- Trans-Amazonian highway
The Trans-Amazonian Highway (BR-230) was inaugurated on August 30,
1972 . It is 5,300 km long, making it the third longest highway inBrazil . It runs through the Brazilian states ofPiaui ,Maranhão ,Tocantins ,Pará and Amazonas.The highway was intended to integrate these regions with the rest of the country, and with
Peru andEcuador . It was originally planned to be a fully paved highway 5200 kilometers long. However, these plans were modified following its inauguration. Fact|date=April 2007In particular, because of high construction costs and Brazil financial crisis on the late
70's , only a part of the highway were paved, from its beginning in Picos to 200km ahead ofMarabá . The lack of a fully sealed road causes many problems. Travel on the non-paved stretchs of the highway is extremelly difficult during the region'srainy season between October and March. Fact|date=April 2007Construction of the highway was very challenging because of the remoteness of the site. Workers building the road were frequently isolated and without communication, occasional visits to nearby cities providing the only contact. Although, severe techniques and procedures evolved during the construction of
Belém-Brasília Highway (BR-153 ) were then used. According toDNIT , roughly 800 km of the highway are due to be paved in the next 4 years, improving transport links in central region ofPará state. [Access to the construction sites was mostly accomplished by small airplanes using temporary airstrips and boats. Fact|date=April 2007
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