Highway and railroad design

- Presents both design and construction practices related to highway engineering which
include such as geometric design of roads, pavements and pavement surfaces,
drainage structures, incident highway constructions, at-grade intersections, grade
separation structures and related topic of bridges.
I. Importance of Roads or Highway Engineering :

1. They facilitate, conveyance of people, goods, raw-materials, manufactured articles etc.

speedily and easily in the different parts of a country.
2. They act as the only source of communication in regions of high altitudes i.e. in
mountainous regions.
3. They help in growth of trade and other economical activities in and outside the
villagers and towns by establishing contact between towns and villages.
4. They help in providing efficient distribution of agricultural products and natural
resources all over the country.
5. They help in price stabilization of commodities due to mobility of products all over the
country.
6. They help in cultural and social advancement of people and making the villagers active
and alert members of the community.
7. They help in promoting the cultural and social ties among people living in different
part of a country and thus strengthen the rational unity.
8. They help in providing improved medical facilities quickly to human beings, especially
to those who live in rural areas.
9. They provide more employment opportunities.
10. They enhance land value and thus bring better revenue.
11. They serve as feeders for airway, waterways and railways.
12. They help in reducing distress among the people, caused due to famine, by suppling
them food and clothing quickly.
13. They help in maintaining better law and order in a country.
14. They play a very important role in the defense of a country during war days.
Lastly, it can be said that roads are the symbol of a country's progress and thus
development made by any country can be judged by the quality and network of its road
system.

the rapid development of comprehensive road transportation systems, such as national

highway systems and automobile manufacturing, as a major economic sector. Individual
transportation became widely available to mid-income social classes. This was associated
with significant economic opportunities to service industrial and commercial markets
with reliable door-to-door deliveries. The automobile also permitted new forms of social
opportunities, particularly with suburbanization
 development cannot occur without both interacting as infrastructures cannot remain
effective without proper operations and maintenance. At the same time, economic
activities cannot take place without an infrastructure base. 
This is even more so in a global economy where economic opportunities have been
increasingly related to the mobility of people and freight, including information and
communication technologies.
When transport systems are efficient, they provide economic and social opportunities
and benefits that result in positive multiplier effects such as better accessibility to
markets, employment, and additional investments.
The outcome of improved capacity and efficiency where transport provides employment,
added value, larger markets, as well as time and costs improvements. The overall demand
of an economy is increasing.
If a society wishes to develop and grow, it must have a strong internal transportation
system (highway inclusive) as well as excellent linkages to other regions around it and
the rest of the world.
The availability of high quality highway systems can strongly influence the growth and
development of a nation. Good transportation permits the specialization of industry or
commerce, reduces cost for raw materials or manufactured goods, and increases
competition between regions, resulting in lower costs and greater choice for the
consumer. Good quality highway is also a necessary element of government services
such as delivering mails, defending a nation and retaining control of its territories.
Transportation plays a major role in the development of the human civilization and countries.
It can greatly boost the economic development of a country. Over time, society has put a
great expectation on the quality of transport facilities and standards of living.
Transportation contributes to the economic, social and cultural development of any
country. Transportation is vital for the economic development of any region since every
commodity produced whether it is food, clothing, industrial products or medicine needs
transport at all stages from production to distribution. The inadequate transportation
facilities retard the process of socio-economic development of the country.
The improved transportation network brings prosperity to the urban population. The
prosperity and employment opportunities of urban area attract the population from other
areas resulting in enhanced economic activities. Adequate mass transportation facilities
are needed to cater the internal movements in urban area such as daily movements to and
from factories, offices, schools, hospitals and other social needs. Efficient rapid transit
facilities are necessary for sub-urban and inter-city long distance travel for business
needs, social visits and tourism activities.

II. Sinali ko nalang yung hindi under sa modern road, medyo naguluhan kasi ako sa
number 2.
 Early Road

The oldest mode of travel was on the footpath. Animals were widely used to transport men &
materials. Later the invention of wheels resulted in the development of vehicles run with the help
of animals. This type of vehicle became the most popular mode of transportation for a very long
period.

Roman Road

These roads are developed by the Roman Civilization among which some are still in existence.
Roman roads were built with stone blocks of considerable thickness.

The main features of the Roman road are:

~ They were built straight ( with minimal slope or without slope).

~ They were built after soft soil is removed and a hard status was reached.

~ The total thickness of the construction was as high as 0.75 m to 1.2 m.

III. Tresaguet construction

*  Thickness of the road was order of 30 cm.
* Consideration was given to sub-grade moisture condition and drainage of surface water.
* The top wearing course was made up of smaller slope having a cross slope of 1 in 45 to
the surface to provide surface drainage.
* Shoulder sloping was also provided of the order of 1 in 20 to drain the surface water to
the side drain

~ After the fall of the Roman Empire, their technique of road construction didn’t gain
popularity in other countries.

~ Pierre Trezeguet (1716 – 1796 AD) developed several methods of road construction

which were considered to be quite advantageous and meritorious.

~ The main feature of his proposal was that the thickness of construction needs to be only
30 cm.

~ Side drainage was also provided on these roads.

Metcalf

~ John Metcalf (1717-1810 AD) was engaged in road construction in England during the
period when Trezeguet was working in France.

~ He followed the recommendations made by Robert Phillips.

~ Metcalf was responsible for the construction of 290 km of road in northern England.
 Telford

~ Thomas Telford (1751 – 1834 AD), the founder of the institution of civil engineers in London
began road construction in the early 19th century.

~ He believed in using a heavy foundation above the soil subgrade to keep the road foundation
formed and also insisted on providing a definite cross slope for the top surface of the pavement
by varying the thickness of the foundation on stones.

~ He proposed to provide cross drains at an interval of almost 90m which were usually laid
below the foundation level.
 Macadam
~ There are different stages of road development. But among all of them, Macadam road is the
most successful type of road. Some detailed features about macadam road are:

~ John Macadam (1756 -1836 AD) ; the surveyor-general of the road in England put forward an
entirely new method of road construction.

~ The macadam method is the first method based on scientific thinking.

~ It realized that the stresses due to wheel load get decrease at the lower layers & so it is not
necessary to provide large layer pavement.

~ The importance of subgrade drainage and compaction was recognized. So the subgrade was
compacted and was prepared with across slope (1 in 36 )