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 Haile2,AbenezerTaye 3, Abeneze Belay 4, EyobZewde 5, NatinaelKebede 6

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Wolkite University, Civil Engineering Department, ID Number ENGR/560 /09
2
Wolkite University, Civil Engineering Department, ID Number ENGR/075 /09
3
Wolkite University, Civil Engineering Department, ID Number ENGR/039 /09
4
Wolkite University, Civil Engineering Department, ID Number ENGR/038 /09
5
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

The main objective of highway construction is to maintain the highway network for the safe and
convenient movement of people and goods. The core objectives of highway construction are to deliver
asafe, serviceable and sustainable network, taking in to account the need to contribute to wider
objectivesof asset management, integrated transport, corporate policy and continuous improvement.
The project is about constructing road (upgrading cobble stone road to paved road). And Theproject 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 aestheticroad alignment in Wolkite
university compound and the design includes; geometric design, pavement design (flexible pavement)
and drainage design of a selected road.We will design geometric parameters by considering different
factors; the major factors that we will used in our project are Topography, Traffic volume and traffic
compositions, Design vehicle characteristics, Road classification, Design speed. And in drainage
design there arefactors that must be considered (Rainfall amount and storm distribution,Catchment
area, size, shape and orientation, Ground cover, Type of soil, Slope of the terrain and stream ). During
pavement design we will also focus on those factors; Selection of pavement type, Selection of
material to be used for various pavement layers and treatment of sub grade soils, Structural thickness
design for pavement layers, subsurface drainage design for pavement layers, Surface drainage and
geometric design. The design will be done by using ERA manuals and the analysis will be computed
by using different software like; Civil 3D, excel and tools: such as scientific calculator, drawing
material… and also it takes almost 28 days to accomplish it.

So after finishing the project we will be submit the report to Civil engineering Department of Wolkite
University and the site should be upgraded to flexible pavement according to our design and also we
recommended that civil 3D software is much better for pavement design so we recommend the
software civil 3D.

Key Words: Geometric design,Pavement design and Drainage design

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 Acknowledgement

First of all we would like to acknowledgeWolkite 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 /projectCEng 5281 coordinator Mr
Kibret G. and for our project advisors Mr Samuel A. and Mr DestaM. 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...............................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

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). By doing these project we will gain different
knowledge and benefits.

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 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 differentsources, 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 betaken at different stations and required tests are undertaken. Based on
the test result the detail pavementdesign will be conducted.

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

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Figure 1: Our project proposed methodology

Online source and previous survey data and Vehicle

Literature review data collection
projects 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 almost
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
testresults.
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 willconduct to assess the overall condition of the project area and to collectpertinent data
required for design. During the field investigation, assessment of the roadbed materials, investigation
of roadbed andconstruction materials and foundation conditions on major crossing sites will be done.
Themethodology applied for investigating the roads include visual description for sub grade
soilextension and opening of trial pits manually which sunk up to the level of 1-1.2meters from
theformation levels. Logging of test pits, photographing and taking representative samples will be
alsopart 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

Dejene, Yared. “Final Year Project.”Adama Science and Technology University, 2015.

Ethiopian Road Authority.Geometric Design Manual.Addis Ababa, 2013.

Simion, Mara. “Mara Integrated Report.” Wolkite University, May 2021.

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 Appendix

Appendix A; general view of our selected road

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