Interstate System Trivia
The freeway system here in the US is something I am sure which amazes every desi guy/ girl the moment you set feet on this country. One reason probably is bcos that is the first thing that you experience on getting to the US, when somebody comes to pick you up from the airport. In my case, I couldn’t control my excitement when I got on the highway and the first question I asked my friend who had come to pick me up was When can I get to drive on these roads?
So, like I had written earlier, I volunteered to be the quiz master for the trivia challenge at my team meeting. I thought hard about having India as the topic but then finally since I couldn’t come up with a good set of questions for the same, I decided to look out for other topics. It was just then that the 50th anniversary of the interstate system was celebrated (on June 29th) and that immediately gave me the topic I was looking for. Interstate system is a good topic for trivia for 2 reasons – 1) You can have everybody in the team get involved in the trivia and 2) there is no better topic than the interstate system that can have loads and loads of trivia. So, interstate system it was. Like I had expected, the trivia was a blast. Everyone in the team simply loved it. So, here are the questions I posed to the team.
1) What is the total number of miles this freeway system in the US covers?
2) What is the longest interstate in the US? And how many miles does it run for? Which 2 cities does it connect?
3) Which highway runs through the maximum number of states? And how many states?
4) Which is the shortest 2 digit interstate route? Which cities does it connect?
5) Which state has the most number of interstate routes, crisscrossing the area of the state? And how many routes does that state have?
6) According to the interstate standards, what should be the minimum width of each lane?
7) What percentage of the country's roads and travel do these interstates comprise of?
8) I am sure many of us know that the freeway system here in the US is called the "Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways". Name the President of the United States who actually mooted the proposal and began research into the same. When did he do it?
9) How many of each of the following does the interstate system has?
So, like I had written earlier, I volunteered to be the quiz master for the trivia challenge at my team meeting. I thought hard about having India as the topic but then finally since I couldn’t come up with a good set of questions for the same, I decided to look out for other topics. It was just then that the 50th anniversary of the interstate system was celebrated (on June 29th) and that immediately gave me the topic I was looking for. Interstate system is a good topic for trivia for 2 reasons – 1) You can have everybody in the team get involved in the trivia and 2) there is no better topic than the interstate system that can have loads and loads of trivia. So, interstate system it was. Like I had expected, the trivia was a blast. Everyone in the team simply loved it. So, here are the questions I posed to the team.
1) What is the total number of miles this freeway system in the US covers?
2) What is the longest interstate in the US? And how many miles does it run for? Which 2 cities does it connect?
3) Which highway runs through the maximum number of states? And how many states?
4) Which is the shortest 2 digit interstate route? Which cities does it connect?
5) Which state has the most number of interstate routes, crisscrossing the area of the state? And how many routes does that state have?
6) According to the interstate standards, what should be the minimum width of each lane?
7) What percentage of the country's roads and travel do these interstates comprise of?
8) I am sure many of us know that the freeway system here in the US is called the "Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways". Name the President of the United States who actually mooted the proposal and began research into the same. When did he do it?
9) How many of each of the following does the interstate system has?
Bridges, Tunnels, Rest areas and Exits/ Interchanges.
10) What was the total cost for constructing the complete interstate system? And which was the most costly interstate route to construct?
11) The interstate system directly serves the capitals of all but 5 states in the US. Name the states.
12) What is the death/ fatality rate on these interstate systems?
13) Which state has the most number of interstate mileage? And how many miles of interstate does that state have?
14) What are the highest and lowest points on the interstate system?
Answers (& sources), as always, in the comments section.
10) What was the total cost for constructing the complete interstate system? And which was the most costly interstate route to construct?
11) The interstate system directly serves the capitals of all but 5 states in the US. Name the states.
12) What is the death/ fatality rate on these interstate systems?
13) Which state has the most number of interstate mileage? And how many miles of interstate does that state have?
14) What are the highest and lowest points on the interstate system?
Answers (& sources), as always, in the comments section.
posted by Filbert at 1:49 PM
3 Comments:
1) 46,837 miles
2) I-90. Runs 3020 miles and connects Seattle & Boston.
3) I-95, which runs through 16 states. States: FL,GA,SC,NC,VA,DC,MD,DE,PA,NJ,NY,CT,RI,MA,NH,ME
4) I-97 which is a mere 17.62 miles long. It connects Annapolis to Baltimore, MD
5) New York with 29 routes
6) 12 feet
7) Less than 1% and 24% travel
8) Franklin D Roosevelt in the year 1941 when he appointed a National Interregional Highway Committee, headed by Commissioner of Public Roads Thomas H. MacDonald, to evaluate the need for a national expressway system
9) Bridges - 55,500
Tunnels - 104
Rest areas - 1214
Exits - 14750
10) 129 Billion USD. I-95, which connects Miami, FL and Houlton, ME cost 8 billion USD and is the most expensive.
11) Alaska, Delaware, Nevada, South Dakota, Missouri
12) The Federal Highway Administration reports about one fatality for every 100 million vehicle miles on the interstates, about half the death rate of other U.S. roads.
13) Texas with 3233 miles
14) Highest point: Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel, Colorado -- 11,012 feet (east) and 11,158 (west) on I-70
Lowest Elevation: El Centro, California, 52 feet below sea level on I-8
Sources:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13616498/site/newsweek/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System
http://www.interstate50th.org/trivia.shtml
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/homepage.cfm
Hi ... blog-linked this one!
http://thoughtdistillery.blogspot.com/2006/08/us-interstate-system-trivia.html
http://rubikcube.wordpress.com/2006/08/08/us-interstate-system-trivia/
Thanks for linking this post in your blog!!
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