It's almost impossible to get around by car.

要想驾驶汽车走遍全国 简直不可能

Only half of the roads are even pane.

只有一半的路是平坦的

Eisenhower, the new President has seen it for himself.

新任总统艾森豪威尔亲身体验过这点

As a young soldier, he drove across the nation.

当他还是个年轻士兵时 他曾经驾车走遍全国

It took 62 days.

花了整整62天

America has faced this problem before

此前 美国也曾面临过这一问题

how to move people and goods across its great expanse.

如何让人和商品跨越这国家辽阔的疆域

Each generation has come up with its own solution.

每一代人都交出了自己的答卷

The rivers were America's first highways.

河流就是美国最初的高速公路

1811, the paddle steamer is launched,

1811年 桨轮蒸汽船踏上历史舞台

taking goods upriver as well as down,

除了顺流而下以外 它还可以逆流而上

opening up the Mississippi to more trade.

为密西西比河流域广开商路

The Erie Canal is America's next great conveyor belt of commerce.

随后 伊利运河成为美国的贸易大传送带

1825, it links the Eastern sea board to the Great lakes.

1825年 伊利运河把东部沿海地区和五大湖区连结起来

Like the steamboats, it spawn cities along its route.

就像蒸汽船促成了其沿线城市的诞生一样

The canal transforms New York into a boom town that quadruples in size.

伊利运河把纽约变成了一座繁华都市，规模增至之前的4倍

Now it's time to get America's roads working like the canals and rivers before them.

现在是时候让美国的公路像之前的运河和河流一样发挥作用了

To get the country moving again.

再一次 让这个国家动起来

And President Eisenhower makes it his mission to get the job done.

艾森豪威尔总统以此为己任

He started looking at the development of this country in the 50s.

早在50年代，他就已经开始展望这个国家的发展

And you really saw the vision of what the interstate highway system could do.

如今可以真切体会到州际高速公路是何等的有远见了

And it was amazing. It changed America.

令人叹为观止 它改变了美国