TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING

CEC2105

Lecture-2
Highway Development And Planning

Civil Engineering Department

KANNADASAN B
 Transportation engineering
• Transportation engineering is the
application of technology and scientific
principles to the planning, functional design,
operation and management of facilities for
any mode of transportation in order to
provide for the safe, efficient, rapid,
comfortable, convenient, economical, and
environmentally compatible movement of
people and goods from one place to other.
 MODES OF TRANSPORTATION

• Basic mode of transportation are

 Land
• Roadway
• railway
 Water
 Air
 MODES OF TRANSPORTATION
• Highways
Car, Bus, Truck, non- motorized ..etc
• Railways
Passenger and Goods
• Airways
Aircraft and Helicopters
• Waterways
Ships, boats…
• Continuous Flow systems
Pipelines,belts,elevetor,ropeway…etc.
• Merits and Demerits: Based on accessibility, mobility, cost, tonnage..
Airways
• Fastest among all other modes
• More comfortable
• Time saving
• Uneconomical
Waterways
• slowest among all other modes
• It needs minimum energy to haul unit load
through unit distance.
• This can be possible between ports on the sea
routes or along the river
• economical
 Railways
• The transportation along the railways track
could be advantageous by railways between
the stations both for the passengers and
goods, particularly for long distance.
• It depends upon the road transport i.e. road
could serve as a feeder system.
• Energy require to haul a unit load through
unit distance by the railway is only ¼ to 1/5
of that required by road.
• Safety
 Highways
• It gives the maximum service to one and all
• It gives maximum flexibility for travel with reference
to route, direction, time and speed of travel
• It provide door to door service
• Other modes are depend on it
• It requires small investment for the government
• Motor vehicles are cheaper than other carriers like
rail locomotive and wagons
• It saves the time for short distance
• High degree of accident due to flexibility
of movement
 Scope of highway engineering

• Development, planning and location

• Highway design, geometric and structure

• Traffic performance and its control

• Materials, construction and maintenance

• Economic, finance and administration

 ROLE /IMPACT OF TRANSPORTATION

• Economic Development

• Social Development

• Spatial Development

• Cultural Development

• Political Development
 Characteristics of road transport
• Roads are used by various types of road vehicles,
like passenger cars, buses, trucks, pedal cycle and
animal drawn vehicle.
• It requires a relatively small investment for the
government.
• It offers a complete freedom to road users to
transfer the vehicle from one lane to another and
from one road to another according to need and
convenience.
• Speed and movement is directly related with the
severity of accident.
• Road transport is the only means of transport that
offers itself to the whole community alike.
 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ROAD
CONSTRUCTION
• Oldest mode
 Foot paths- animal ways, cart path……..
• As civilization evolved the need for transportation
increased
ROMAN ROAD-(500 B.C.)
 They were built straight regardless of gradient
 They were built after the soft soil was removed and
a hard stratum was reached.
 Thickness varies from 0.75 m to 1.2m
Roman Road Construction
Basic cross section
 Modern Highway
Roman Roads
 Other oldest road transport are

• Tresaguet construction

• Metcalf construction

• Telford construction

• Mecadam construction
 Indian Roads
• India has a large road network of over 3.314
million kilometers of roadways (2.1 million
miles), making it 3rd largest road network in the
world.

• At 0.66 km of highway per square kilometer of

land the density of India’s highway network is
higher than that of the United States (0.65) and
far higher than that of China's (0.16) or Brazil's
(0.20).
 Highway Development in India
• Jayakar Committee (1927)
• Central Road Fund (1929)
• Indian Roads Congress (IRC), 1934
• Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), 1950
• Motor vehicle act (1936)
• National Highway Authority of India (NHAI),1995
• First twenty year road plan ( 1943-61 )
• Second twenty year road plan ( 1961-81 )
• Highway Research board ( 1973 )
• National Transport Policy committee ( 1978 )
• Third twenty year road plan ( 1981-2001 )
 Jayakar Committee,1927
• After the first World War, motor vehicle using the roads
increases, this demanded a better road network.
• In 1927,Indian road development committee was appointed
by the government with M.R. Jaykar as chairman.
• Road development in the country should be made as a
national interest since local govt. do not have financial and
technical capacity for road development.
• An extra tax should be levied on petrol from road users to
create the road development fund.
• To establish a semi-official ,technical institution to pool
technical knowledge, sharing of ideas and to act as an
advisory body.
• To create a national level institution to carry research ,
development works and consultation.
 Central road fund
• It was formed on 1st march 1929
• The consumers of petrol were charged an extra
leavy of 2.64 paisa per litre of petrol to built up
this road development fund.
• From this 20% of annual reveneu is to be retain
as a central reveneu for research and
experimental work expenses..etc
• Balance 80% is allowed by central govt. to
various states based on actual petrol
consumption or revenue collected.
 Central Road Fund , 1929
CRF Act , 2000

Distribution of 100% cess on petrol as follows:

 57.5% for NH
MORTH
 30% for SH
 12.5% for safety works on rail-Road crossing.

50% cess on diesel for Rural Road development

 Indian Roads Congress, 1934
• Central semi official body known as IRC was formed in
1934.
• To provide national forum for regular pooling of
experience and ideas on matters related to construction
and maintenance of highways.
• It is a active body controlling the specification,
standardization and recommendations on materials,
design of roads and bridges.
• It publishes journals, research publications and standard
specifications guide lines.
• To provide a platform for expression of professional
opinion on matters relating to roads and road transport.
 Motor vehicle act

• It was formed in 1939

• To regulate the road traffic in the form of
traffic laws, ordinances and regulations.
• Three phases primarily covered are
control of driver, vehicle ownership and
vehicle operation
• It was revised on 1988
Central road research institute(1950)
 engaged in carrying out research and development
projects.
 design, construction and maintenance of roads and
runways, traffic and transportation planning of mega
and medium cities, management of roads in different
terrains,
 Improvement of marginal materials.
 Utilization of industrial waste in road construction.
 Landslide control.
 Ground improvements, environmental pollution.
 Road traffic safety.
 Ministry of Road Transport & Highways

• Planning, development and maintenance of

National Highways in the country.
• Extends technical and financial support to State
Governments for the development of state roads
and the roads of inter-state connectivity and
economic importance.
• Evolves standard specifications for roads and
bridges in the country.
• It stores the data related to technical knowledge
on roads and bridges.
 Highway Research Board

• To ascertain the nature and extent of

research required
• To correlate research information from
various organisation in India and abroad.
• To collect and correlation services.
• To collect result on research
• To channelise consultative services
 Classification of Highways
Depending on weather
 All weather roads
 Fair weather roads

Depending the type of Carriage way

 Paved roads(WBM)
 Unpaved roads(earth road or gravel road)

Depending upon the pavement surface

 Surfaced roads(bituminous or cement
concrete road)
 Un surfaced roads
 Classification of Highways
Based on the Traffic Volume
 Heavy
 Medium
 Light

Based on Load or Tonnage

Class 1 or Class 2 etc or Class A , B etc
Tonnes per day

Based on location and function ( Nagpur road plan )

 National highway (NH)
 State highway (SH)
 Major district road (MDR)
 Other district road (ODR)
 Village road (VR)
 Based on modified system of
Highways classification
• Primary
 Expressways
 National Highways

• Secondary
 SH
 MDR

• Tertiary
 ODR
 VR
 Expressways
• Heavy traffic at high speed (120km/hr)
• Land Width (90m)
• Full access control
• Connects major points of traffic generation
• No slow moving traffic allowed
•No loading, unloading,
parking.

The Mumbai-Pune Expressway as seen

from Khandala
 National Highways
• NH are the main highways running through the length and
breadth of India, connecting major parts,foreign
highways,capital of large states and large industrial and
tourist centres including roads required for strategic
movements for the defence of India.
• The national highways have a total length of 70,548 kms.
Indian highways cover 2% of the total road network of India
and carry 40% of the total traffic.
• The highway connecting Delhi-Ambala-Amritsar is denoted
as NH-1, whereas a bifurcation of this highway beyond
Jalandar to Srinagar and Uri is denoted NH-1-A
• The longest highway in India is NH7 which stretches from
Varansi in Uttar Pradesh to Kanyakumari in the southern
most point of Indian mainland.
 National Highways cont…

• The shortest highway is NH47A which stretches

from Ernakulam to Kochi and covers total length of
4 Kms.
• Golden Quadrilateral – (5,846 Kms) connecting Delhi-
Kolkata-Chennai-Mumbai
 NH-2 Delhi- Kol (1453 km)
 NH 4,7&46 Che-Mum (1290km )
 NH5&6 Kol- Che (1684 m)
 NH 8 Del- Mum (1419 km)
 State Highways
• They are the arterial roads of a state,
connecting up with the national highways of
adjacent states, district head quarters and
important cities within the state.

• Total length of all SH in the country is

1,37,119 Kms.
• Speed 80 kmph
 Major District Roads

• Important roads with in a district serving

areas of production and markets ,
connecting those with each other or with
the major highways.

• India has a total of 4,70,000 kms of

MDR.
• Speed 60-80kmph
Other district roads
 serving rural areas of production and providing
them with outlet to market centers or other
important roads like MDR or SH.
 Speed 50-60kmph
Village roads
• They are roads connecting villages or group of
villages with each other or to the nearest road of a
higher category like ODR or MDR.
• India has 26,50,000 kms of ODR+VR out of the
total 33,15,231 kms of all type of roads.
• Speed-40-50kmph
 Urban Road Classification

• Arterial Roads
• Sub Arterial
• Collector
• Local Street
• Cul-de-sac
• Pathway
• Driveway
 ARTERIAL

• No frontage access, no standing vehicle,

very little cross traffic.
• Design Speed : 80km/hr
• Land width : 50 – 60m
• Divided roads with full or partial parking
• Pedestrian allowed to walk only at
intersection
 SUB ARTERIAL ROAD
• Bus stops but no standing vehicle.
• Less mobility than arterial.
• Spacing for CBD : 0.5km
• Design speed : 60 km/hr
• Land width : 30 – 40 m
 Collector Street
• Collects and distributes traffic from local
streets
• Provides access to arterial roads
• Located in residential, business
and industrial areas.
• Full access allowed.
• Parking permitted.
• Design speed : 50km/hr
• Land Width : 20-30m
 Local Street

• Design Speed : 30km/hr.

• Land Width : 10 – 20m.
• Primary access to residence, business or
other abutting property
• Less volume of traffic at slow speed
• Unrestricted parking, pedestrian
movements. (with frontage access, parked
vehicle, bus stops and no waiting
restrictions)
 CUL–DE- SAC
• Dead End Street with only one entry
access for entry and exit.
• Recommended in Residential areas
 Driveway

• A driveway is a type of private road for local

access to one or a small group of structures, and
is owned and maintained by an individual or
group.
• Driveways are commonly used as paths to
private garages, fuel stations, or houses
 Road Patterns

• Rectangular or Block patterns

• Radial or Star block pattern
• Radial or Star Circular pattern
• Radial or Star grid pattern
• Hexagonal Pattern
• Minimum travel Pattern
 First 20-years road plan(1943-63)
• The conference of chief engineer held at Nagpur in
1943 finalized the first 20-years road development
plan for India called Nagpur road plan
• Road network was classified into five categories.
• The responsibility of construction maintenance of NH
was assign to central govt.
• The target road length was 5,32,700 km at the end of
1961.
• Density of about 16km of road length per 100 sq. km
area would be available in the country by the year
1963.
 First 20-years road plan cont…
• The formulae were based on star and grid
pattern of road network.
• An allowance of 15% is provided for
agricultural industrial development during the
next 20-years
• The length of railway track in the area was
also consider in deciding the length of first
category road. The length or railway track is
directly subtracted from the estimated road
length of metalled roads.
 Second 20-years road plan(1961-81)
• It was initiated by the IRC and was finalised in
1959 at the meeting of chief engineers.
• It is known as the Bombay road plan.
• The target road length was almost double that
of Nagpur road plan i.e. 10,57,330 km.
• Density about 32 km per 100 sq. km. and an
outlay of 5200 crores
• Every town with population above 2000 in
plans and above 1000 in semi hill area and
above 500 in hilly area should be connected
by metalled road
 Second 20-years road plan cont…
• the maximum distance from any place in a
semi develop area would be 12.8 km from
metalled road and 4.8 from any road
• Expressways have also been considered in
this plan and 1600km of length has been
included in the proposed target NH
• Length of railway track is considered
independent of road system
• 5% are to be provided for future development
and unforeseen factor
 Third twenty years road plan (1981-2001)
• The future road development should be based on
the revised classification of roads system i.e.
primary, secondary and tertiary
• Develop the rural economy and small towns with all
essential features.
• Population over 500 should be connected by all
weather roads.
• Density increases to 82 km per 100 sq. km
• The NH network should be expanded to form a
square grids of 100 km sides so that no part of the
country is more than 50 km away from the NH
 Third twenty years road plan cont…
• Expressway should be constructed along major
traffic corridors
• All towns and villages with population over 1500
should be connected by MDR and villages with
population 1000-1500 by ODR.
• Road should be built in less industrialized areas to
attract the growth of industries
• The existing roads should be improved by rectifying
the defects in the road geometry, widening, riding
quality and strengthening the existing pavement to
save vehicle operation cost and thus to conserve
energy
Highway alignment and
surveys
 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.
• Due to improper alignment , the
disadvantages are,
 Increase in construction
 Increase in maintenance cost
 Increase in vehicle operation cost
 Increase in accident cost
• 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
Requrements of highway alignment
 Short
 Easy
 Safe
 Economical

• Short- desirable to have a short alignment between two

terminal stations.
• Easy- easy to construct and maintain the road with minimum
problem also easy for operation of vehicle.
• Safe- safe enough for construction and maintenance from
the view point of stability of natural hill slope, embankment
and cut slope also safe for traffic operation.
• Economical- total cost including initial cost, maintenance
cost and vehicle operation cost should be minimum.
 Factors controlling alignment
 Obligatory points
 Traffic
 Geometric design
 Economics
Other considerations
Additional care in hill roads
 Stability
 Drainage
 Geometric standards of
hill roads
 Resisting length
 Factors controlling alignment cont...
Obligatory points
 Obligatory points through which alignment is to pass
Examples:-bridge site, intermediate town , Mountain pass
etc…
 Obligatory points through which alignment should
not
pass.
Examples:-religious places, costly structure, unsuitable land

etc…

Traffic
• origin and destination survey should be carried out in the
area and the desire lines be drawn showing the trend of
traffic flow.
Geometric design
• Design factors such as gradient ,radius of curve and sight
distance also govern the final alignment of the highway.
• Gradient should be flat and less than the ruling gradient or
design gradient.
• Avoid sudden changes in sight distance, especially near
crossings
• Avoid sharp horizontal curves
• Avoid road intersections near bend
Economy
• Alignment finalised based on total cost including initial cost,
maintenance cost and vehicle operation cost.
Other consideration
• Drainage consideration, political consideration
• Surface water level, high flood level
• Environmental consideration
 Topographical control points
• The alignment, where possible should avoid passing
through
 Marshy and low lying land with poor drainage
 Flood prone areas
 Unstable hilly features

Materials and constructional features

 Deep cutting should be avoided
 Earth work is to be balanced; quantities for filling and
excavation
 Alignment should preferably be through better soil area
to minimize pavement thickness
 Location may be near sources of embankment and
pavement materials
stability
• A common problem in hilly roads is land sliding
• The cutting and filling of the earth to construct the roads on
hilly sides causes steepening of existing slope and affect its
stability.
Drainage
• Avoid the cross drainage structure
• The number of cross drainage structure should be
minimum.
Geometric standard of hilly road
• Gradient, curve and speed
• Sight distance, radius of curve
Resisting length
• The total work to be done to move the loads along the route
taking horizontal length, the actual difference in level between
two stations and the sum of the ineffective rise and fall in
Engineering Surveys for Highway locations
Before a highway alignment is finalised in highway
project, the engineering survey are to be carried out.
The various stages of engineering surveys are

 Map study (Provisional alignment

Identification)

 Reconnaissance survey

 Preliminary survey

 Final location and detailed surveys

 MAP STUDY
• From the map alternative routes can be suggested
in the office, if the topographic map of that area is
available.
• The probable alignment can be located on the map
from the fallowing details available on the map.
Avoiding valleys, ponds or lake
Avoiding bend of river
If road has to cross a row of hills, possibility of
crossing through mountain pass.
• Map study gives a rough guidance of the routes to
be further surveyed in the field
 RECONNAISSANCE SURVEY
• To confirm features indicated on map.
• To examine the general character of the area in field for
deciding the most feasible routes for detailed studies.
• A survey party may inspect along the proposed alternative
routes of the map in the field with very simple instrument
like abney level, tangent clinometer, barometer etc…. To
collect additional details.
• Details to be collected from alternative routes during this
survey are,
 Valleys, ponds, lakes, marshy land, hill,
permanent structure and other obstruction.
 Value of gradient, length of gradient and radius of curve.
RECONNAISSANCE SURVEY cont..

 Number and type of cross drainage structures.

 High Flood Level (HFL)
 Soil Characteristics.
 Geological features.
 source of construction materials- stone quarries, water
sources.
• Prepare a report on merits and demerits of different
alternative routs.
• As a result a few alternate alignments may be chosen for
further study based on practical considerations observed
at the site.
 Preliminary survey
Objective of preliminary survey are:
• To survey the various alternative alignments proposed after
the reconnaissance and to collect all the necessary physical
information and detail of topography, drainage and soil.
• To compare the different proposals in view of the
requirements of the good alignment.
• To estimate quantity of earthwork materials and other
construction aspect and to workout the cost of the alternate
proposals.
Methods of preliminary survey:
a) Conventional approach-survey party carries out surveys
using the required field equipment, taking measurement,
collecting topographical and other data and carrying out soil
survey.
 Preliminary survey cont…
• Longitudinal and cross sectional profile.
 Plain Terrain` : 100 – 200m
 Rolling Terrain : 50m
 Hilly Terrain : 30m
• Other studies
 Drainage, Hydrological survey, soil survey, Traffic and
Material survey.
b) Modern rapid approach-
By Aerial survey taking the required aerial photographs for
obtaining the necessary topographic and other maps
including details of soil and geology.

• Finalise best alignment from all considerations by

comparative analysis of alternative routes.
the
 Final location and detailed survey
• The alignment finalised at the design office after the
preliminary survey is to be first located on the field by
establishing the centre line.
Location survey:
• Transferring the alignment on to ground.
• This is done by transit theodolite.
• Major and minor control points are established on the
ground and centre pegs are driven, checking the
geometric design requirements.
• Centre line stacks are driven at suitable intervals, say 50m
interval in plane and rolling terrains and 20m in hilly
terrain.
 Final location and detailed survey cont..
Detailed survey:
• Temporary bench marks are fixed at intervals of about 250m
and at all drainage and under pass structure.
• Earthwork calculations and drainage details are to be workout
from the level books.
• Cross sectional levels are taken at intervals of 50-100m in
Plane terrain, 50-75m in Rolling terrain, 50m in built-up area,
20m in Hill terrain.
• Detail soil survey is to be carried out.
• CBR value of the soils along the alignment may be determined
for design of pavement.
• The data during detailed survey should be elaborate and
complete for preparing detailed plans, design and estimates of
project.
 Drawing and Report

 Key map
 Index map
 Preliminary survey plans
 Detailed plan and longitudinal section
 Detailed cross section
 Land acquisition plans
 Drawings of cross drainage and other retaining
structures
 Drawings of road intersections
 Land plans showing quarries etc
 New highway project
• Map study
• Reconnaissance survey
• Preliminary survey
• Location of final alignment
• Detailed survey
• Material survey
• Geometric and structural design
• Earth work
• Pavement construction
• Construction controls
 Bibliography
• Khanna, S. K., & Justo, C. E. G. Highway
engineering. Nem Chand & Bros.
• IRC Codes.