of Civil Engineers, for example, claims that more than 4,095 dams throughout the country are “unsafe.” Since 1874, there have been a large number of dam failures or near-failures. Over a third of these have occurred within the past decade.

Since extreme weather conditions have contributed to these and other infrastructure issues, it’s important that necessary repairs are taken care of as soon as possible. Given the importance of transportation planning, which includes the structural design of roads, bridges, and dams, geotechnical engineering consultants provide the acumen required to address the country’s infrastructure needs.

Geotechnical design firms employ some of the most sophisticated technologies to accomplish these and other important tasks. In order to design, build, and/or repair much-needed infrastructure, geotechnical engineering consultants use LIDAR surveying and photogrammetry along with other relevant tools and experience.