The railroads were built by private companies, often awarding sweetheart contracts to construction firms owned by railroad officials and their friends, in an era predating securities regulations. By contrast, the interstate highway system was built by state highway departments, which were subject to a number of oversight provisions in state laws, as well as FHWA watchdogs, to ensure that contracts were properly awarded and fairly administered. Undoubtedly there were scattered examples of the well-connected profiting from learning the locations of future highway interchanges, and other examples of corrupt construction companies who colluded to rig the bidding process or who were paid for substandard work, but it was a very different era and process than 19th century railroad construction.