Chester,

I am not with the Air Force but this may help in what you are looking for. This comes from Austin Bay's blog page.
Matt

Josh Manchester looks at a recent RAND study of a ten kiloton blast on the port of Long Beach, California. The RAND study considers a ground burst (which tosses up a lot of radioactive debris).

Key excerpt:

Much of the infrastructure in the United States was originally conceived with national defense squarely in mind. The highway system is one example. When the interstate highways originally were built, one out of every five miles had to be straight in order to allow returning American bombers alternative places to land, in case their bases had been vaporized.

http://austinbay.net/blog/?p=1492

Matt,

Thanks very much.

One thing about that Josh Manchester character:

He's me!

Chester = Josh Manchester.

Actually, this is really funny because the reason I asked about that is because a reader of the original piece in Pajamas claimed that it was a myth. We've since added a correction to the piece. So perhaps the highways weren't designed with that in mind. I think though that even if that's the case, the Air Force has still practiced landing on highways from time to time. But I haven't been able to find any good proof yet.

Thanks anyway!
-Josh/Chester

I swear that I heard such a statement made on a PBS special, but I could not find a supporting link. I did find this however:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/ndhs.htm

"From the outset of construction of the Interstate System, the DOD has monitored its progress closely, ensuring direct military input to all phases of construction. The National Defense Highway System was responsible for building many of the first freeways. Its purpose was supposedly to allow for mass evacuation of cities in the event of a nuclear attack. The Interstate system was designed so that one mile in every five must be straight, usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies."

But then again...

http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/mayjun00/onemileinfive.htm

"I don't know if 10 percent of the Russian government's income comes from the sale of vodka. I don't know if a cow can go upstairs, but not downstairs. And I certainly don't know if a duck's quack doesn't echo.

But I do know the following statement is false: The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System requires that one mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies."

I seem to remember reading a similar assertion about the Interstate system some time ago, but I couldn't tell you where.

I don't recall anything about one mile in five having to be straight, however, only that sections of it would be able to serve a airstrips in time of war (and therefore were clear of overpasses, presumably.)

Two questions:

1)Is a one-mile stretch of highway sufficiently long to accommodate a heavy bomber or cargo plane?

2) Is a standard two-lane stretch of Interstate Highway sufficiently wide to accommodate a big jet? (If not, were there sections of road that were inexplicably widened?)

I seem to remember reading a similar assertion about the Interstate system some time ago, but I couldn't tell you where.

I don't recall anything about one mile in five having to be straight, however, only that sections of it would be able to serve a airstrips in time of war (and therefore were clear of overpasses, presumably.)

Two questions:

1)Is a one-mile stretch of highway sufficiently long to accommodate a heavy bomber or cargo plane?

2) Is a standard two-lane stretch of Interstate Highway sufficiently wide to accommodate a big jet? (If not, were there sections of road that were inexplicably widened?)