What he saw shocked and upset the General deeply.
General Medici, instead, decided to relocate the poor.
The project was rushed through with little concern of preservation of the Amazon Rainforests fragile ecology.
Map of the highway.
After the construction of the Trans-Amazonian Highway, Brazilian deforestation soared to levels never before seen.
Over the years, virgin forests gave way to cattle ranches, logging stations and gold mines.
Deforestation of the Amazon, triggered by the Highway, has continued to this date.
The project struggled on until June 1974, when it was finally abandoned.
Except for a few isolated stretches, the road has very little traffic today.
During this period, the unpaved sections of the road is impassable.
Lately, the Brazilian government had a renewed interest in paving the highway.
Its hard to say how long it would take to pave the entire Trans-Amazonian highway and at what cost.
Systematic deforestation along the highway is clearly visible in this satellite photo.
Photo credit: unknown
Deforestation sparked by the construction of the Trans-Amazonian Highway.
Photo credit: Hans Silvester
City of Uruara along the Trans-Amazonian Highway.Photo credit
Sources:Mongabay/Murder is Everywhere/New Internationalist Magazine/Nature/Wikipedia
