Dan McNichol sits on the 1949 Hudson he will drive during the tour.The tour, Dire States: The Drive to Revive America’s Ailing Infrastructure, is a joint effort between Case and Dan McNichol, an author and infrastructure expert.
During the tour, McNichol will travel across the country in a rusty 1949 Hudson, which he said reflects America’s infrastructure.
McNichol will make stops at Case dealerships across the country and bring together citizens, government officials and construction professionals to identify new ways to better American infrastructure and to showcase ways that are already succeeding.
McNichols noted the importance of creating a better transportation infrastructure system in America.
“America’s infrastructure is in trouble, and it’s not something we can gloss over when we see it on the nightly news,” McNichols said in a prepared statement. “We’re going to barnstorm this country in an old and beat-down 1949 Hudson that is the perfect metaphor for our current infrastructure: it’s as old, rusty and energy defunct as our vital systems.
“Depending on this old car to get you to work everyday is as foolish as depending on our current systems for everything we need to function as a society.”
McNichols pointed to the grade of D+ the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave America earlier this year.
He went on to discuss ways the national tour can help motivate people to work toward enhancing America’s infrastructure.
The tour will begin with a series of events in Massachusetts, will stop at Case dealerships throughout the country and will end in March 2014 at ConExpo in Las Vegas.
The tour is expected to visit more than 20 Case dealerships.
For more details about the tour, check out the video above or visit direstates.com.
