Case 26: Pan-American Highway

The Pan American Highway, the longest road on earth is a network of roads which stretches across the Americas and measures approximately 48,000 km in total length. It is one of the biggest adventures in the world. This network of highways connects North America and South America. According to the Guinness World Records, the Pan American Highway is the world’s longest motor able road. Except for the Darien Gap, the road links almost all of the Pacific coastal countries of the Americas in a connected highway system. Darien Gap is the rainforest break of 106 km in length between southeast Panama and northwest Colombia. It is necessary to take a ferry to cross the Darien Gap. It is the most popular overland route in the world. The Pan American Highway is unique in the context that it passes through diverse climates and ecological characteristics. Pan American Highway passes through dense jungles to arid deserts and barren tundra. The Pan American Highway spans from Prudhoe Bay Alaska in North America to South America and passes through cities of Puerto Montt and Quellon in Chile and Ushuaia in Argentina. Beyond the West and North of the Darien Gap, the roadway known as the Inter American Highway passes through Central America and Mexico. The inter-American Highway from Nuevo Laredo Mexico to Panama City covers 5390 km. Thereafter it splits into several branches and ultimately leading into the Mexico United States border. The official section of the highway runs from Laredo in Northern Mexico to the Argentine capital Buenos Aires. The Pan American Highway runs through 14 countries. The road trips start in Prudhoe Bay Alaska and stretches to the tip of Argentina in Ushuaia. The highest point in the road is Cerro de la Muerte which is at 11,322 ft above the sea level. The northern part of the road goes through Canada, United States, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. The Southern part crosses Suriname, Guyana, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay. The highway aimed to foster closer and harmonious relationship among different nations in the Americas. The highway connects almost all of the Pacific coastal countries. The Pan-American Highway which connects the North and South America, crosses six time zones and four climatic zones. Large scale projects such as highways can have significant linkages to other national projects operating at other scales.