Page:America's Highways 1776–1976.djvu/535

 The Inter-American Highway in rural Honduras in 1963.

Thus, the forces of socio-economic development emerged slowly, but strongly, sparked in a small, but very significant, manner by the Inter-American Highway which, later, contributed toward the extensive advances made by the Republics of the isthmus. The Inter-American Highway found its rightful place in the economic history of these countries and in the hierarchy of events that, over the years, led to the establishment of a bond of friendship between them and their partner, the United States of America.

The Pan-American Highway Congress, meeting in Lima, Peru, in 1951, requested the Organization of American States to urgently create an ad hoc committee of experts to determine the most efficient and expeditious manner for opening to traffic the incomplete stretches of the “longitudinal Pan-American Highway.” A committee was established in 1952 to study and develop recommendations by which each country could finance and construct the missing sections of the highway within its borders.

Subsequently, this technical committee, in October 1953, recommended studies in the Darien for the first time. When the Sixth Pan-American Highway Congress, met in July 1954, it recommended that a technical expedition be organized to conduct research and planning surveys in the Darien Region of Panama and the adjacent area of Colombia. Finances for early explorations, administration, and promotion were provided by annual contributions of $30,000 each from Colombia and Panama.

In February 1955, the Darien Subcommittee was organized to be made up of technicians designated by each of the Governments of Panama, Colombia, and the United States. The first Darien Subcommittee meeting was held in August 1955 in Panama.

The south or Pacific route was recommended for both countries with a border crossing at Cruce de Espave, but both countries modified this recommendation, making the border point at the landmark known as Palo de las Letras.

With an apparent feasible route for a highway through the Darien having been agreed upon, efforts began to obtain financing for surveys. The Eighth Pan-American Highway Congress in Bogota, Colombia, in May 1960, adopted a financing plan requiring all member countries of the Organization of American States to participate.

By late 1962, the Darien Subcommittee had negotiated contracts with consulting firms from the United States, Panama and Colombia to undertake the surveys and studies of the route. A BPR engineer was assigned to work with the Darien Subcommittee in administering the $3 million survey program.

As the surveys progressed in Colombia, it became increasingly evident that the route along the Pacific Coast was impractical; the mountainous terrain, the torrential rains exceeding 400 inches per year, and the length of the route clearly made it unacceptable for an international highway. Thus, at the seventh 529