HIGHWAY AND RAILROAD ENGINEERING

MODULE 1
1.0 Transportation\
Introduction: Highways, railroads and different kind of transportation have all played a major
role in the development of the society ever since. Til today, these modes of transportation have
all continued to provide and be a critical aspect of a developing civilization.

Transportation and Why is it Important

Role of Transportation
- transportation, as defined, is the act of being transported or transporting goods,
people, etc., from a point to another. Different modes of transportation, especially
highways, are of major importance to the society's economic development. The creation
and construction of these interconnected roads and highways increases a country's
economic growth and output by reducing the time of journey of everyone and everything
travelling from a different point to another. It contributes to the economic, social,
industrial and cultural development of any society.
Economic Activity and Transport
- these economic activities are the processes that the product needs and utilize to
satisfy basic human needs and wants; the two important factors well known are;

 Production/supply and
 demand

Social Effects
- the reason why early civilizations have progressed because their population have
always settled in places along rivers, where their mode of transportation of their goods
was through small boats. Now populations have always settled along the river shores,
road sides and near railway stations. the various social effects of transportation may be
further elaborated with the ff;

 sectionalism and
transportation : present
conditions of
transportation have
greatly improved and
reduced sectionalism in
different countries.
 concentration of
population into urban
areas : since
 transportation has greatly
improved the economic
conditions of different
countries, people from the
rural areas has also
migrated to urban cities.
This concentration of
people in one area needs
to have an adequate
mass transportation
facilities to satisfy the
needs of the people that
needs to go from point to
point everyday.
 aspect of safety, law
and
order : transportation
facilities are needed and
are of great importance
when it comes to rushing
aids in times of
emergencies. To maintain
law and order, an efficient
system of transportation
is important , especially
when it comes to
defending a country's
interest and security from
external aggression from
different countries.

Different Modes of Transportation

1. ) Roadways - from the name itself, this is a mode of transportation on land.

Roadway systems include a large variety of interconnected ways to transport
different kind of goods and people. This includes small streets, to feeder
roads, small roads, providing ways for all vehicles and pedestrians.

2. ) Railways - these are steel tracks that are constructed on the ground, used
by the trains. Railways have been used for a very long time to transport large
amount of goods and people from and to different places in the world.
Railways are more advantageous for places that are way too far, an example
of this is the PNR, or the Philippine National Railways. PNR provides trips
from Northern Manila to Bicol.

 3. ) Waterways - this mode of transportation utilizes canals, rivers, lakes up to
oceans for the movement of goods and cargo, and large number of people.
Transportation using waterways is possible through ports, terminals along
lakes and rivers. Though it is the slowest type of transportation, it is the most
efficient since the relative amount of power to the amount of loads, goods and
services waterway transportation provide is much lower.
o


4. ) Airways - the fastest and safest, provides more comfort, but cost so much
more than the other ways of transportation.
o


5. ) Pipelines - this mode of transportation is specifically designed for goods
such as water, crude, oil and petroleum gas.

Summary:

1. Transportation is the process of delivering goods and other services and

transporting people to other places
2. Transportation is an important part of a growing society, this affects;
economic activity and transport, and social aspects - sectionalism and
transportation, concentration of population into urban areas, aspect of safety,
law and order
3. There are different modes of transportation; through roadways, waterways,
railways, airways and pipelines
2.0 Highway Development and
Planning

Introduction to the Topic:

Since the beginning of early civilizations, roads have been one of the most
important aspect of their success as a society. This chapter will talk about how
highways were developed and planned for developments.
Intended Learning Outcomes:

1. ) Learn the history of development of roads and highways and its

importance
2. ) Learn classification of roads, the patterns, planning surveys

Historical Development of Road Construction

Early Development
The oldest mode of transportation was on foot paths, or by the use of animals. Later on
after the invention of wheels, man developed different kinds of carriages to
accommodate the needs for a more comfortable mode of transportation. This
development lead to the construction of hard surfaces for roads. Such hard surfaces is
believed to have existed in Mesopotamia, about 3500 B.C. The first roads with authentic
records existed during the Assyrian empire, about 1900 B.C. It was the Roman Empire
that built roads in large scales and with the earliest construction techniques, these roads
will be later known as the Roman Roads, earning the name as the pioneer in road
construction.
Roman Roads
Many of these Roman roads used elaborate construction, some even surviving after
over 2000 years. It has been calculated that these network of roads that the Romans
built covered a distance of over 400,00 km, with more than a 120,000 km of these roads
being the type known as the "public roads". This network of roads allowed the empire to
quickly move from one point to another, and allowed the transportation of the goods
from their different colonies to another. Roman roads consisted of three layers - a
foundation at the bottom, middle layer, and a surface layer on top. These layers were
consisted of different kinds of rocks and stone slabs to ensure that the roads will last,
even with the relatively low magnitude of wheel loads of that time. The main features of
Roman Roads are:

o


 built straight regardless of the
gradient.
 built after the soft soil was removed
and a hard stratum was reached.
 total thickness of construction was
as high as 0.75 to 1.2 meters at
some places

Tresaguet Construction
Not until the eighteenth century did any early civilizations have created a new road
construction method, Pierre Tresaguet developed an improved method of construction
in France. He developed several methods of construction. The main feature of his
proposal was that the thickness of the roads need not to be over 30 cm. The typical
cross section of Tresaguet Construction :

o

 subgrade is prepared and a layer of large
foundation stones were laid on edge by hand.
At the two edges of pavement large stones
were embedded edgewise to serve as
submerged curb stones.
 the corners of these heavy foundation stones
were hammered and then the interstices filled
with smaller stones. Broken stones were
packed to a thickness of about 8 cm and
compacted.
 Top wearing course was made of smaller
stones and compacted to a thickness of about
5 cm at the edges and gradually increased
 towards the center, giving a cross slope of 1 in
45 to the surface.
 The shoulders were also provided cross slope
to drain the surface water to the side drain

Metcalf Construction
John Metcalf (1717-1810) was engaged on road construction works in England during
the same period as Tresaguet when he was working in France. He was responsible for
the construction of the 290 km of road in the northern region of England.
Telford Construction
Thomas Telford began his work in the early 19th century. He was the founder of the
Institution of Civil Engineers at London. He believed in using heavy foundation stones
below the top surface and above soil subgrade. The construction steps are:

o

 A level subgrade is prepared to the designed
width of about 9 meters.
 Large foundation stones of thickness 17-22 cm
were laid with hand with their largest face
down so as to be in stable position. Stones
with 17 cm thickness were laid at the edges
and increases towards the center at 22 cm.
 The interstices between the foundation stones
were filled with smaller stone and chipping and
properly beaten down.
 The central portion of about 5.5 meter width
was covered with two layers of angular broken
stones to compacted thickness of 10 and 5
cm.
 A certain width of the pavement towards the
edges was constructed by compacted broken
stones, 15cm thick, sometimes in lime mortar
instead of using the curb stones.
 A binding layer of wearing course 4 cm thick
was constructed on top using gravel.

Macadam Construction
John Macadam put forward an entirely new method of road construction. He was the
Surveyor General of Roads in England and his new concept of road construction
became known by the year 1827. He recognized the importance of subgrade drainage
and compaction. He also suggested that heavy foundation stones are not at all
necessary to be placed at the bottom layer of construction. The most important
modifications made in Macadam's methods with respect to the older methods are:

o

 the importance of subgrade drainage and
compaction were recognized and so the
subgrade was compacted and was prepared
with a cross slope of 1 in 36.
 Macadam was also the first person to suggest
that heavy foundation stones are not at all
necessary to be placed at the bottom layer.
 though the total thickness of construction was
less than the previous methods, this technique
could serve the purpose in better way, due to
better load dispersion characteristics of
compacted broken stone aggregates of
smaller sizes.
 The size of broken stones for the top layer was
decided based on the stability under animal
drawn vehicles.

Macadam's method is the first method based on scientific thinking. It was realized that
stresses due to the wheel loads of traffic decreases on the lower part of the pavement.
This method became very popular far and wide.
Visual Presentation of 3 Most Popular Roads after the Roman Empire

Classification of Roads
Types of Roads
-classified depending on whether they can be used all throughout the year;

 all-weather roads
 fair weather roads

all weather roads are roads that are fairly manageable to use during all weather, except
at major river crossing where interruption to traffic is permissible upon certain extent;
fair weather roads are roads where the traffic maybe interrupted during monsoon
season at causeways where streams may overflow.
-classified based on the type of carriage or the road pavement, the roads are classified
as;

 paved roads - provided with a hard

pavement course which should be
at least a water bound macadam
layer
 unpaved roads - earth roads,
gravel roads
- classified based on the type of pavement surfacing provided

 surface roads - provided with

bituminous or cement concrete
surfacing
 unsurfaced roads - not provided
with bituminous or cement concrete
surfacing

-roads may also be classified based on their use, as classified by the DPWH for roads
in the Philippines

 National Primary Roads - directly

connects major cities of at least
100,000 people (cities in the metro
not included)
 National Secondary
a. Directly connects Cities to
National Primary Roads, except in
Metropolitan Area
b. Directly connects Major Ports and
Ferry Terminals to National Primary
Road
c. Directly connects Major Airports
to National Primary Road
d. Directly connects Tourist Service
Centers to National Primary Roads
or other-
e. Directly connects Cities (not
included in the category of Major
Cities)
f. Directly connects Provincial
Capitals within the same Region
g. Directly connects to Major
National Government Infrastructure
to National Primary
h. Roads or Other National
Secondary Roads
 National Tertiary - Other existing
roads under DPWH which perform a
local function
 Provincial Roads (Local Roads)
a. Connect Cities and Municipalities
without traversing National Roads
b. Connect National Roads to
 Barangays through rural areas
c. Connect to Major Provincial
Government Infrastructure
 Municipal and City Roads (Local
Roads)
a. Roads within the Poblacion
b. Roads that connect to Provincial
and National Roads
c. Roads that provide Inter-
Barangay connections to Major
Municipal and
e. City Infrastructure without
traversing Provincial Roads
 Barangay Roads (Local Roads) -
Other Public Roads (officially turned
over) within the Barangay and not
covered in the above definitions.

 Expressways - Highways with

limited access, normally with
interchanges; may include facilities
for levying tolls for passage in an
open or closed system.
 Bypasses - are roads or highways
that avoid a built-up area, town or
city proper to let through traffic flow
without interference from local traffic
reduce congestion and improve
road safety where a toll for passage
is levied in an open or closed
system.

Road Patterns
- different road patterns may be classified to:

o
 (a) rectangular or block pattern
 (b) radial or star and block pattern
 (c) radial or star and circular pattern
 (d) radial or star and grid pattern
 (e) hexagonal pattern
 (f) minimum travel pattern
 these patterns are shown below:

Planning Surveys
Highway planning includes the assessment for the length requirement for an area
(maybe a district, city, or the whole country) and preparation of master plan. In doing
these phases, one must carry out field surveys and collect data. The field surveys
required to collect the data may be called as planning surveys.
The planning surveys consist of the following fact finding surveys:

o
 economic studies - population, trend of its growth,
agricultural and industrial listing, income per capita,
banking, post office, etc.,
 financial studies - source of income, revenue from
taxation on road transport
 traffic or road use studies - traffic volume, traffic flow
patterns, mass transportation facilities, accidents, growth
of vehicular traffic, passenger trips
  engineering studies - road location and alignment,
classification; type of roads in use, soil and topography
studies

Highway Alignment
The position or the layout of the center line of the highway on the ground is called
alignment. Horizontal alignment includes the straight path, horizontal deviations and the
curves. Changes in gradient and vertical curves are under vertical alignment. It is
important that the roads must be properly aligned and adheres to road standards for the
failure to do these would result to increase in; construction cost, maintenance cost,
vehicle operation cost, accident rate.
Requirements for and Ideal Alignment

 short
 easy
 safe, and
 economical

Factors Controlling Alignment

For the road to be shortest, the best would be for it to be straight line from point A
to point B but, due to several challenges that the engineers might encounter on the site,
it may not be feasible. The various factors which control the highway alignment in
general might be listed as:

 obligatory points
 traffic
 geometric design
 economics
 other considerations; special considerations while
aligning roads on hilly areas
 stability
 drainage
 geometric standard of hill roads
 resisting length

https://www.ancient-origins.net/history/built-last-craftsmanship-enabled-roman-roads-
withstand-passage-time-007523 roman roads
Summary:

1. ) Road construction has improved overtime through man's innovations and

research.
2. ) Roads may be classified depending on the weather, pavement
provided, and use.
3. ) According to DWPH roads here in the PH can be classified as
 o

 National Primary Roads
 National Secondary
 National Tertiary
 Provincial Roads (Local Roads)
 Municipal and City Roads (Local Roads)
 Barangay Roads (Local Roads)
 Expressways
 Bypasses
4. ) Before building roads, surveys are conducted thoroughly.
5. ) Road patterns may be classified to:


 a) rectangular or block pattern
 (b) radial or star and block pattern
 (c) radial or star and circular pattern
 (d) radial or star and grid pattern
 (e) hexagonal pattern
 (f) minimum travel pattern
3.0 Types of Road Failures
Introduction to the Topic:
Road maintenance is one of the important components of the entire road
system. The maintenance operations involve the assessment of road conditions,
identifying the problems and coming up with the solutions step by step to conduct the
maintenance of the road. Even well built highways needs maintenance from time to
time, this is due to several factors and conditions that the road experiences throughout
the year. These problems includes various types of failures in pavements ranging from
minor and localized failure to major and general failures.

Intended Learning Outcomes:

1. ) Learn the typical road failures

2. ) Maintenance and steps done to facilitate these failures and rehabilitation

General Causes of Pavement Failures

1. ) Defects in quality of materials used

2. ) Defects in construction method and quality control during construction
3. ) Inadequate surface or subsurface drainage in the locality resulting in the
stagnation of water in the subgrade or in any of the pavement layers.
4. ) Increase in the magnitude of wheel loads and the number of load repetitions
due to increase in traffic volume
5. ) Settlement of foundation of embankment of the fill material itself.
6. ) Environmental factors including heavy rainfall, soil erosion, high water table,
snow fall, frost action, etc.

Classification of Maintenance Works

Three various items of highway maintenance works may be broadly classified:

o Routine maintenance/repairs - these include filling up of pot holes
and patch repairs, maintenance of shoulders and the cross slope,
 clearing choked culverts, maintenance of miscellaneous items like
road signs, arboculture,
o Periodic maintenance - includes the renewals of wearing course of
pavement surface and preventive maintenance of various items
o Special repairs - includes strengthening of pavement structure or
overlay construction, reconstruction of pavement, widening of
roads, repairs of damages caused by floods, providing additional
safety measures like islands, etc.

Maintenance Management System

The type and extent of maintenance requirement for a road depend on the serviceability
standard laid down, the maintenance funds available, etc. A systematic approach is
needed in order to assess different factors involved in the maintenance of roads. The
management system factors are:

o
 minimum acceptable serviceability standards for the
maintenance of different categories of roads.
 field surveys for the evaluation of maintenance
requirements
 various factors influencing the maintenance needs such
as subgrade soil, drainage, climate, traffic, environmental
condition, etc.
 estimation of rate of deterioration of the pavement under
the prevailing set of conditions.
 type and extent of maintenance requirements and
various possible alternatives and their economic
evaluation
 availability of funds
 maintenance cost, availability of materials, manpower
and management
 need based allocation for optimum utilization of inputs
and fixing maintenance priorities

Pavement Failures
Failures in Flexible Pavements
Any settlement in each of the layer of the pavement could lead to whole pavement
failure. This demands that each one of the layers should be carefully designed and laid.

o Failure in Subgrade - one of the prime cause of flexible pavement
failure, it is the excessive deformation of the subgrade soil.
Failure in Sub-base or base course - caused by inadequate stability or strength, loss of binding
in the pavement material, loss of base course materials, use of low quality materials
Failure in wearing course - a typical failure in roads where the topmost layer shows sign of wear
due to the vehicles traversing the road.

Typical Flexible Pavement Failures

 Alligator (map) Cracking

Consolidation of Pavement Layers

Shear Failure and Cracking
Longitudinal Cracking
Frost Heaves
Lack of Binding with Lower Layer
Reflection Cracking

Failure in Cement Concrete Pavements

Failure in cement concrete pavements are recognized mainly by the formation of
structural cracking. The failures are mainly due to two factors: deficiency of pavement
materials and structural inadequacy of pavement system.
Deficiency of Pavement Materials

o soft aggregates
o poor workmanship in joint construction
o poor joint filler and sealer material
o poor surface finish
o improper and insufficient curing

These lapses in construction of roads may lead to:


o disintegration of cement concrete
o formation of cracking
o spalling of joints
o poor riding surface
o slippery surface
o formation of shrinkage cracks
o ingress of surface water and further progressive failures
Structural Inadequacy of Pavement System
Inadequate subgrade support pavement would be one of the major cause of
developing structural cracking in pavements.

o Inadequate pavement thickness
o inadequate subgrade support and poor subgrade soil
o incorrect spacing of joints

These structural inadequacies can lead to:


o cracking of slab corners
o cracking of pavements longitudinally
o settlement of slabs
o widening of joints
o mud pumping

Typical Rigid Pavement Failures


o Scaling of Cement Concrete
 Shrinkage Cracks
 Spalling of Joints
 Warping Cracks
 Mud Pumping
 Structural Cracks

3.1 Maintenance of Highways

Introduction to the Topic:
Road maintenance is one of the important components of the entire road
system. The maintenance operations involve the assessment of road conditions,
identifying the problems and coming up with the solutions step by step to conduct the
maintenance of the road. Even well built highways needs maintenance from time to
time, this is due to several factors and conditions that the road experiences throughout
the year. These problems includes various types of failures in pavements ranging from
minor and localized failure to major and general failures
Intended Learning Outcomes:

1. ) Learn the typical road failures

2. ) Maintenance and steps done to facilitate these failures and rehabilitation
Maintenance of Highways
After knowing the various defects that may cause pavement failures, it is necessary to
study the different measures to maintain the pavements to continue to serve their
functions. Various maintenance operations are:

 Routine maintenance
 Periodic maintenance
 Special repairs

Routine and periodic maintenance are needed in any type of highways/roads, for these
roads are highly susceptible to wear due to continuous use of vehicles and weather
conditions. Special repairs and strengthening of pavement with overlays are needed to
prevent further pavement failures.
Routine Maintenance

o upkeep of carriageway
o maintenance of shoulders and subgrade
o maintenance of side drains and other ancillary works
o patch repairs of pot holes and localized failures

Maintenance of Bituminous Surfaces


o Patch Repairs - carried out on the damaged or improper road
surface. Localized depression and pot holes may be formed in the
surface layers due to defect in materials and construction
o Surface Treatment - Excess bitumen may cause bleeding and
this leads to slippery roads. Necessary rolling is done to develop
permanent bond between the existing surface and the new
materials, after heating the surface.
o Resurfacing - when the pavement surface is totally worn out and
develops a poor riding surface, it may be more economical to
provide an additional surface course on the existing surface.

Special Repairs in Flexible Pavements


o Defective Rolling - if the rolling during construction stage is
improper thus leaving the formation of waves then the process
being progressive, the wave formation would continue indefinitely.
 o Poor subgrade conditions - subgrade consisting of poor soils
including highly plastic or organic soils and high water table close
to subgrade surface may cause non-uniform and inadequate
subgrade stability. When boulders are used as soiling course in
such subgrades there is differential settlement or sinking of these
stones. All these would contribute to formation of corrugated
pavement surface
o poor gradation or mix - another factor that gives rise to wave
formation
o compaction temperature - viscous state of bitumen binder greatly
depends on the temperature and thus very high temperature during
mixing and compaction would result to wavy surface
o unstable underlying layers - weak underling layers also cause
the formation of waves due to repeated plying of vehicles on such
road.

Maintenance of Cement Concrete Roads

It may be stated here that very little maintenance such as maintenance of joints only is
needed for cement concrete roads, if they are well designed and constructed. Main
defect in this type of road is formation of cracks.
Treatment of Cracks
The cracks developed in concrete cement may be classified as:

o temperature cracks - initially fine cracks or hair cracks formed
across the slab, in between a pair of transverse or longitudinal
joints, dividing the slab length into two or more
o structural cracks - formed near the edge or corner regions of slabs,
due to combined wheel loads and warping stresses in the slab

These cracks should be sealed off before the cracks get worse and further develop to
larger cracks. This is done by filling the cracks with bituminous sealing compound
heated to liquid consistency. The sealer is placed about 3 mm above the level ground
and a layer of sand is spread over it to protect it temporarily.
In the event that these cracks have worsened, additional measures should be done in
order to maintain the road functionality. The maintenance work in such a case involves
first remedy of the basic cause of the problem and then re-casting the failed slabs.
Flexible or rigid overlay may be needed in failure of slabs that came from structural
distress, this is needed before the cracks develop to other slabs too. It is however not
worth while to provide an overlay over a badly cracked slab due to uneven settlement of
the cracked and broken slabs, removal of the broken concrete slab may be necessary
and reconstruction of new pavement.
Maintenance of Joints
Joint filler material at the expansion joints may get damaged or deteriorate over time,
thus repair is needed. The repair consists of removal of sealer and deteriorated filler
and sealer materials from the expansion joints cleaning up, replacement with new filler
board and sealing the top joints with suitable sealer material.
Strengthening of Existing Pavements
For the successful maintenance of pavements it is essential that they have adequate
stability to withstand the design traffic under prevailing climatic and subgrade
conditions. Due to additional wheel loads that pavements may experience over time,
overlays are important to provide additional strength to the concrete.
Types of Overlay

o Flexible overlay over flexible pavement
o cement concrete or rigid overlay over flexible pavements
o flexible overlays over cement concrete
o cement concrete or rigid overlay over rigid pavements

Summary

1. ) Classification of maintenance
o
 Routine maintenance/repairs
 Periodic maintenance
 Special repairs
2. ) Failures in Flexible Pavements
o
 Failure in Subgrade
 Failure in Sub-base or base course
 Failure in wearing course
3. )Typical Flexible Pavement Failures
o
 Alligator (map) Cracking
 Consolidation of Pavement Layers
 Shear Failure and Cracking
 Longitudinal Cracking
 Frost Heaves
 Lack of Binding with Lower Layer
 Reflection Cracking
4. ) Failure in Cement Concrete Pavements
o
 disintegration of cement concrete
 formation of cracking
  spalling of joints
 poor riding surface
 slippery surface
 formation of shrinkage cracks
 ingress of surface water and further progressive failures
 cracking of slab corners
 cracking of pavements longitudinally
 settlement of slabs
 widening of joints
 mud pumping
5. ) Typical Rigid Pavement Failures
o
 Scaling of Cement Concrete
 Shrinkage Cracks
 Spalling of Joints
 Warping Cracks
 Mud Pumping
 Structural Cracks
 4.0 Geometric Design of
Highways
Introduction to the Topic:
Geometrics are of great importance in designing an efficient and safe road
environment. Planning initially all the geometric design of the road is necessary for a
less expensive construction of the highways and railways. Geometric design of
highways and railways deal with the cross section elements, sight distance
considerations, horizontal alignment details, vertical alignment details and intersection
elements. Highway geometrics are greatly influenced by the topography, locality, and
traffic characteristics and the requirements of design speed.

Intended Learning Outcomes:

1. ) Learn geometric design for highways and railways;

2. ) Cross sections, horizontal and vertical alignments
3. ) Super Elevation

Design Controls and Criteria of Highways

1. ) Design Speed - this is the most important factor that controls the geometric
design elements of highways. Design speed is taken into account in the
overall requirements of the highway. Different speed standards/limits are
placed depending on the use of the highway. This is further modified taking
into consideration the topography of the area. Almost every geometric design
 depends on the assigned design speed of the highway, from the cross
section element, to the radius of the curve of super-elevation, etc.
2. ) Topography - or terrain, is of significance factor in designing the geometric
elements of a highway. This is classified based on the general slope across
the alignment.
3. ) Traffic Factors - the factors associated with the traffic that affect geometric
design of roads are the vehicular characteristics and of course the road
users.
4. ) Design hourly volume and capacity - traffic flow/volume fluctuates over
time, this is where off-peak and peak hours are considered. Designing a
highway based only on the peak volume of vehicles during peak hours will
make the design uneconomical. Therefore a reasonable value of traffic
volume is considered, called design hourly volume.
5. ) Environmental and other factors - factors such as aesthetics,
landscaping, air pollution, noise pollution and other local conditions should be
given due consideration in the design of highways.

Geometric Design of Highways

Highway Cross Section Elements
Pavement Surface Characteristics
Pavement of highways depends on the materials that will be used, and these materials
will also depend on its availability, cost, volume of traffic, subgrade, and climatic
conditions.

o

 Friction - friction is one of the key factors in
determining the design speed of the highway.
The friction between the pavement and the tire
is important especially on curves where the
centrifugal force acts on the vehicle, this is
countered by the frictional force acting
between the vehicle's tires and the pavement.
 Pavement unevenness - uneven roads often
leads to vehicles slowing down, thus creating
a domino effect and affecting the vehicles
behind them, resulting to traffic congestion.
Pavement needs to be even and with quality
surfaces to prevent such effects from
happening.

Cross Slope or Camber

This is the slope provided to the road surface in the transverse direction to drain off
water from the pavement's surface. This is also important because undrained water
from the road surface lessens the skid resistance of the vehicle's tires, resulting to
accidents.

IRC values for camber

Pavement Width
This depends on the width of traffic lane and the number of lanes on the road. The width
is determined on the basis of the ruling standard width of the vehicle and minimum side
clearance for safety. Having a larger width of a road also affects the maximum speed of
the vehicles.
IRC Specification for Carriageway width

Kerbs (Curbs)
Kerbs indicates the boundary between the pavement and shoulder. It is desirable to
provide kerbs on urban roads
 \
Road Margins
There are various elements that are included in the road margins; shoulder, parking
lane, frontage road, driveway, cycle track, footpath, guard rail and embankment slope.

o

 Shoulders are provided along the road edge
to provide as an emergency lane for the
vehicles to be taken out of the main road way.
 Parking lanes are provided in urban roads to
allow kerb parking. As far as possible, only
parallel parking should be allowed as it is safer
from moving vehicles.
 Frontage roads are provided to give access
to properties along an important highways.
 Driveways connect commercial
establishments like fuel stations, etc.
 Cycle tracks are provided in urban areas with
a high volume of cyclists.
 Foot path or side walks are provided in urban
areas to protect pedestrians from vehicles.
 Guard rails are provided at the edge on a fill
so that vehicles are prevented from running off
the embankment.
Sight Distance
Defined as the distance the driver sees along the road surface from a specified height
above the road. It is important to consider sight distance in the geometric design of the
highway, as the feasibility to see ahead is important for safe vehicle operation.
Three sight distance situations are considered in the design:

o

 stopping sight distance
 safe overtaking or passing sight distance
 safe sight distance for entering into
uncontrolled intersections

Stopping Sight Distance (SSD)

In traversing the the road on a any time of the day, a minimum distance between
vehicles should be observe in order to prevent vehicular accidents. The distance to
which a vehicle can be stopped depends on these factors:

o

 Total reaction time of the driver - according
to PIEV Theory the total reaction time of the
driver is split into four parts; perception,
intellection, emotion, and volition.
 Speed of vehicle - stopping distance
depends very much on the speed of the
vehicle, stopping a vehicle travelling at faster
speeds may result to a collision.
 Brakes efficiency - a vehicle with the wheels
stopped will skid, and it is undesirable for it
cannot be controlled, except in utmost
emergencies.
 Skid resistance - the frictional resistance
between the tires and the road is important
factor in stopping sight distance, having a
slippery road may lengthen the distance your
vehicle will travel after applying the brakes.
Also this value decreases at higher speeds.

The SSD can be calculated by adding the lag distance or the time before the driver
applies the brakes (reaction time) multiplied by the speed of the vehicle, and the
distance travelled after the application of the brakes, which is given by the equation:
L =v^2/2gf

where: l - braking distance in meters

v - speed of the vehicle in m/s
f - coefficient of friction
g - acceleration due to gracvity

Stopping distance:
= vt + v^2/2gf
Stopping distance at slopes
= vt + v^2/2g(f + - .01n)

Overtaking sight distance

The overtaking sight distance is the minimum distance open to the vision of the driver of
a vehicle intending to overtake the slow vehicle ahead safely against the traffic in the
opposite direction.

Factors affecting OSD:

Velocities of the overtaking vehicle, overtaken vehicle and of the vehicle coming in the
opposite direction
Spacing between vehicles, which in-turn depends on the speed
Skill and reaction time of the drive
Rate of acceleration of overtaking vehicle
Gradient of the road

Time-space diagram: Illustration of OSD

OSD can be computed using the formula:
OSD = vbt+ 2s+vb sqr 4s/a +vT
Design of Horizontal Alignment
Various design factors should be considered in the horizontal alignment, these are-
design speed, radius of circular curves, type and length of transition curves, super-
elevation and widening of pavement curves. Horizontal alignment should provide
consistency in the movement of the vehicles as well as safety and smoothness of it.

o Design Speed - the overall design of geometrics of any highway is
a function of the design speed. It is the main factor on which other
design elements depends.
o Horizontal Curves - this provides the necessary change in
direction to the central line of a road/highway. When a vehicle
traverse a curve, a centrifugal force acts on the vehicle, and may
cause it to slip past the line, however this is counteracted by the
frictional force between the tires and the pavement of the road. The
centrifugal force can be calculated using:

P = Wv^2/ gR
W - weight of the vehicle
R - radius of the circular curve
v - speed of vehicle in m/s
g - gravity, 9.81 m/s2
Centrifugal force has 2 effects, to force vehicle to skid out of the lane, and/or to overturn
the vehicle. This will be further illustrated in the discussion.

Super-elevation
In order to counteract the force exerted by the centrifugal force and prevent skidding
and overturning of the vehicle on curves, a super elevation may be required in order to
add a certain measure in addition to the frictional force. This is the super-elevation. This
is done by raising the outer edge of a curve, providing a transverse slope throughout the
length of the horizontal curve. Superelevation is also known
as cant or banking. Expressed as 'e', it is the ratio of the height of the outer edge with
respect to the horizontal width.

The equation given for the computation of superelevation is:

E+f = v^2/gR
where: e - rate of superelevation = tan θ
Radius of Horizontal Curve
Given the speed of the vehicle traversing the road on a curve, the centrifugal force is
dependent on the radius of the horizontal curve. Keeping the centrifugal ratio within the
low limit means designing the curve with a high radius. From the previous equations
given, the radius of the curve can be obtained.
Widening of Pavement on Horizontal Curves
On horizontal curves, especially with small radii, it is common to widen the curve's
width. This is to account to the fact that vehicles traversing the curve can take other
lanes, called off-tracking.
The total widening needed at a horizontal curve:
We = nl^2/2R + v/2.64 sqr R

where: R1 - radius of the outer track line of the rear wheel

R2 - radius of the outer track line of the front wheel
l - distance between the front and rear wheel
n - number of lanes
v- velocity in m/s
Earthworks
One factor that significantly affects the selection of road construction is the terrain,
which affects the laying of the grade line. One of the major objectives in selecting a
particular location for a highway is to minimize the amount of earthwork. Therefore it is
important to estimate the amount of earthwork involved for each desired location where
the highway will be constructed.
To determine the amount of earthwork involved for a given grade line, cross sections
are taken at regular intervals along the grade line.
The average volume can be obtained using: