- Rodovia Belém-Brasília
Rodovia Belém-Brasília (official designation BR-010, official name Rodovia Engenheiro Bernardo Sayão) is a federal
highway inBrazil . It is named after its chiefengineer , who died in an accident during the construction of the highway, when a tree fell over his tent. It is one of the longest highways inSouth America , running in an almost perfect North-South direction from the city ofBelém , in the state ofPará and the Federal capital city ofBrasília .The total length of the highway is 1,950 km, passing through the Federal District and four states:
* Federal District: 44.6 km
* State ofGoiás : 287.9 km
* State of Tocantins: 773.2 km
* State ofMaranhão : 379.1 km
* State ofPará : 465,3 kmIt interconnects with the
Rodovia Transbrasiliana at the level of the Federal District, thus forming a continuous North-South highway until reaching the state of Rio Grande do Sul.History
This was the first road built in the 1960s through the unforgiving
Amazon rainforest . Its construction was one of the highest achievements ofroad engineering , due to the enormous difficulties faced by designing it and by the construction crews (more than 5,000 courses of water had to be conquered, and new ways of bulldozing and felling massivetree s higher than 50 m and with girths exceeding 4 to 5 m in diameter had to be devised. Initially it was a dirt road, but in the succeeding years it was macadamized and more permanentbridge s were built.The Belém-Brasília highway was fundamental to bring modernity (and also create havoc with the aboriginal people who inhabited its passageway) to a completely wild region. Many agricultural settlements and entire new cities, with its suite of
commerce ,industry , etc, sprang along the highway. It was also the first land connection between Belém, one of the two capítals of the Amazon region (the other beingManaus ) and the rest of the country, so that the economic potential and development of the region could be increased. In its beginning, a trip through the road was a dangerous undertaking, due to the presence of wild animals such as the ferocious spottedjaguar s and poisonoussnake s, and also of road banditry (carrying arifle in the vehicle was deemed essential). There were nohotel s,gasoline station s andrestaurant s along the highway and travellers had to carry their own supplies. Today, it entails a rather banal drive of approximately 2 days.ee also
*
Brazilian Highway System External links
* [http://www.transportes.gov.br/bit/trodo/br-010/gbr-010.htm BR-010] . Ministry of Transportation
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