Introduction

Transport is one of the key infrastructures of a country. For a rapid economic, industrial and cultural growth
of any country a good system of transportation is very essential. The rate at which a country economy grows
is very closely linked to the rate at which the transport sector grows.
A mode of transport may be simply defined as a means of transport. There are 3 basic modes of
transport are by land, water & air i.e.,
1. Roadways
2. Railways
3. Waterways &
4. Airways

Roadways : In this mode of transport all vehicles use the roadways to travel from one point to another
point. There are various kinds of vehicles in this class. Some are motorized and others are human or animal
powered.
The road even goes to the road step of consumer.
It provides maximum service to one and all. It provides maximum flexibility for travel with reference to
route, direction, time and speed of travel through any mode of road vehicle.

Railways : In this mode of transport all vehicles use rail tracks to move from one point to another point .
The locomotive either uses diesel or electricity as a fuel. These trains are used for transporting people as
well as goods. It is pioneer transport system in carrying huge goods and passengers for a longer distance.
It is more economical and cheaper to consumers compared to any other mode of transport.

Waterways : In this mode of transport all vehicles use channels in water bodies (Like rivers , lakes &
oceans) to travel from one point to another point . Waterways are used either to ferry people and goods over
short distances.
It is slow .It can carry huge amount of goods, but it needs harbor & port facilities. Consumes more time for
transportation.

Airways : In this mode of transport all vehicles use air routes travel from one point to another point .
Airways provide the fastest mode of transport but more costlier. Airways also help in connecting remote
places in difficult terrain. Presently airways are extensively used to travel over long distances. Goods,
perishable commodities in particular are also transported in cargo planes over long distances. A common
man cannot use this facility.
The efficiency of a transport mode can be judged by the following characteristics
i. Speed Safety Cost
ii. Fuel efficiency Adeqaucy Frequency
iii. Comfort Cheapness Responsiblites
iv. Regularity Employment generation

Jayakar Committe Report

A committee was formulated in 1927 to study the road development in India. M.R. Jayakar has the
chairman of the committee. The committee submitted a report in 1928 with following recommendations.
1. The road development in the country should be considered as a national interest without involving
local bodies.
2. An extra tax should be levied on petrol from the road user a to develop a road development fund
called as central road fund.
3. A semi official technical body should be formed to pool the technical concepts & to act as an
advisory body on various aspects of road.
4. A research organization should be instituted to carry out research & development work.

The recommendations were implemented as follows

 In 1929, the central road fund was formed.

 The consumers of petrol were charged an extra levy of 2.64 paisa per litre.
 In 1934, Indian road congress was formulated to act as an advisory body to the government.
 In 1939, the motor vehicle act was brought into effect by the Govt of India to regulate the road
traffic & it was revised in the yr 1977.
 In 1950, the CRRI (Central Road Research Institute) was started at New Delhi for research &
development works.
 In 1956, national highway act was passed. The main feature of this act is the responsibility of
development & maintenance of national highways.
 In 1973, Highway research board was established. The central Govt has the power to declare any
other highway as NH or omit any of the existing NH from the list.
  In 1995, National Highway Authority of India was developed.
 In 1998, Task force for infrastructure was developed

Necessity Of Highway Planning

Planning is considered as a pre-requisite before attempting any development program. In engg

works planning is basic requirement for any new project or expansion. Planning is of great importance when
the funds available are limited where as total requirement is much higher.
Objectives of Highway Planning

 To plan road network for efficient & safe traffic operation at minimum cost.
 To arrive at road system having maximum utility
 To fix update priorities for development of road.
 To plan for future improvement of roads.
 To workout financing system

Classification Of Roads

Depend on weather condition

All weather road : Negotiable during all weather except at major river crossing
Fair weather road: traffic interrupted during monsoon

Depend on carriage way

Paved roads: Hard pavement – WBM
Unpaved roads: Not hard pavement (earth roads/gravel roads)

Depend on pavement surface

Surface roads: bitumen or cement concrete surfacing (black topped roads)
unSurface roads not provided with pavement surface

Depend on traffic volume: heavy , medium, light

Depend on load transported/tonnage: class I /class A,class II/class B

Depend on location and function
• National Highway
• State Highway
• Major District Road,
• Other District Roads, and
• Village Roads

National highways (NH): Main highways running through length and breadth of India
It connects major ports, foreign highways, capitals, tourist centers. It should have good surface finishing
and strength to carry heavy traffic. The Construction and maintenance of roads is taken care by Central
Government

State highways (SH): Arterial roads of a state connecting up with NH of adjacent state district head quarters
, important cities. It generally has 2 lanes The Construction and maintenance of roads is taken care by state
Government

Major district roads(MDR):Important roads with in a district serving areas of productions and markets
and connecting with main highways of a district.

Other district roads(ODR): It provides links to villages and serve rural areas, market center, taluk head
quarters. Construction and maintenance of roads –Zilla parishad or district authority

Village roads: connecting group of villages. Construction and maintenance of roads- local district boards

Urban roads:located with in cities and towns.

Non urban roads(Rural roads):located in non urban areas and connect cities and towns across the country.
Urban roads are classified as
• Arterial streets
• Sub Arterial streets
• Collector streets
• Local streets
Other roads
 • Expressways
• Bypass roads
• Outer and inner ring roads
• Freeways

Arterial Streets
• through traffic , continuous roads
• CBD outlying residential areas,
• restricted loading and unloading,
• restricted parking, pedestrian crossing
• usually along expressways to serve as principal network of traffic flow. Design speed -80km/hr.
Land width-50to 60m

Sub Arterial streets

• Less traffic than arterial streets,
• through traffic, lower level mobility.
• Pedestrian are allowed to cross only at intersections.
• Design speed -60km/hr. Land width-30to 40m

Collector streets
• collects and distribute traffic from local streets.
• Situated in residential, commercial and industrial area, few parking restrictions except for peak
hours.
• Design speed -50km/hr. Land width-20to 30m

Local streets
• access to residential, business, abutting properties.
• Does not carry large volume of traffic unrestricted parking and pedestrians allowed.
• Design speed -30km/hr. Land width-10to 20m

Express ways
They are also called as throughway, or freeways
• high quality roads with ramps, grade separation,
 • lane dividers and elevated section
• controlled entries and exists of vehicles
• No road merges or crosses on the expressway
• possibility of accidents are also less high speed, greater safety, comfort and convenience for drivers
and passengers, and lower vehicle operating costs. No loading and parking

Expressways Bypass outer & inner ring roads

Bypass roads
• When the main or through roads pass through the congested areas of the towns, there will be
considerable reduction in the speed of the vehicles and the smooth flow of the traffic is largely
affected resulting loss of time and fuel.
• In order to maintain the smooth and speedy flow of traffic, bypass roads are constructed.
• These are also called as loop-roads through which the main traffic can pass from one side and again
join on the main road on the other side thus avoiding the congested area or ribbon development of
the town.

Outer and inner ring roads

• These roads are in the form of circles or rings. The outer ring road is meant to divert traffic
approaching the town. The inner ring road is meant to divert the local from through traffic . These
ring roads help to reduce the traffic congestion of the large towns.

Freeways
These are the special routes meant to carry fast moving traffic and therefore designed with high
standard of alignment, clear visibility, wide carriage way, easy gradient and smooth curves etc.
There is no access from adjacent properties as a result full width of free-way is made available for
the fast moving vehicles without any obstruction. The free-ways function as arterial roads passing
 around the city with controlled access. They also act as main entrances and exits as such they form
a part of major road system.

Road Patterns

The choice of the pattern very much depends on the locality, the layout of different towns, villages,
industrial & production centers & choice of planning engineer. It may be classified as

 Rectangular or Block pattern

 Radial or Star & Block pattern
 Radial or Star & Circular pattern
 Radial or Star & Grid pattern
 Hexagonal Pattern
Minimum Travel Pattern

Rectangular or block pattern

• Whole area is divided into rectangular blocks of plots with streets intersecting at right angles.
• Rectangular blocks are divided into small rectangular blocks
• Construction and maintenance of roads is easier, mainly adopted for city roads
• This pattern is not convenient from traffic pint of view
• e.g. city roads of Chandigarh

Radial (star) and block pattern

• Entire area is divided into network of roads radiating from business outwards.
• Between radiating roads built up area may be planned with rectangular block
 • Reduces congestion prevents traffic from accessing local flow routes
• the main radial roads radiating from central business area are connected together with concentric
roads.
• Installing circular pattern -traffic signals -reduce -rear-end crashes.
• roundabouts improve the efficiency of traffic flow, they also reduce vehicle emissions and fuel
consumption.
• Center lines of roads leading to circular pattern should be properly aligned with the central island.
• Traffic signs, pavement markings, and lighting should be adequate so that drivers are aware that
they are approaching a roundabout and that they should reduce their travel speed.

Radial or Star and Grid Pattern

• Keep vehicular traffic safe with a high
• proportion of 3-way intersections.
• Reduce cut-through traffic.
• Improve traffic flow in both directions
• Improve land use efficiency and unit density.
• Traffic signs, pavement markings, and lighting should be adequate so that drivers are aware that
they should reduce their travel speed.

Hexagonal Pattern
• entire area is provided with a network of roads formatting hexagonal figures.
At each corner of the hexagon, three roads meet the built-up area boundary by the sides of the hexagons is
further divided in suitable sizes
Minimum Travel Pattern
The city is contented by sector center, suburban center and neighborhood center by the road which
required minimum to connect the city center

Rectangular or Grid-iron Street system

suitable for fairly plain country, without any predominant natural features. The streets have equal widths
and they cross each other at right angles. e.g. Jaipur (India)

Advantages
• It is convenient to traffic and so a speedy
and free traffic can be maintained.
• The houses are constructed in rectangular blocks so convenient, economical and most suited for
building construction.
• There is no wastage of land since no irregular portions are left out.
• The maximum area is used for construction. It is therefore most advantageous for private land-
owners
• Disadvantages
• It does not provide short cuts which provide a direct access to trade and shopping center.
• In uneven country – inconvenience, discomfort and more expensive.
• It has too many junctions and crossings – chances of accidents.
• System produces monotonous effect – roads are straight, open devoid of interest.
 Rectangular or grid Rectangular with diagonal concentric & radial
Rectangular combined with diagonal street system
Improved type of rectangular system. England
Advantages
• Provides direct communication from distant parts of town
• To improve aesthetics of town, diagonals meeting point is used as park, garden, fountain or
memorial.
• Most practicable as there are very few obstacles
Disadvantages
• Give rise to many dangerous intersections at the junctions of diagonal streets – unsatisfactory from
traffic point of view.

Concentric and radial street system

• Circular or ring road – connect to radial roads
• Also called Spider Web system
• Town grows in the form of concentric ring roads round the hub of the town therefore each part is
near to center. e.g. Vienna, Austria

Advantages
• The radial roads provide direct access to the heart or central part of the town, these ring roads are
designed as arterial roads.
• The circular roads function as the intermediary between diagonal roads and local roads.
• The circular roads help to distribute the local traffic to the different thoroughfares, suitable from
traffic point of view.
• more useful for the economic expansion of the town with central features such as important public
buildings, market etc.
.
Disadvantages
• The plots are formed trapezoidal in shape. So a lot of space is wasted due to irregular portions left
out.
• It is not economical for the construction of houses, since maximum area is not utilized

Planning Surveys
The studies carried out are :
1. Economic Studies
2. Financial Studies
3. Traffic or road use Studies
4. Engineering Studies

Economic Studies : The data’s collected in this study includes :

 Distribution of population in each locality, village, town
 Trend of growth of population
 Agriculture & Industrial Products
 Trend & development of Agriculture & Industry
 Per capita income
Financial Studies : The data’s collected in this study includes :
 Source of income & Revenue
 Living Standards
 Toll taxes, Vehicle Registration & fines
 Future trend of finance

Traffic or road use Studies : The data’s collected in this study includes :
 Traffic volume of vehicles per day, annual average daily traffic & peak hour traffic
 Origin & destination studies
 Traffic flow pattern
 Accident & their cost analysis & causes
 Future trend in growth of traffic volume
 Growth of passenger trips & choice of modes
Engineering Studies : The data’s collected in this study includes :
 Topography details
 Soil surveys
 Location & classification of existing roads
 Road life studies
 Special problems in drainage, construction & maintenance.

Master Plan : Master plan is the final road development plan for the area under study which may be district,
state or the whole country. Based on the above plans, different possible networks of new roads &
improvement of some existing roads are proposed. In each proposal the population & productivity of each
locality, traffic flow, topography & all other details both existing & possible changes in future are kept in
view.The various alternate proposals of road systems are compared & best is selected. For arriving the best
road system out of alternate proposal, it is desirable to make use of the concept of saturation system.

Saturation system
In this system, the optimum road length is calculated for the area based on maximum utility per unit
length of road. Hence this system may be called maximum utility system. The factors which are taken for
obtaining the utility per unit length of road are : (1) Population
(2) Productivity Agriculture
Industrial
Step 1: Population Units
Since the area under consideration may consist of villages and towns with different populations, it is
required to group these into some convenient population ranges and to assign some reasonable values of
utility units to each range of populations served for example, the road link connecting villages having
population range between 1001 and 2000 may be grouped together and be assigned one utility unit per
village. Similarly the various villages and settlements may be grouped in different population ranges and
be assigned suitable utility units, as indicated in a typical example given below:

Population less than 500, utility unit =0.25

501 to 1000, utility unit= 0.50
1001 to 2000, utility unit= 1.00
2001 to 5000, utility unit= 2.00
From plan showing the distribution of population groups in accordance with the categories made in the
appropriate plan, the number of towns and villages with population ranges served by each road is found and
then converted into the utility served by each road. Thus the total number of units based on population can
be obtained for each proposed road network alternative.

The area under consideration posses population of varying growth ,it is required to transform all the
groups in terms of some arbitrary units i.e
Pop b/w 1001 – 2000 = 0.25
2001 – 5000 = 0.5
5001 – 10000 = 1 …………
Population ranges served by each road system is found & then converted into the utility units.
Step 2: Productivity Units
The total agricultural & industrial products served by each road system should be worked out. The
productivity served may be assigned appropriate values of utility units per unit weight. For example one
thousand tonnes of agricultural products may be considered equivalent to one unit. Similarly the industrial
products may also be assigned some suitable utility per unit weight. However coal, raw material like ores
etc. may be assigned lower utility values than the industrial products. From plan showing the location of
places with their respective quantities if productivity the total productivity units served by each road system
may be estimated.

(3) Utility Units : The total utility units of each road system is found by adding the population units &
productivity units. The total units are divided by the total road length of each system to obtain the utility
rate per unit length. Each road system having different length would show different value of utility per unit
length. The proposal, which gives maximum utility, may be chosen as the final layout with optimum road
length.

Highway Alignment
The position or the layout of the central line of the highway on the ground is called alignment. The road
should be aligned very carefully otherwise it leads to capital loss.

Factors for an ideal alignment.

 a. The alignment should be shortest between 2 terminal stations (origin & destination). A straight
alignment will be the shortest.
b. Easy – It should be easy to construct & maintain road with minimum problem.
c. Safe – It should be safe inform for construction & maintenance from the viewpoint of stability of
natural hill slopes & embankments.
d. Economical – The road alignment could be considered economical only if the total cost including
initial cost, maintenance cost & vehicle operation cost is lowest.
The alignment should be such that it would offer maximum utility by serving maximum population &
products

Factors Controlling Alignment

For an aliment to be shortest it should be straight b/w 2 terminals stations. But it is not always possible due
to various practical difficulties such as intermediate obstructions & topography. The factors, which control
highway aligment, are
a) Obligatory Points
b) Traffic
c) Geometric Design
d) Economics &
e) Other Considerations
(a) Obligatory Points : These are controlled points governing the alignment of the highways . this
controlled points may be divided into 2 categories
i. Points through which the alignment is to pass
ii. Points through which the alignments should not pass
Obligatory Points through which the road alignment as to pass may cause alignment to often deviate from
the shortest path. Eg. Bridge sight, mountains, and intermediate town.
Obligatory Points through which the alignments should not pass but deviation is a must . Eg. Historical
monuments
(b)Traffic: The alignment should suit the traffic requirements. Origin & destination studies should be
carried out. The traffic flow pattern & future trends should be considered while aligning new roads.
Geometric Design : Factors such as gradient , radius of curve , side distance govern the final alignment .
The alignment can be changed depending upon design speed, maximum super elevation & coefficient of
friction.
© Economy : The alignment finalized on above factors should be economical , including initial cost ,
maintenance cost & vehicle operation cost.
(d) Other Considerations : Other factors which govern the alignment are drainage factors , hydrological
factors & political considerations.

Special Consideration For Hill Road Alignment:

1. Alignment of hill road should be on that side of the hill which is sound & solid (for land
slides)
2. For adequate drainage of hill road a sufficient number of catch water drains, cross drainage
works should be provided.
3. Grades, side distances, horizontal curves & width of road should be sufficient to satisfy the
needs of the traffic.
4. Proposed alignment if necessary, may be deviated or shifted along the route
5. Unnecessary curves & deviation in hill roads should be avoided.
6. Deep cuttings & heavy fillings should be avoided as for as possible
7. Hill road if situated at low altitude will have increase catchment area

Highway Project : The road projects may be of 2 types

 New Highway Project
 Realignment or Redesigning Of Highway project
New Highway Project : The work may be divided into 3 stages i.e
(i) Selection of route, finalization of alignment & geometric details
(ii) Collection of materials & testing
(iii) Construction stages
The various steps in new highway project are :
 Map study
 Reconnaissance survey – General idea of topography details, soil type & construction material
 Preliminary survey – The works carried out are soil survey along alternate alignment, geometric
design, preparation of plans, comparison of routes, economic analysis & selection of final alignment
 Location of final alignment - Driving of pegs along central line of chosen alignment, setting out
geometric design elements, curves & super elevation details.
 Detailed survey – Preparation of L / S, C/S, computation of earth works
  Materials – The construction materials are selected from nearest borrow pits & quarries & tested in
laboratory. Quality control test is also carried out.
 Design – Details of embankments, cut slopes.
 Earth work – Excavation for highway cutting, construction of embankment & drainage.
 Pavement construction – Preparation of subgrade, construction of subbase , wearing course.
 Construction control – Quality control test are carried out at different stages. Unevenness, camber
& super elevation are checked.
Realignment Project: - The highways are been upgraded in different stages as these roads are meant for
slow traffic & defiency in geometric design elements for the present day traffic.
Necessity Of Realignment :-
I. Improvement of horizontal alignment elements (radius, super elevation , sight distance,
transition curves)
II. Improvement of vertical alignment elements (gradients, change in curves , correction for
undulation & humps)
III. The formation level should be raised completely where road strech is subjected to flooding
& submergence.
IV. Reconstruction of weak & narrow bridges, culverts.
V. Construction of over bridges & under bridges.
VI. Realignment of the road, which is benn, submerged under water.
VII. Construction of bypass roads.
Steps
 Reconnaissance survey should be carried out for road stretch to be aligned
 Survey of existing road - recording topographic features, drainage conditions.
 Observation of central line, cross slope, super elevation, gradient, curves.
 Soil survey along stretch of roads.
 Comparison of economics & consideration of feasibility of alternate proposal of
realignment.
 Finalizing design features.
 Preparation of drawings.
 Marking of central line
 Earth work & preparation of subgrade , construction of new bridges & culverts.
 Checking geometric design standards.
 Design & construction of new highway pavements.