The document discusses highway alignment, including requirements for ideal alignment and factors affecting alignment. It covers engineering surveys like map study, reconnaissance, and preliminary and final location surveys. It also discusses alignment reports and drawings for new and realigned projects.
The document discusses highway alignment, including requirements for ideal alignment and factors affecting alignment. It covers engineering surveys like map study, reconnaissance, and preliminary and final location surveys. It also discusses alignment reports and drawings for new and realigned projects.
The document discusses highway alignment, including requirements for ideal alignment and factors affecting alignment. It covers engineering surveys like map study, reconnaissance, and preliminary and final location surveys. It also discusses alignment reports and drawings for new and realigned projects.
The document discusses highway alignment, including requirements for ideal alignment and factors affecting alignment. It covers engineering surveys like map study, reconnaissance, and preliminary and final location surveys. It also discusses alignment reports and drawings for new and realigned projects.
Factors affecting the alignment, Engineering surveys-Map study,
Reconnaissance, Preliminary and Final location & detailed survey.
Reports and drawings for new and re-aligned projects
Alignment
The position or the layout of the central line of the highway on the ground is called the alignment.
• Horizontal alignment includes straight and curved paths.
Vertical alignment includes level and gradients.
Bad alignment results in:
Alignment decision is important because a bad alignment will enhance the construction, maintenance and vehicle operating cost. Once an alignment is fixed and constructed, it is not easy to change it due to increase in cost of adjoining land and construction of costly structures by the roadside. Requirements for an alignment
The alignment between two terminal stations should be short and as far as possible be straight, but due to some practical considerations deviations may be needed.
The alignment should be easy to construct and maintain. It should be easy
for the operation of vehicles. So to the maximum extend easy gradients and curves should be provided.
It should be safe both from the construction and operating point of view especially at slopes, embankments, and cutting. It should have safe geometric features.
The alignment should be economical and it can be considered so only when
the initial cost, maintenance cost, and operating cost is minimum 1. Obligatory points these are the control points governing the highway alignment.
These points are classified into two categories. Points through which it should pass and points through which it should not pass. Some of the examples are:
Bridge site: The bridge can be located only where the river has straight and permanent path and also where the abutment and pier can be strongly founded. The road approach to the bridge should not be curved and skew crossing should be avoided as possible. Thus to locate a bridge the highway alignment may be changed.
Mountain: While the alignment passes through a mountain, the various alternatives are to either Construct a tunnel or to go round the hills. The suitability of the alternative depends on factors like topography, site conditions and construction and operation cost.
Intermediate town: The alignment may be slightly deviated to connect an
intermediate town or village nearby. These were some of the obligatory points through which the alignment should pass. Coming to the second category, that is the points through which the alignment should not pass are:
Religious places: These have been protected by the law from being acquired for any purpose. Therefore, these points should be avoided while aligning.
Very costly structures: Acquiring such structures means heavy compensation which would result in an increase in initial cost. So the alignment may be deviated not to pass through that point.
Lakes/ponds etc: The presence of a lake or pond on the alignment path would also necessiate deviation of the alignment. 2.Traffic: The alignment should suit the traffic requirements. Based on the origin destination data of the area, the desire lines should be drawn. The new alignment should be drawn keeping in view the desire lines, traffic flow pattern etc.
3.Geometric design: Geometric design factors such as gradient, radius of curve,
sight distance etc. also governs the alignment of the highway. To keep the radius of curve minimum, it may be required to change the alignment of the highway. The alignments should be finalized such that the obstructions to visibility do not restrict the minimum requirements of sight distance. The design standards vary with the class of road and the terrain and accordingly the highway should be aligned.
4.Economy: The alignment finalized should be economical. All the three costs i.e. construction, maintenance, and operating cost should be minimum. The construction cost can be decreased much if it is possible to maintain a balance between cutting and filling. Also try to avoid very high embankments and very deep cuttings as the construction cost will be very higher in these cases.
5.Other considerations: Various other factors that govern the alignment are drainage considerations, political factors and monotony. ENGINEERING SURVEY Map study : In most areas of the world, medium- and small-scale maps either have not yet been produced, or are outdated and inaccurate. The ability to extract a wide variety of information, and to locate features at 1:25,000 scale without ground control, provides an unprecedented opportunity to produce accurate, relatively inexpensive maps of entire countries, including areas previously inaccessible due to terrain. Frequent satellite coverage offered by Digital Globe can make such areas easily accessible and inexpensive to update. Reconnaissance A reconnaissance survey is defined as “an examination of all or part of an area accomplished in sufficient detail to make generalizations about the types and distributions of historic properties that may be present” within a given project area. Reconnaissance surveys represent a type of field survey that is often used to gather initial information regarding the presence or absence of historic properties within a project area. Reconnaissance surveys generally include limited shovel testing in areas that are likely to contain archaeological resources. Preliminary survey and Final location of alignment The main objective of the preliminary survey are:
To survey the various alternate alignments proposed after the reconnaissance and to collect all the necessary physical information and details of topography, drainage and soil
To compare the different proposals in view of the requirements of a good alignment
To estimate quantity of earthwork material and other construction aspects and to
workout the cost of alternate proposals
To finalize the best alignment from all considerations
The alignment finalized at the design office after the preliminary survey is to be first located on the field by establishing the centerline. The detailed survey is to be carried out for collecting the information necessary for the preparation of plans and construction details for highway project.
