ECE 3101 TRANSPORTATION PLANNING I

Lecturer: M. Ngari
Lecture 4

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 5.0 Highway Route Location
• Introduction

• Factors affecting route location

• Identification of feasible routes

• Highway survey techniques

• Rural highway location process

• Route location in urban areas

• Bridge location surveys

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 Introduction
Route - a course, way, road for travel, regular line of travel or itinerary. The general
functions of fixed transport routes are:
[1]Land Access, - every parcel of usable land should have transport access.
[2]Mobility, i.e. be available for the passage of traffic.
Sections of routes for traffic service may or may not provide land access.

Alignment - The defined 3-dimensional path. Usually split into horizontal and
vertical alignment
• The ideal alignment is a great circle from the start, or origin to the end or
destination.
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 Factors affecting route location
• Curvature and grades requirements
• Capacity and quality of standards
requirements
• Socio-economic impacts
• Features that support the chosen
possible mode and technology
• Features that impede the mode and
technology

• Environmental impacts • Jurisdiction, land ownership,

• Coincident desire lines subdivision and access patterns

• Technology available e.g. propulsion • Favourable and unfavourable

technology geography

• Aesthetics
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 Identification of technically feasible routes
The route should be “technically feasible”, i.e., no excessive construction or maintenance
problems are envisaged, and such that the design controls and policy on geometric design
of the highway authority having jurisdiction are adhered to.

• Location usually entails a compromise between user and construction costs e.g.:

Suppose you are want to define a route between two locations separated by a
mountainous region.

• The least cost route for vehicle users will have bridges and tunnel to make it as level as
possible and large radii curves.

• On the other hand a winding road following the contours might be cheaper to construct

• Highway Design Standards & Maintenance Model (HDM) by the World Bank gives
guidelines for in route selection 5
 Identification of technically feasible routes
Options:

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 Techniques for highway surveys
Surveys usually involve measuring and computing horizontal and vertical angles,
vertical heights (elevations) and horizontal distances. Survey techniques include:

• Ground surveys – Using theodolite, level, measuring tape, EDMs, total station
etc

• Remote sensing - measurement of distances and elevations using devices

located above the earth such as airplanes, drones or satellites

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 Rural Highway Route-Location Process
Rural highways typically present more extensive problems of earthworks and
fitting the alignment into a natural and often mountainous terrain. The location
process involves four steps:

• Office study of existing information

• Reconnaissance survey.

• Preliminary location survey.

• Final location survey

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 Rural Highway Route-Location Process…
Office study of existing information

Review maps, reports, aerial photos, etc. Information obtained include:

• Engineering: topography, geology, climate, and traffic volumes.

• Social and demographic, including land use and zoning patterns.

• Environmental: of wildlife; location of recreational, historic, and archeological

sites; and the possible effects of air, noise, and water pollution.

• Economic: unit costs for construction, of agricultural, commercial, and industrial

activities.

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 Rural Highway Route-Location Process…
1. Office study of existing information…
Sources of data for review:
• Topographic maps – Obtainable from S.o.K. Provide info on ground conditions,
gradients, Rivers, ravines, etc
• Aerial photographs – stereographic photos and oblique photographs.. Provide
grater details than the topographic maps, development and aesthetic features,
etc
• Geological and soil maps – are available from the Dept. of Geology. Provide
useful information for pavement design although greater detail is usually
required.
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 Rural Highway Route-Location Process…
1. Office study of existing information…

Topographic maps:

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 Rural Highway Route-Location Process…
Topographic maps:

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 Rural Highway Route-Location Process…
2. Reconnaissance survey
The objective is to identify several feasible routes, each within a band of a limited width
of a few hundred meters. Aerial photography may be necessary. Factors considered
include:

• Terrain and soil conditions.

• Serviceability of route to industrial and population areas.

• Crossing of other transportation facilities, such as rivers, railroads, and other highways.

• Directness of route.

Control points between the two terminals such as bridge sites are determined for each
feasible route.
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 Rural Highway Route-Location Process…
2. Reconnaissance survey..(Steps)
1. Using available maps, one or more promising routes are defined on map.

2. A survey is made along the paths selected on the map.

3. Primary controls are established - terminals, settlements, geographical features, etc.

4. Secondary controls are established – drainage systems, physical features, low point,
features affecting costs, etc

5. Possible alignment

6. Reconnaissance report

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 Rural Highway Route-Location Process…
2. Reconnaissance survey..(Steps)

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 Rural Highway Route-Location Process…
2. Reconnaissance survey..(Reconnaissance report)
1. Total length of line.
2. The elevation of main and intermediate summit
3. All adverse grades.
4. Stream crossing.
5. Nature of construction.
6. Right of way circumstances.
7. Soil conditions.
8. Unusual or troublesome condition.
9. Approximate estimate of cost.

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 Rural Highway Route-Location Process…
3. Preliminary Location Survey
During this phase of the study, the positions of the feasible routes are set as closely as
possible by
• establishing all the control points
• determining preliminary vertical and horizontal alignments for each.
Preliminary alignments are used to evaluate the economic and environmental feasibility of
the alternative routes.

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 Rural Highway Route-Location Process…
3. Preliminary Location Survey…
• determining preliminary
vertical and horizontal
alignments for each.
Preliminary alignments are
used to evaluate the
economic and
environmental feasibility of
the alternative routes.

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 Rural Highway Route-Location Process…
4. Final Location Survey
This is the detailed layout of the selected route
• the final horizontal and vertical alignments are determined
• the final positions of structures and drainage channels are determined.
The conventional method used is first to set out the points of intersections (PI) of the
straight portions of the highway and then to fit a suitable horizontal curve between these.

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 Rural Highway Route-Location Process…
4. Final Location Survey…
The survey serves the multiple purposes of:
• Permanently establishing the centerline.
• Collecting information necessary for preparation of plans for construction.
• Staking out the centerline provides an opportunity for minor corrections, like small shifts of the
line.
• Enables design of profile and accurate cross-section from which excavation and embankment
quantities can be measured.
• Establishes BMs at relatively close interval and in position free from disturbance by construction
activities.
• Direction of all property lines, distance to property corners and location of building, fences, etc
• Notes taken in field during the final location survey usually becomes part of permanent record.
The final location survey is complete when all necessary information is available and ready for use
by the designer – Alignment, Topography, Bench mark levels, Cross sections, Section corner ties
and other land ties, Drainage and utilities
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 Location Process in Urban Areas
• Urban highways are typically constrained by property lines and existing rights of way
• Also, except for limited access highways, lower speed limits imposed in the urban
setting often do not pose the problems of curvature
• The major problems associated with them include intersection design and traffic
control.
The sequence of highway location is the same as in rural environment. However, the
urban highways location process is more involved in reflecting the complexities of urban
conditions.

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 Location Process in Urban Areas…
Additional Factors for urban route location
• Connection to local streets
• Right-of-way acquisition
• Coordination with other transportation systems
• Adequate provisions for pedestrians
• Traffic/Trip orientation and purpose.
• Land use
• Parking considerations
• Other transportation systems
• Sociological conditions
• Historical and environmental impacts.
• Connection to local streets
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 Bridge Location Surveys
The main objective is to identify the proper bridge site by considering socio-economic as well as
technical points of view. Good bridge siting involves many disciplines and includes
• preliminary engineering,
• hydrology and hydraulics,
• geomorphologic concerns,
• roadway alignment,
• environmental and geological concerns.
Data sources include:
• topographic maps,
• infrared photography,
• remote sensing images,
• GIS coverage and aerial photographs..
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 Bridge Location Surveys…
1. Reconnaissance survey
• to obtain information regarding the location of all possible sites, their comparison with
respect to feasibility and preparation of preliminary estimates of the cost of
construction.
• In certain instances, it may be desirable to inspect the sites and make precursory
subsurface explorations.
• The stream should be investigated for at least 500m upstream and downstream of the
proposed bridge.

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 Bridge Location Surveys…
2. Preliminary survey
• This is carried out to define the exact alignment of the water-crossing structure
• to obtain physical data needed for the design of the project and for the acquisition of
necessary land.
It usually include
• preliminary triangulation to establish the starting co-ordinates for traverses at the
bridge-heads and along the approaches,
• topographic surveys along these traverses, and
• the design of a more elaborate triangulation system that can be used later during the
construction phase of the project.
The preliminary survey will normally include hydrographic and geological surveys to
obtain information on such items as water datum, tide or river flood stages together with
a complete estuary or river bottom profile with cross-sections.
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 Bridge Location Surveys…
3. Final location survey
This can be considered in two stages:
• preconstruction survey - done in advance of the actual construction. Examples are the
establishment of horizontal control stations and bench marks that will constitute the
fundamental frame work for defining lines and grades.
• construction survey - provide the intermediate and final positioning, both horizontally
and vertically, of the various components of the bridge structure.

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