'Conquering Roads' a fascinating look at our highway system in 1937

(June 30, 2015) Chevrolet's 1937 promotional film, "Conquering Roads," is a fascinating history lesson into road building 78 years ago. It depicts surprisingly modern highways of the era, including some intriguing footage of road construction.

Just as interesting are the cars and trucks of the time.

Early versions of highway interchanges including what has to be the first cloverleafs prior to the construction of the interstate system in the 1950s are shown. Also filmed are some extraordinary-for-the-time bridges over water and populated areas.

The film focuses on the remarkable progress the country's road builders had made at that time coming out of the Great Depression. The progress is made even more impressive by shots early in the film of rutted, muddy two lane dirt tracks that were still prevalent at the time.

Note how congested some of the "new" roads are long before the modern influx of vehicles.

It's an enjoyable eight minutes for anyone even remotely interested in modern transportation.