Unit 42

Highway Engineering
 The Transportation Planning Process
• Why are highways so important?
• Highways are vitally important to a country’s economic development.
The construction of a high quality road network directly increases a
nation’s economic output by reducing journey times and costs, making a
region more attractive economically. The actual construction process will
have the added effect of stimulating the construction market.
• Highway engineering is an engineering discipline which involves the
design, construction and maintenance of Highway Roads & Systems,
urban streets as well as parking facilities. Important aspects of highway
engineering include overall planning of routes, financing, environmental
impact evaluation, and value engineering to compare alternatives.
• Modes Of Transportation
• Railways
• Waterways
• Airways
IMPORTANT TERMS USED IN HIGHWAY ENGINEERING

•
Road :- Road is defined as a structure as a constructed of different
material to facilitate movement of vehicle, carts , cyclists,
pedestrians etc. from on place to another.
• Traffic :- The motor vehicles of different kinds such as carts, cyclists
and pedestrians moving together on a road is termed as traffic .

• Right of way :- The privilege to use road by the traffic is termed

as right of way.

• Street :- A road in a built up area or town is termed as street.

• Carriage way :- The part of road, which is used only by vehicular
traffic i.e. bullock carts and motor vehicles etc. is known as carriage
way.
• Foot path :- The part of road used by pedestrians or general people
walking on foot is termed as foot path.
 ROAD GEOMETRICS Various Elements Of Road Geometrics
Right of way

Formation width
• Road margin
• Road shoulder
• Carriage Way
• Side slopes
• Kerbs
• Horizontal and vertical curve
• Formation level
• Camber Gradient
• Design and average running speed
• Stopping and passing sight distances
• Super elevation
• HIGHWAYS SURVEYS AND PLANS :

• Highway survey or road survey and infact highway planning is essential for a new road
project. Road project means planning, designing and construction of a new road
connecting to terminal points or town with the existing road network. Road survey are
generally under taken to collect the necessary data and to determine the location of a
proposed road.

• Assessment of road length requirement in a village, district, state or entire

country.
•
Preparation of master plan of entire road project. The road project includes the following:
• Preparation of Topographic mapRoad alignment.
• Estimates andProject report

• TOPOGRAPHIC MAP
• A Map Showing the general details of an area such as building, roads, railway lines,
sources of water, hospitals, schools, drainage structure etc. including contour lines is
termed as topographic map.
• USES OF TOPOGRAPHIC MAP :-
• It helps to mark all the possible alignment and suggest the likely routes of the new road.It
helps to finalize the road gradient.It helps to locate the position of bridges on the river or
stream.
• ROAD ALIGNMENT https://slideplayer.com/slide/14551024/
• The route along which the centre line of a road is located in the plan or on the
ground is termed as road alignment. Requirement of an ideal road alignment :-The
road alignment b/w two station should be as short and straight as possible. The
road alignment should be economical.The road alignment should be safe for traffic
operations.

• BASIC CONSIDERATION GOVERNING ALIGNMENT FOR A ROAD IN PLAIN

AREA :-
Factors
• 1 Obligatory points
• 2 Traffic consideration
• 3 Geometric Design Parameters
• 4 Economic Factors

• STANDARDS FOR PREPARING HIGHWAY PLANS

1Preparation of highway plans
• 2 Master plan
• 3 Estimates
• 4 Project report

• Road materials
 Part – I : Highway Planning and
Development Issues.
• Factors determining Highway Planning and Development Issues:
Financing Highways:
1. Financing structure and sources of finance are the primary role of
government. Since the investment is huge, the Government with a
view to encourage the private participation in these developmental
projects offered various business, models like BOOT, BOLT & BOT. 
BOOT means Build Own Operate & Transfer. 
BOLT means Build Own Lease & Transfer. 
BOT means Build Operate & Transfer. Access Management of Highways
Access Management (AM) is a set of techniques that are used to
control access to highways, and other roadways. The benefits of
access management include improved movement of traffic, reduced
crashes, fewer vehicle conflicts and minimize interference to traffic
flow.
2. Environmental Impact Assessment of Highway Development:

Minimizing adverse environmental impacts, can be achieved by

integrating environmental considerations into highway development
planning, design, and construction.
3. Highway Safety:
Design standards are essential for highway safety. The variables
considered include functional classification, volume, traffic mix,
terrain, roadside environment and character of travel.
4. Road Traffic Noise:
Road traffic noise, considered as one of the greatest public
annoyances, is often generated by unstable traffic. The traffic noise
prediction models are commonly designed to assist in the
conception of new roads.
 Part – II : Functional & Structural Design of
Highways.
• Highway Geometric Design: It refers to the calculations and analyses made by
transportation designers to fit the highway to the topography of the site while meeting
the safety, service and performance standards.
• To meet these objective, the following considerations have to be properly addressed in
the design process.
• Design speed
• Design traffic volume.
• & Number of lanes & Avoid road intersections near bend or at the top or bottom of a
hill.
•  Avoid sharp horizontal curves.
•  AVoid sudden changes in sight distance, especially near crossings.
•  Enable ruling gradient in most sections.
•  Facilitate easy grade and curvature.
•  Cross section, Horizontal and vertical clearance.
• Sight distance, Alignment, super- elevation and grades.
•  Level of service (LOS).
• Lane width.
 Functional & Structural Design of Highways
(Contd…)
• Highway Design Process:
• A highway designer is concerned with at least four major areas
of design at different stages of project planning and design
phases:
• (1) Location Design; Location design takes place at the earlier
stage of project planning. It refers to the macro-level routing of
a planned highway connecting two points through the existing
highways, communities, natural terrain.
• (2) Access Design: With all the necessary inputs like lane-use
master plan, population, survey maps, geology, ecological,
biological, environmental information; and aerial photographs,
several potential routes are drawn up by the designer on a
contour map. After final approvals from competent person, the
designer then proceeds with the detailed alignment, cross
sectional and access design.
• 3) Highway Alignment:
• The position or lay out of centre line of the highway on the ground
is called the alignment. It includes straight path, horizontal deviation
and curves. Once the road is aligned and constructed, it is not easy
to change the alignment due to increase in cost of adjoining land
and construction of costly structure. If there is improper
alignment ,then this may lead to:
•  Increase in accident rate.  Increase in vehicle operation cost.
 Increase in maintenance cost,  Increase in construction cost.

 (4) Cross Sectional Design
:- The cross section of a road includes:-
Footpath. Service roads.  Bus-bays.  Parking lanes. 
Shoulders.  Road margins.
 Kerbs.
 Camber or cross slope.  Carriage way.  Right of way.
Important Terminology in Highway Engineering
 Part – III : Construction, Maintenance and
Management of Highways
• & The commercial project elements include understanding of the
contract, environmental, political, legal and public concerns.
•  The technical elements include materials, material quality,
installation techniques, and traffic control systems, etc.
•  Construction of a highway today requires broad knowledge of a
number of elements which could be divided into technical and
commercial elements of the system and process, respectively.
modern machinery have raised the level of skill sets required to
understand and manage highway construction projects.
•Road Construction Techniques
Sequence of Construction
Operations:
Common Problems in Highway Roads:
• Highway Maintenance Management System Highway
maintenance has the following objectives:
1.Maintaining road safety and signage.
• 2.Prolonging the functional and structural life of the
pavement.
• 3. The repair of the functional pavement defects.

• Types of Highway Maintenance:

• Emergency maintenance
• Remedial maintenance
• Preventive maintenance  Keeping the road reserve in an
acceptable condition.
• The use of latest equipment would also result in saving
in construction period,
• This may also result in saving in life cycle cost of road
construction as compared to road construction using
conventional materials.
• The Road, Transport and Highways Ministry has decided
to use new materials and techniques in highway projects
on experimental basis to promote innovation in
construction of roads.
TYPES OF CURVES: Horizontal Curves Vertical Curves

• Advantages of curves :
• To provide comfort to the passengers using roads on change of
direction or grade.
• To alert the driver against any mishap due to change in the direction
of road.
• To keep the speed of vehicles within limits.
 Highway planning
• The process of transportation planning entails developing a transportation plan for
an urban region. It is an ongoing process that seeks to address the transport needs
of the inhabitants of the area, and with the aid of a process of consultation with all
relevant groups, strives to identify and implement an appropriate plan to meet
these needs.
The process takes place at a number of levels. At an administrative/political level,
a transportation policy is formulated and politicians must decide on the general
location of the transport corridors/networks to be prioritised for development,
on the level of funding to be allocated to the different schemes and on the
mode or modes of transport to be used within them.
Below this level, professional planners and engineers undertake a process to
define in some detail the corridors/networks that comprise each of the given
systems selected for development at the higher political level.
At the lowest planning level, each project within a given system is defined in
detail in terms of its physical extent and layout. In the case of road schemes,
these functions are the remit of the design engineer, usually employed by the
roads authority within which the project is located.
• Transportation planning provides the information, tools, and public
involvement needed for improving transportation system
performance
• Transportation planning is a continuous process that requires
monitoring of the system’s performance and condition
• The transportation planning process almost always involves the
following six steps (in some form or another):
• 1. Identification of goals/objectives (anticipatory planning) or
problems (reactive planning)
• 2. Generation of alternative methods of accomplishing these
objectives or solving these problems
• 3. Determination of the impacts of the different alternatives
• 4. Evaluation of different alternatives
• 5. Selection of one alternative
• 6. Implementation
• https://www.slideshare.net/gsgindia/
introduction-to-highway-engineering
Camber
Camber
Kerb
 Super elevation
• Super elevation is tilting the roadway to help centrifugal force
developed as the vehicle goes around a curve.
• Along with the friction , it is what keeps a vehicle from going off the
road.
Super elevation
• 1. The main objective of transportation is?
a) Economical transport of goods
b) Economical transport of passengers
c) To generate revenue
d) Safe economical and efficient transport of goods and passengers
• 2. Which is the most flexible type of transportation available?
a) Roadway
b) Railway
c) Waterway
d) Airway
• 3. The transportation system that requires a low initial investment among
the following is?
a) Roadway
b) Railway
c) Harbour
d) Airport
• 4. The phases of highway planning do not include the following?
a) Assessment of road length requirement
b) Preparation of master plan
c) Showing the phasing of a plan in five year plan
d) Financing
• 5. Which type of roads can be utilized during monsoon?
a) Unpaved roads
b) Gravel roads
c) Fair weather roads
d) Bituminous roads
• 6.Expressways should be constructed along __________
a) Congested cities
b) Major traffic corridors
c) Along with highways
d) Small cities
• 7. The changes in gradient and vertical curve are covered under
which type of alignment?
a) Horizontal alignment
b) Vertical alignment
c) Geometric design
d) Highway specifications
• 8. The improper alignment of road will not result in
a) Increase in construction cost
b) Increase in maintenance cost
c) Increase of population
d) Increase in accidents
• 9.The basic requirement of alignment should be __________
a) Short
b) Easy
c) Safe
d) Short, easy, safe and economical
• 10. The economical option during the construction of a road around
a hill is __________
a) Cut the hill
b) Provide a tunnel
c) Provide a road around the hill
d) Look for other alternative approaches
• 11. The most raised portion of the pavement is called ___________
a) Super elevation
b) Camber
c) Crown
d) Kerb
• 13. The main purpose of providing camber is ___________
a) To collect storm water
b) To maintain equilibrium
c) To follow IRC specifications
d) To follow geometric specifications
• 14. A part of pavement raised with respect to one side keeping the
other side constant is called ___________
a) Footpath
b) Kerb
c) Super elevation
d) Camber
• 15. The materials not included in highway construction are
__________
a) Stone
b) Dust
c) Soil
d) Petrol
• 16.For places where there is a passage of flood water then the
highway has to be built on
a) Embankment
b) Subway
c) Overpass
d) Underpass
• 17.The layer which is constructed above embankment is called
__________
a) Sub grade
b) Fill
c) Base
d) Sub base
• 18.Bitumen is a by-product of __________
a) Wood
b) Petroleum
c) Kerosene
d) Coal
• 19.The embankment is constructed by using __________
a) Soil
b) Fly ash
c) GGBS
d) Bricks
• 20. Embankment are laid __________
a) Above ground level
b) Below ground level
c) 3.0 m above ground level
d) 5.0m above foundation level
• 21. The part of pavement left over for drainage is called
__________
a) Sub base
b) Footpath
c) Kerb
d) Shoulder
• 22.What is the first step in highway construction after paper work?
a) Surveying
b) Estimation
c) Bill of quantities
d) Evaluation
• 23.The design of the highway should satisfy __________
a) Structural requirement
b) Drainage system
c) Economical
d) All of the mentioned
• 24.The economical highway can be achieved by __________
a) Cheap aggregate
b) Good quality aggregate
c) Good aggregate and less transport cost
d) More transport cost and less quality aggregate
Basic Elements of Highway Traffic Analysis
• A speed is termed free-flow speed as it is in no way hin-
• dered by the presence of other vehicles on the highway.

• As more vehicles use the section of highway, the density of the flow
will increase and their speed will decrease from
• their maximum free-flow value (uf)
• If traffic volumes continue to increase, a point is reached where
traffic will be brought to a stop, thus speeds
• will equal zero (u = 0), with the density at its maximum point as cars
are jammed
• bumper to bumper (termed jam density, kj).
The general form of
Greenshields’ speed-density relationship can be expressed as
• Example for maximum flow
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engineering-questions-answers/#google_vignette