TECHNICAL INNOVATONS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF HIGHWAY PROJECTS PROJECTS AND THEIR APPLICATION IN LATIN AMERICA

Throughout Latin American great efforts are being made to search for and evaluate natural resources such as mineral and petroleum deposits, forestry reserves, and sites for dams. To develop these areas access roads must be designed and built, most of them in areas that have not been surveyed. Because of the great technical improvement in aerial surveying with remote sensors, highway planners can use a variety of equipment, including satellite images and aerial photographs taken from great heights, supplemented by laser or radar equipment, and in this way penetrate the jungle and misty tropical areas of America. Interactive graphic systems are increasing the speed and reliability of acquiring and storing geometric data with a substantial savings of time, personnel, and money. (Author)