goose0183

The Office of Basin Development is announcing the creation of the Department of Transportation whose responsibility it will be to create comprehensive transportation network maps of the region as well as planning future expansion. Phase 5 of the ICP1 is being delayed until further notice; the state is pushing to start zoning St. Matthews and it is felt at this time that state highways are not immediately essential. With Phase 4 complete, the following action items will be completed in their order. 1. Finish Rendering Region 2. Transportation network map 3. Office of Basin Development Span of Control and Roster/brandinhg 4. City incorporation 5. ICP1 Phase 5

Thanks for the input! We have decided to forgo a diagonal interstate as it is just too cumbersome....other network types work fine with diagonal bridges, so we will utilize those in cases where deemed necessary, such as the rail network. Keep it coming!

George Finley here, lead engineer for the EBDC Operations Subcommittee. I'm also in charge of the design and construction of the ICP1. Nearly 7 year into this project, we have never had such a problems building a simple bridge! Granted, it is a diagnonal ground interstate bridge, but we have had no problems with other networks building these types of bridges. The location of the problem is the proposed I-39 Sunshine Bridge, which will cross the Emerald River and passing through the future heart of St. Matthews. Mechanical and Structural Engineering Departments from Louisiana State University and the University of Washington have been contacted to offer possible solutions. Users on Simtropolis reading this journal are also encouraged to offer solutions. The problem is simple......when using Diagonal_Bridge_Enabler.dat, we try to drag a elevated highway diagonal bridge across the "empty chasm", but the network line stays red, saying Failed to Smooth Terrain. If you have any possible solutions, please offer them. Otherwise a straight bridge will have to be built at much greater cost and awkward positioning.

OBD Ops reports that the base rail network has been established! Once the University's Time Machine GPU fully renders the region, a comprehensive map of the rail and highway system will be completed by the newly formed Department of Transportation. Phase 5 of the ICP1 is being delayed until city incorporation; the Office of Basin Development will be making an announcement in regards to this new information.

A loan of $45,000 was approved for the city of St. Matthews to begin zoning. Costs for the city exceeded the $500,000 allottment given to it by the State of Alaska due to its above normal costs of constructing its transportation network. St. Matthews is currently the hub of three major rail lines and two interstate systems, and therefor the loan was approved with little resistance.

I-5 was completed in the early morning hours today, and rail has already begun to be laid. More details to come!

With over 60 months of construction, I-39 has been completed and sims can now drive from the northern tip of the region all the way to the south, bypassing mountains and rivers. Phase 3 will begin will the connection of I-5 from St. Matthew to Stormy Bay, effectively connecting the region in all four cardinal directions. The final statistics for Phase 2 were as follows: Cost: $969,000 Length: 36.2 km Duration: 60 months 13 days Phase 3 will begin within two weeks. Check back soon!

While maintaining their current roles, the Emerald Basin Development Committee has decided to take a more permanent role in the future of the Basin. They have therefor chosen to become an official state office, the Office of Basin Development. The OBD will have its two current subcommittee's turned into departments, the Department of Finance and Department of Education. An official roster will be published soon.

Greetings! My name is John Smithers, chair of the Finance Subcommittee, and my office has received numerous inquiries regarding the source of funding for such a large urban development project. Where is the money coming from? Who is responsible to maintaining a shared transportation network? Has the funding been secured or is it part of a larger loan? In answer to these questions, I present the following information points regarding this subject. First: Money for the development of Emerald Basin has been secured as a result of the American Recovery and Investment Act passed by the U.S. Senate in 2012. The bill is funded through various revenue tactics as I'm sure we as American citizens are aware our government uses from time to time. Ultimately, the region is divided into square lots of three sizes (4X4km, 2X2km, 1X1km). Each lot receives $500,000 from the ARIA bill to use specifically for highway and road construction, incorporation of towns and the infrastructure therein, and any other development the EBDC sees fits to further in that lot. After all construction is complete, leftover funds will either be held in escrow until such a time comes that a town needs to be incorporated, or will be used to repay any loans taken out with the purpose of lot development. Second: Funding for maintaining the network of highways will be divided as follows: Counties are responsible for 25% of the funding for upkeep and maintainence, the state is responsible for 25%, and the federal government will provide the remaining 50% of required funding. As this is a completely undeveloped region at this time, toll roads would have no impact. Re-revaluation of toll roads will be done once population increase is sufficient to justify such. I welcome more questions and comments from other users, as it was a comment that inspired this memo! Have a good day and enjoy the beauty of Emerald Basin!

Yes I-20 is east-west, I have it starting in the north and then working its way south-west/westward and exiting the region to the west

Phase 2 of Interstate Construction Project 1 has begun, with the completion of the I-39/I-20 Interchange, which is where I-39 starts. Initials costs are estimated at near $108,000 for 3.5km of paved interstate plus the T-Inerchange. Work will now begin on completing the Emerald Basin section of I-39, where it will go south, crossing the Mystic River and flowing through the center of future St. Matthews. I-39 eventually exits the basin to the south after crossing the East Fork.

After nearly five years of construction and hundreds of thousands of state dollars spent, the I-20 corridor has been completed and now connects the north side of Cedar County to the west side of the region along the coastline. Final statistics are: Cost: $701,746 Length of road paved: 27.71 km Elapsed project time: 65 months, 22 days Phase 2 of the Interstate Project will be the construction of I-39 from the mouth of the Mystic River south to the east fork.

Perhaps an I-10 connection into St. Matthew, which is the transportation and business hub of my region.

With half of Phase 1 complete, the following statistics are reported by the Emerald Basin Development Committee (EBDC): Cost: $428,000 Length of highway built: 16.96 km Elapsed time of project: 37 months 25 days Finals cost of the project are expected to be uner $1million with another 12 months of construction before the completion of Phase 1. Keep posted for more updates!

Just finished a two-day plugin re-organizing marathon....will be using lowkee33's appalachian terrain with northwest trees and some neat seasonal mods, along with a slew of other essentials (NAM, RHW, etc.). What this means is now I can focus on my region and not so much tech stuff. Back to construction!

Thanks for comments guys! Very encouraging, especially so soon after my region launch. As far as NAM and custom lots/buildings, I have all the updated necessities. I also have custom trees.....the current setup right now is more for functionality then anything; once the transpo network is established, i'll be able to touch it up with better looking RHW roads. Once again, thanks again for the comments and keep reading, better production values to come!

In order to handle the massive task of prioritizing project elements and directing overall operations, the Emerald Basin Development Committee has been created. Led by former Chicago city engineer James Forthmeyer, the committee's purpose is to organize the development and construction efforts of Emerald Basin. In its first action as a body, the committee has laid out the following task items to be completed: 1. Complete phases 1 and 2 of the Interstate Construction Project 2. Branding - design seals for city, county, and committee, as well as an Emerald Basin Tourism graphic 3. Transportation map of the region (rail, road, port) 4. Incorporation of Fairview Any and all projects involving construction outside of incorporated city limits will be headed by the EBDC; all other projects will be dealt with by those city's individual councils.

The Emerald Basin Interstate Highway Construction Project (EBIHCP) will consist of five phases. Phase 1 will construct I-20 along the Mystic Bay coastline. Phase 2 will connect I-39 from I-20 to the East Fork. Phase 3 will connect I-5 from I-39 at St. Matthews to Stormy Bay. Phase 4 will build the two planned state highways connecting Mountain Home to the Basin and Stormy Bay, respectively. Phase 5 will constructy the railways connecting Port Hudson to Stormy Bay across the valley. Cost and elapsed time for each phase will be recorded along with aerial views of the construction itself.

My name is Timothy Simm and I am a journalism major at the University of Alaska - Anchorage. The purpose of this project is to study and document the growth and development of Emerald Basin, a region of northern Alaska from the year 2013 to the present. The current year is 2213, and technology has advanced to the stage where time travel allows students to observe and study past civilizations, including the construction of 21st century cities and their surrounding areas. Emerald Basin was chosen because construction on the region did not begin until after the year 2000, a rarity in the United States at the time. The area is unique geographically in that it has ocean and river access, as well as mountains and a volcano that make the basin region temperate in comparison to other Alaskan regions. The basin is rich in alleuvial sedimen, making farmland a premium in the area and providing crops such as sugar cane, corn, wheat, and tobacco. While the entire area is currently uninhabited, three interstates are planned as well as several state highways and rail. In political geographic terms, three counties are in the region: Jefferson, Franklin, and Cedar. The county seats are, respectively, Fairview, St. Matthew, and Mountain Home. Fairview and St. Matthew will make up the basin's major metropolitan area, while Mountain Home will be a small town of about two to three thousand. I-5 by way of I-39 will connect the western town of Port Hudson to the eastern port town of Stormy Bay. Rail also connect both of these industrial ports to each other, with the city of Fairview/St. Matthew located in between. Initial construction will begin on the county seats starting with Fairview, St. Matthew, and then Mountain Home after the skeleton road/rail system is built. All future journal entries will include aerial photos and detailed accounts of the basin's growth. The following is a list of consutrction priroties: 1. Interstate/highway system 2. Railway 3. Fairview/St. Matthew basic infrastructure (power, water, trash, etc.)