Da estrada à ferrovia: o legado do Terceiro Batalhão Rodoviário em Vacaria/RS

Abstract

In the middle of the 20th century, Brazil went through a process of integration through the construction of railways and highways. In the south of the country, this transport policy made the Campos de Cima de Serra region receive investments that materialized in the activities of the Third Road Battalion - 3rd BRv, an institution linked to the Brazilian Army. These undertakings substantially modified the social and economic coexistence of Vacaria, the city that hosted the Battalion responsible for the construction of the highway that linked the southern states. The present research aims to analyze the presence of the 3rd BRv and how the region was impacted by these works. The "sapador", the chief engineer, the nurse, the person responsible for the army market, civilian or military, assume an important role in the implementation of highways and railways in the southern region, at different times, impacting the social relations where they were established. This kind of undertaking has a duration established by the pace of the work and, when the activities are over, these workers move to other places, leaving marks of their presence. It is about this History that the research is concerned, it seeks to give visibility to the presence of the 3rd BRv through sparse documentation in the hands of the heirs of this process. In addition to this documentation, as there are still people related to the 3rd BRv, Oral History as a methodology was activated to recall the memories of that period. This narrative was produced, based on empirical and oral research, generated a documentary about the history of the presence of the 3rd BRv in Vacaria with the objective of serving as a repository to the teaching of History in the region, area of concentration of the Postgraduate Program in History at UCS. [resumo fornecido pelo autor]