The BR-010 (official name Rodovia Engenheiro Bernardo Sayão) is a federal highway of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

that connects the national capital

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

, to the city of

Belém Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará) often called Belém of Pará, is a Brazilian city, capital and largest city of the state of Pará in t ...

, in the state of

Pará Pará is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian state) ...

. It is named after its chief engineer, who died in an accident during the construction of the highway, when a tree fell over his tent. The BR-010 highway is known as the

Belém–Brasília Highway The Belém–Brasília Highway (in Portuguese: ''Rodovia Belém–Brasília'') is a set of portions of six federal highways of Brazil, of which each portion contributes to the function of connecting the Atlantic port city of Belém in the northern ...

or Transbrasiliana Highway, in the stretch between the city of Estreito, in the state of

Maranhão Maranhão () is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of . Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins and ...

, and the city of Belém. Between Brasília and Estreito, the highway has many incomplete and unpaved stretches, especially in the state of

Tocantins Tocantins () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is the newest state, formed in 1988 and encompassing what had formerly been the northern two-fifths of the state of Goiás. Tocantins covers and had an estimated population of 1,496,880 in 20 ...

. Between Brasília and Estreito, the original route of the Belém–Brasília Highway follows the

BR-060 BR-060 is a federal highway of Brazil. The 1329 kilometre road connects Brasília to Bela Vista, on the Paraguayan border. It is also designated as part of the Belém–Brasília Highway, in its stretch between Brasília and Anápolis. Duplic ...

, the

BR-153 BR-153 is a major federal highway of Brazil, officially named the Transbrasiliana Highway. It also serves as part of the Belém–Brasília Highway in the stretch located between the cities of Wanderlândia, in the state of Tocantins, and Anápo ...

and the BR-226 highways, which are completely paved in this stretch.Rodovias Radiais
/ref> The total length of the highway is 1,950 km, passing through the Federal District and four states: *

Federal District A federal district is a type of administrative division of a federation, usually under the direct control of a federal government and organized sometimes with a single municipal body. Federal districts often include capital districts, and they e ...

: 44.6 km * State of

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goiânia. ...

: 287.9 km * State of

: 773.2 km * State of

: 379.1 km * State of

: 465,3 km

History

The

was the first road built through the central and the middle north region of Brazil, having been built between 1958 and 1960. Its construction was one of the greatest achievements of

road engineering A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

, due to the enormous difficulties faced in its design and by the construction crews - more than 5,000 courses of water had to be conquered, and new ways of bulldozing and felling massive trees higher than 50 m and with girths exceeding 4 to 5 m in diameter had to be devised. Initially it was a dirt road, but in the succeeding years it was

macadamized Macadam is a type of road construction, pioneered by Scottish engineer John Loudon McAdam around 1820, in which crushed stone is placed in shallow, convex layers and compacted thoroughly. A binding layer of stone dust (crushed stone from the o ...

and more permanent bridges were built. The BR-010 highway was fundamental to bring modernity to a completely wild region. Many agricultural settlements and entire new cities, with its suite of commerce, industry, etc., sprang along the highway. It was also the first land connection between the states of

and

, and all the rest of the country, so that the economic potential and development of the region could be increased. In its beginning, a trip through the road was a dangerous undertaking, due to the presence of wild animals such as the ferocious spotted

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

s and poisonous

snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

s, and also of road banditry. There were no hotels, gasoline stations and restaurants along the highway and travellers had to carry their own supplies. Today, it entails a drive of approximately 2 days.

References

External links

BR-010
Ministry of Transportation {{Federal highways in Brazil Federal highways in Brazil

History

See also

References

External links