Civil Engineering Department

Wolkite University, College of Engineering and Technology

Proposal for CEng 5281 BSc Thesis/project

Title: Upgrading cobblestone road to paved road (from entrance 2 to

entrance 3/ behind male’s dormitory).

Mara Simion 1, Alazar Haile 2, Abenezer Taye 3, Abenezer Belay 4, Eyob Zewde 5, Natinael Kebede 6

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Wolkite University, Civil Engineering Department, ID Number ENGR/560 /09
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Wolkite University, Civil Engineering Department, ID Number ENGR/075 /09
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Wolkite University, Civil Engineering Department, ID Number ENGR/039 /09
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Wolkite University, Civil Engineering Department, ID Number ENGR/038 /09
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Wolkite University, Civil Engineering Department, ID Number ENGR/345 /09
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Wolkite University, Civil Engineering Department, ID Number ENGR/1265/08

Advisor/s

Mr. Samuel A.

Mr. Desta M.

26; June, 2021

 Abstract/Summary

This proposal document is written on what we have been working for our survey data (from entrance
2 to entrance 3/ behind male’s dormitory) in order to make safe, economical, easy and aesthetic road
alignment in Wolkite university compound and the design includes; geometric design, pavement
design (flexible pavement), and drainage design of a selected road. The document includes five
chapters (chapter one deals about background of the project, chapter two deals about objective of the
project, chapter three deals about literature review, chapter four deals proposed methodology and
finally chapter five deals proposed time plan), references, appendices, table of contents, list of tables
and figures are included for describing the exact location of topics, tables and figures.

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 Acknowledgement

First of all we would like to acknowledge Wolkite University, College of Engineering and
Technology, Civil Engineering Department, because they give the great opportunity to design on our
need of project area and for their dedication.
And also we would like to give our great thank for our BSc. Thesis /project coordinators Mr Kibret
G. and for our project advisors Mr Samuel A. and Mr Desta M. for their limitless support.
Finally, yet importantly, we would like to thank our families for their endless support during our stay
in Wolkite University.

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 Table of Contents

Abstract/Summary....................................................................................................................................i

Acknowledgement...................................................................................................................................ii

Table of Contents...................................................................................................................................iii

List of Tables..........................................................................................................................................iii

List of figures.........................................................................................................................................iii

1. Background......................................................................................................................................1

2. Objectives........................................................................................................................................2

3. Literature review..............................................................................................................................3

3.1 Geometric design.....................................................................................................................3

3.2 Pavement design......................................................................................................................3

3.3 Drainage design.......................................................................................................................4

4. Proposed Methodology....................................................................................................................5

4.1 Study Area...............................................................................................................................6

4.2 Data collection and analysis....................................................................................................6

4.3 Soil and materials investigation...............................................................................................7

4.4 Limitation.................................................................................................................................7

5. Proposed Time Plan.........................................................................................................................8

Reference.................................................................................................................................................9

Appendix................................................................................................................................................10

Appendix A; general view of our selected road................................................................................10

List of Tables

Table 1: Proposal time plan.....................................................................................................................8

List of figures

Figure 1: Our project proposed methodology.........................................................................................6

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 1. Background

A well-developed road transport sector in developing countries is assumed to fuel up the growth
process through a variety of activities of the development endeavors of a nation. Today, Ethiopia is
expanding its road network to connect its major cities and towns throughout the entire country. Road
transport facilities are essential for expanding education, health service provision, trade facilitation
both within the country and the export market.

One of the features of a properly designed highway is a sufficiently designed pavement. A highway
pavement is structure consisting of superimposed layers of processed materials above the natural soil
subgrade, whose primary function is to distribute the applied vehicle loads to the subgrade. The
pavement structure should be able to provide a surface of acceptable riding quality, adequate skid
resistance and low noise pollution. The ultimate aim is to ensure that the transmitted stresses due to
wheel load are sufficiently reduced, so that they will not exceed bearing capacity of the subgrade.
Two types of pavements are generally considered; flexible and rigid pavement. Most of the road
infrastructure in our country is flexible pavement and design of flexible pavements in our country is
based on the prevailing condition of soil and materials report using the Ethiopian Roads Authority
(ERA) Pavement Design Manual for Flexible Pavements.

Generally speaking without transportation network there will be no social and economic growth. Road
transportation system is essential infrastructure for a nation’s development and growth both for public
and private sector. It is almost impossible to think of development without having accessible and safe
transportation means.

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 2. Objectives

In previous semester in Integrated Civil Engineering Design [CENG5191] course we were able to
practice and design geometric parameters of road project by using a given survey data (northing,
easting and elevation) and now we want to design pavement design (flexible pavement), drainage
design in addition to geometric design by using our survey data (northing, easting and elevation);
from entrance 2 to entrance 3(behind males dormitory).

Main objective:

As a highway engineer the main objective of this project is to design short, easy and economical
root connecting entrance 2 to entrance 3(behind male’s dormitory).

Our selected project has the following sub objectives:

 To carry out detailed Engineering design.

 To exercise working manuals of highway and engineering software’s.
 To build up our theoretical concepts.

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 3. Literature review

3.1 Geometric design

The geometric design of this project is designed based on the general design standard values for road
standards as per ERA Geometric Design Manual-2013. The project road is designed following the
ERA geometric design manual-2013. The Geometric design has been carried out with civil 3D Road
design software. The detailed survey data in the form of X, Y, Z are imported onto software using
Data transfer module. Then surface modeling module is used to prepare the Digital Terrain Model
(DTM) of the selected belt route.

Geometric design is the process whereby the layout of the road through the terrain is designed to meet
the needs of the road users. The principal geometric features are roads cross-section and vertical and
horizontal alignments. Appropriate standards depend upon the following factors:

 Topography.
 Traffic volume and traffic compositions.
 Design vehicle characteristics.
 Road classification.
 Design speed and other speed controls.
 Control of access.
 Road safety considerations.
 Land use and physical features.
 Economical and financial considerations.
 Environmental considerations.
 Alternative construction technologies. (mara simion, may, 2021)

3.2 Pavement design

Pavements are designed and constructed to provide durable all weather travelling surfaces for safe and
speedy movement of people and goods with an acceptable level of comfort to users. These functional
requirements of pavements are achieved through careful consideration in the following aspects during
the design and construction phases:-

a. Selection of pavement type.

b. Selection of material to be used for various pavement layers and treatment of sub grade
soils.
c. Structural thickness design for pavement layers.
d. Subsurface drainage design for pavement layers.
e. Surface drainage and geometric design.

The two major considerations in structural design of highway pavements are:-

 Material design and
 Thickness design. (yared dejene, 2015)

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 3.3 Drainage design

Highway drainage structures are an essential component in the design development of a highway. For
a highway to serve its function properly it should be provided with drainage facility. It is aimed at the
protection of the road through the prevention of damage due to water to achieve a chosen level of
service without major rehabilitation at the end of the selected design period, as economically as
possible. The design procedures take in to account factors such as rainfall intensity, catchment areas,
ground cover and run-out.

The water flows considered in this project was the flows generated by the run off of the rain water
falling on the carriageway and its surrounding.

Factors affecting Drainage

In the hydrologic analysis for a drainage structure, there are many factors affecting floods. Some of
the factors that need to be considered are:

 Rainfall amount and storm distribution

 Catchment area, size, shape and orientation.
 Ground cover.
 Type of soil.
 Slope of the terrain and stream(s) and etc… (yared dejene, 2015)

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 4. Proposed Methodology

First, the reconnaissance surveying will be conducted to obtain the general information about the
area, control points were established, Next centerline of the proposed road will be set out and detail
topographic data will be collected using total station and as reference we will use near bench mark to
our project. Using collected data and additional information gathered from different sources, the
hydraulics (drainage design) and geometric design will be done.

Steps that we will perform during civil 3D to performance to design geometric elements:

Step 1: importing survey data

Step 2: creating horizontal alignment

Step 3: creating vertical alignment

Step 4: creating assembly or templates

Step 5: creating corridors

Step 6: creating section view

Step 7: computing cut and fills

Step 8: creating plan and production sheet view

Step 9: reporting

Then next, soil samples will be taken at different stations and required tests are undertaken. Based on
the test result the detail pavement design will be conducted.

Finally the earthwork will be computed and plan will be prepared. For surveying data collection the
latest surveying instrument (Total station) will be used. For data processing the popular engineering
software (Civil 3D 2020) will be utilized. In addition, the ERA Design manual is fully consulted.

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Figure 1: Our project proposed methodology

Online
Literature source and
review previous
projects

survey data
data collection and Vehicle
survey

by civil 3D,
excel and by
Analysis
manual
calculation

Result

Discussion and
(conclusion and
recommendation)

4.1 Study Area

The project area is located in Wolkite University behind male’s dormitory. The project is that
connects the paved road of entrance 2 to entrance 3(inside Wolkite University). It covers 1.4km. And
the road has very important in reducing the high flow of traffic on existing roads. And additionally it
has great importance for vehicles because it is located on wolkite university sewage treatment plant.

4.2 Data collection and analysis

There will be two Sources of data to perform our project:

a) Primary data: surveying data from total station, traffic data from field collection and laboratory
test results.
b) Secondary data: Written documents such as ERA manual, Lecture notes & handout.

We will use different software & tools for data analysis such as:
 Civil 3D to generate contour map.
 Auto cad: for detail drawing.
 Microsoft excels: for drawing graphs & gathering OGL data.
 And tools: such as scientific calculator, drawing material…

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 4.3 Soil and materials investigation

Field works will conduct to assess the overall condition of the project area and to collect pertinent
data required for design. During the field investigation, assessment of the roadbed materials,
investigation of roadbed and construction materials and foundation conditions on major crossing sites
will be done. The methodology applied for investigating the roads include visual description for sub
grade soil extension and opening of trial pits manually which sunk up to the level of 1-1.2 meters
from the formation levels. Logging of test pits, photographing and taking representative samples will
be also part of the investigation.

4.4 Limitation

During in the project doing, we will face some challenges:

 Time shortage,
 Lack of financial/budget,
 Unavailability’s of internet access…

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 5. Proposed Time Plan

NO Activity Date
1 Submit concept note Jun 9, 2021
2 Submit written project proposal Jun 26, 2021
3 Progress report 1 Jul 12, 2021
4 Progress report 2 Jul 26, 2021
5 Submit final written project Aug 6, 2021
6 Project defense Aug 9, 2021
Table 1: Proposal time plan

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 Reference

ethiopian road athority. (2013). geometric design manual.

mara simion. (may, 2021). mara integrated repot.

yared dejene. (2015). final year report.

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 Appendix

Appendix A; general view of our selected road

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