1 Transportation Engineering – 21CV52

Module 1
ROLE OF TRANSPORTATION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NATION
Transportation deals with the movement of men and/or goods from one place to another. The
advancement in the transportation system is closely related with the development and
wellbeing of a society. Transport has long been responsible for the development of
civilization by meeting people's travel needs and goods transportation needs. The important
roles played by any transportation system can be summarized as follows:
(i) Economic Role: Transportation system links places of production and consumption of
goods and services at an economical cost. Increased productivity of agricultural and industrial
products and their distribution through efficient transportation system can lower the cost of
products. It also increases the employment opportunities.
(ii) Social Role: Transportation system facilitates social interaction, movement for education/
health/ recreation/ other social activities
(iii) Spatial Development Role: It facilitates area and infrastructure development for
housing/ industrial/ educational and other activities.
(iv) Cultural Role: It enhances civilization, urbanization, education and enlightenment.
(v) Political Role: It promotes national integration, supports defence of the country, and
helps to maintain law and order.
(vi) Environmental Role: Environmental role is generally a negative one. It leads to
environmental pollution (air, water and noise pollution, vibrations), fuel consumption, lack of
safety to life, increased consumption of land, etc.
(vii) Others: Transportation planning contributes to the aesthetics of the region. It also affects
social life and pattern of a community. Planning and constructing new transport infrastructure
requires relocation of residents.
DIFFERENT MODES OF TRANSPORTATION
The different modes of transportation can generally be classified as follows:
i. Land – Highways, railways, pipelines, conveyors, aerial ropeways
ii. Air – Airways
iii. Water – Waterways like river ways, canal ways, ocean ways
MERITS AND DEMERITS OF ROADWAYS AND RAILWAYS
Roadways
Merits
• Provides greater flexibility of travel
• Accommodates different classes of vehicles as well as pedestrians
• Provides door- to- door service for both passenger and freight movement

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• Acts as feeder system for other modes of transport.

Demerits
• Consumes greater energy per passenger km and ton km than railways or waterways
• Rate of emissions of pollutants is higher than that of other modes of transport.
• Because of the flexibility of movement with a wide range of travel speeds along the
same roadway, road transport is more prone to accidents compared to other modes.
But, in other modes, even with various safety measures taken, major accidents do
occur, which are more grievous.
Note: India has about 63.73 lakh km of road network, which is the second largest in the
world. Karnataka has a good road network. There are 14 national highways and 115
state highways with total length of 28,311 km.
Railways
Merits
• Since the resistance of steel wheels of railway wagons on railway track is much lower
than the resistance of rubber tyres of vehicles on uneven road surface, the energy
requirement for traction per unit weight of load is very less. Hence, bulk movement
on long hauls through railways is more economical, compared to road transport.
• Railways can act as a high-speed public transportation system for suburban-to-urban
travel and intra-urban travel.
• Lesser amount of emissions per unit weight of goods or passengers to be transported,
if diesel locomotives being used, and negligible emissions in the case of electrified
track.
Demerits
• To access intermediate parts and localities between stations, a feeder system is
required.
• Less flexible as compared to roadways in terms of fixed time tables and routes
• Construction and maintenance cost is more than roadways. Therefore, an integrated
rail-cum-road network is essential for a developing country like India, to conserve
energy and money.
Waterways
Transportation by water offers minimum resistance to traction and therefore needs minimum
energy to haul unit load through distance. The water transportation is the most energy
efficient but it is the slowest among the four modes. The highest use of this mode is for bulk
cargo of relatively low value. The transportation by water is possible between the ports on the
sea routes or along the rivers or canals where inland transportation facilities are available.
Advantages:
• Cheapest: Cost per tonne is lowest

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• Possess highest load carrying capacity

• Leads to the development of the industries.
Disadvantages:
• Slow in operation and consumes more time and Depends on whether condition
• Chances of attack by other countries on naval ships are more.
• Ocean tides affects the loading and unloading operation and the routes are circuitous.
Airways
The transportation by air is the fastest among the four modes. Air transport provides more
comfortable and fast travel resulting in substantial saving in travel time for the passengers
between the airports. The shipment of high value freight on long hauls is possible in the
shortest time by air transport. Unlike other modes of transport, air transport allows
continuous journey over the land and water, even across inaccessible places in between two
airports. For shorter hauls helicopters are used and they were developed for their landing and
takeoff. Military aviation is also important to meet the defense needs of a country.
Advantages
• It has highest speed.
• Intercontinental travel is possible
• Journey is continuous over land and water
Disadvantages
• Highest operating cost (cost/tonne is more) and the load carrying capacity is lowest
• Depends on whether condition
• Should follow the flight rules.
SCOPE AND IMPORTANCE OF ROADS IN INDIA
For the integrated development of any country, a well-planned road network
connecting all villages, district head quarters and commercial centres is very essential. Also,
it is important to develop major highways and expressways connecting important urban,
industrial and commercial centres for enhancing the mobility of travel. Thus, for a developing
country like India, in order to meet the increasing travel demand, the road transportation
system has to be upgraded in terms of quantity and quality, which in turn would result in
increased employment potential as well as Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In general, the
roads in India perform the following functions to achieve the overall economic growth of the
country through:
• Rural connectivity – Since India is an agriculturally predominant country,
connectivity to villages is essential for the economic and social uplift of the rural
community, which can be accomplished only through a good system of road network.

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• Transportation in Hilly areas: A considerable portion of area covered in our country

belongs to hilly or steep terrain, where the best feasible mode of transportation is
roads for effective connectivity.
• Strategic Importance: The defense of the country at borders depends greatly on road
system available.
• Freight and passenger traffic share: Short and medium distance passenger/freight
traffic is taken care of by road network.
• Forestry and Marine Products Trade: Trade and commerce related with forestry and
marine products is facilitated through proper link roads penetrating the forests, and
also along the coast line.
• Tourism Development: Tourist centres can be well connected by proper road system.
• Employment Potential: Employment opportunities can be will be enhanced with the
development road sector.
• Famine and flood relief: To relieve the hardships due to flood and famine, road
system is highly beneficial.
• Administrative convenience: For administrative convenience and maintenance of law
and order, a good road system is essential.
CHARACTERISTICS OF ROAD TRANSPORT
Among all modes of transportation, road transport is the most accessible one for the
movement of people or freight. Any class of vehicles, whether personal or public transport
and also the pedestrians can make use of the road system. Also, the road network system
could serve well the very remote villages or difficult terrains or even farflung border areas
located in high altitudes. Because of this flexibility, road transport gained maximum
acceptability.
The characteristics of road transport can be briefly listed as below:
Advantages
i. Wide geographical coverage provided by Roads: Roads can be constructed to make a way
into any interior places irrespective of terrain /topography conditions.
ii. Usage by wide variety of vehicles: Roads are used by different classes of vehicles like
cars, buses, trucks, 3-wheelers, 2-wheelers, pedal cycles and animal drawn vehicles, and also
the pedestrians.
iii. Low capital investment: Road transport infrastructure requires the lowest capital cost as
well as maintenance cost, compared to other modes of transport. Even the best road is
cheaper than a railway line.
iv. Quick and assured deliveries of articles are possible through road transport.
v. Road transport offers flexibility of service by any number of buses or trucks, flexibility in
timings of travel, flexibility of routes of travel, and flexibility in the usage of personalized
vehicles.

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vi. Road transport offers door-to-door service from origin to destination, free from
transshipments. For short hauls, road transport is the most economical one too.
vii. Road transport permits simpler packaging of goods.
viii. Road transport offers high employment opportunities.

Disadvantages
i. Road transport is more prone to accidents
ii. Road transport is one of the major sources of environmental pollution – in terms of noise,
fumes, vibration, loss of aesthetics, ribbon development and clutter of advertisements along
roadsides.
iii. Road transport leads to parking problems in urban areas.
iv. Road transport is not economical as that of railways for long hauls and high tonnage.
v. Road transport consumes more energy per passenger-kilometer and ton-kilometer than rail
transport.
Current Road development Programmes in India
Jayakar Committee Recommendations and Implementation Recommendations
Over a period after the First World War, motor vehicles using the roads increased and this
demanded a better road network which can carry mixed traffic conditions. The existing roads
when not capable to withstand the mixed traffic conditions. For the improvement of roads in
India government of India appointed Mr. Jayakar Committee to study the situations and to
recommend suitable measures for road improvement in 1927 and a report was submitted in
1928 with following recommendations:
1. The road development in the country should be considered as a national interest as this has
become beyond the capacity of provincial governments and local bodies.
2. An extra tax should be levied on petrol from the road users to develop a road development
fund called ‘Central Road Fund’
3. A Semi-official technical body should be formed to pool technical know-how from various
parts of the country and to act as an advisory body on various aspects of roads.
4. A research organization should be instituted to carry out research and development work
pertaining to roads and to be available for consultations.
Implementations:
Majority of the recommendations were accepted by the government implemented by Jayakar
Committee. Some of the technical bodies were formed such as,
1. Central Road Fund (CRF) in 1929
2. Indian Road Congress (IRC) in 1934

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3. Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) in 1950.

Central Research Fund (crf):
• Central Research Fund (CRF) was formed on 1st March 1929
• The consumers of petrol were charged an extra levy of 2.64 paisa/liter of petrol to
build up this road development fund.
• From the fund collected 20 percent of the annual revenue is to be retained as meeting
expenses on the administration of the road fund, road experiments and research on
road and bridge projects of special importance.
• The balance 80 percent of the fund to be allotted by the Central Government to the
various states based on actual petrol consumption or revenue collected.
• The accounts of the CRF are maintained by the Accountant General of Central
Revenues.
• The control of the expenditure is exercised by the Roads Wings of Ministry of
Transport.
Indian Road Congress (IRC):
• It is a semi-official technical body formed in 1934. It was formed to recommend
standard specifications.
• It was constituted to provide a forum of regular technical pooling of experience and
ideas on all matters affecting the planning, construction and maintenance of roads in
India.
• IRC has played an important role in the formulation of the 20-year road development
plans in India.
• Now, it has become an active body of national importance controlling specifications,
guidelines and other special publications on various aspect of Highway Engineering.
Central Road Research Institute (CRRI):
• CRRI was formed in the year 1950 at New Delhi
• It was formed for research in various aspect of highway engineering
• It is one of the National laboratories of the Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research.
• This institute is mainly engaged in applied research and offers technical advice to
state governments and the industries on various problems concerning roads.
Highway Development and Planning
Highway Development in India
Highway design is only one element in the overall highway development process.
Historically, detailed design occurs in the middle of the process, linking the preceding phases
of planning and project development with the subsequent phases of right-of-way acquisition,

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construction, and maintenance. While these are distinct activities, there is considerable
overlap in terms of coordination among the various disciplines that work together, including
designers, throughout the process.
It is during the first three stages, planning, project development, and design, that designers
and communities, working together, can have the greatest impact on the final design features
of the project. In fact, the flexibility available for highway design during the detailed design
phase is limited a great deal by the decisions made at the earlier stages of planning and
project development. This Guide begins with a description of the overall highway planning
and development process to illustrate when these decisions are made and how they affect the
ultimate design of a facility.

Objectives of Highway Planning

Planning if considered as pre-requisite before attempting any development program in the
present era. Highway planning is of great importance when funds available are limited
whereas the total planning is of great importance when the funds are limited whereas the total
requirement is much higher. The objectives are as follows
a. To plan the overall road network for efficient and safe traffic operations, but at minimum
cost. Here the costs of construction, maintenance and resurfacing or strengthening of
pavement layers and vehicle operation costs are taken into consideration.
b. To arrive at the road system and the lengths of different categories of roads which could
provide maximum utility and could be constructed within the available resources during the
plan period under construction
c. To divide the overall plan into phases and to decide priorities.
d. To fix up date wise priorities for development of each road link based on utility as the main
criterion for phasing the road development program.
e. To plan for the future requirements and improvements of roads in view of anticipated
developments.
f. To work out suitable financing systems

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Classification of Roads
The different criteria adopted for classification of roads are listed below:
a) Seasonal condition in the usage of roads
b) Provision of surfacing on roads
c) Intensity of traffic volume
d) Load transported or tonnage
e) Location and function.
Of the above, the widely accepted criterion, and the one followed by the Ministry of Road
Transport & Highways (MoRT&H) is ‘location and function’. Thus, in the First Road
Development Plan of India (Nagpur Plan 1943-‘63), road classification was defined based on
location and function, and it remained unchanged during the Second Plan (Bombay Plan
1961-’81). Later, the definition was modified in the Third Road Development Plan (Lucknow
Plan 1981-2001).
Classification:
Ø Based on whether the roads can be used during different seasons of the year:
i. All-weather roads – negotiable during all seasons i.e. it remains functional irrespective of
weather conditions
ii. Fair-weather roads – can be used during fair weather (dry season) only. Traffic on these
roads may be disrupted during the monsoon season.
Ø Based on whether the paving (Surfacing) is provided or not:
i. Paved roads (Surfaced roads) – hard pavement (bituminous or concrete or paving block)
surface is provided on the carriageway. They are also known as Metalled roads.
ii. Unpaved roads (Unsurfaced roads) – No hard surface provided (earth/gravel roads), also
called Unmetalled roads.
Ø Based on traffic volume: Heavy/ Medium/Low Volume Roads
Ø Based on tonnage: Class I or II, or Class A, B.
Ø Based on location and function: (Generally used criterion)
As per Nagpur Road Plan (1st Road Development Plan 1943-’63)
i. National Highways (NH)
ii. State Highways (SH)
iii. Major District Roads (MDR)
iv. Other District Roads (ODR)
v. Village Roads (VR)

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National Highways (NH) - are the main highways across the country connecting
neighboring countries, major ports, state capitals, major industrial & tourist centers, including
roads for strategic movements for the defence of India. The central government is responsible
for the construction and maintenance of national highways. All NHs are serially numbered.
For example, National Highway 1 connects Jammu & Kashmir with Ladakh.
State Highways (SH) – are the intrastate highway that connects the NHs of adjacent states,
district headquarters, and major cities within the state, and serves as the primary thoroughfare
for traffic to and from the major highways. Sharing the same design speed and geometric
design specifications, NH and SH are designed to meet maximum mobility requirements
rather than accessibility requirements. State governments are responsible for the construction
and maintenance of SHs.
Major District Roads (MDR) – are the important roads within a district serving areas of
production and markets, and connecting other major highways of the district. They are
designed to meet almost equal levels of mobility and accessibility requirements. They have
lower design speed and geometric design standards than NH/SH.
Other District Roads (ODR) – are the roads serving rural areas of production and providing
access to market centres, railway stations, taluk/block development headquarters, etc. They
act as a feeder system to MDRs, collecting traffic from village roads. They have lower design
standards than MDRs.
Village Roads (VR) – are the roads connecting villages or groups of villages with each other
to the nearest ODR. ODRs and VRs are designed to meet the maximum level of accessibility
requirements, and have the same design standards. These are generally un-metalled roads.
Modified Classification System of Roads (As per Lucknow Plan- 3rd Road Development
Plan, 1981-2001)
One of the outcomes of the 3rd 20-year Road Development Plan was the redefinition of road
classification system. Based on location and function, the roads in India are generally
classified into Non-urban roads (passing through non-urban area) and Urban roads (passing
through urban area).
In order to provide higher degree of mobility of travel, “expressways”, a superior class of
divided highways with special design standards and full/partial control of access using grade
separators at intersections, are also being constructed in the country. The expressways should
permit only fast moving vehicles. India’s first expressway was completed in 2002, connecting
the two urban/industrial centres, Mumbai and Pune, having a length of 94.5 km. Thus,
incorporating expressways too in the road network system, the Non-urban roads in our
country are now classified into three systems for the purpose of transport planning, functional
and location identification, assigning priorities and ear-marking administrative jurisdiction.
They are:
i. Primary system – consists of Expressways and National Highways
ii. Secondary system – consists of State Highways and Major District Roads
iii. Tertiary system – consists of Other District Roads and Village Roads

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Other District Roads and Village Roads together are renamed as “Rural Roads”.
Classification of Urban Roads
The road system within an urban area is called “Urban Roads”, which would be taken care of
by the respective urban authorities. These roads are also classified as under:
i. Expressways
ii. Arterial Roads
iii. Sub-arterial Roads
iv. Collector Streets and
v. Local Streets
The function of expressways is the same whether they traverse through urban areas or
nonurban areas.
The arterial roads have the highest mobility and the lowest accessibility, while the local
streets offer the highest accessibility (door-to-door service). Collector streets have the
function of collecting the traffic from local streets and feeding it to the arterials or
subarterials. Local streets may be residential, commercial or industrial, depending on the
predominant use of the adjacent land. Parking and pedestrian mobility are unrestricted on
local streets. Urban road classification is illustrated in Fig.

Planning surveys
The studies for collecting the factual data for highway planning are known as ‘Fact Finding
Studies’ or ‘Planning Surveys’. The fact-finding studies point to an intelligent approach for

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planning and these studies should be carried if the highway programme is to be protected
from inconsistent and short-sighted policies. Planning based on the factual data and analysis
may be considered scientific and sound.
Objectives of Planning Surveys:
• Workout, the financial system and recommended changes in tax arrangements and
budget procedures, provide efficient, safe economics, comfortable and speedy
movement for goods and people.
• Plan a road network for efficient traffic operation at minimum cost.
• Plan for future requirements and improvements of roads in view of developments and
social needs.
• Fix up data wise priorities for development of each road link based on their utilities.
The planning surveys consist of the following studies:
a. Economic Studies: The details to be collected during the economic studies are useful in
estimation of the requirements, cost involved for the proposed highway improvement
programme and economic justification. This study consists the following details:
• Population and its distribution
• Trend of population growth
• Age and land products
• Existing facilities
• Per Capita income.
b. Financial Studies: The financial studies are essential to study the various financial aspects
such as sources of income, various types of revenues from duties and taxes on products, road
transport, vehicle registration, court fees etc. and the future trends. This study involves
collecting the details such as:
• Sources of income
• Living Standards
• Resources from local levels
• Factor trends in financial.
c. Traffic or Road Use Studies: All the details of the existing traffic, such as classified traffic
volume, growth rate of different vehicle classes, pattern of flow or origin destination
characteristics, particulars of passenger trips and goods movements, existing facilities for
mass transportation, trend in road accidents, accidents costs etc. The detail collected are as
follows
• Classified traffic volume in vehicles per day, annual average daily traffic, peak and
design hourly volume
• Origin and destination studies based on home interview method

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• Traffic flow pattern

• Mass transportation facilities
• Accidents, their causes and cost analysis
• Future trend and growth in traffic volume and goods traffic, trend in traffic pattern
• Growth of passenger trips and the trend in the choice of modes
d. Engineering Studies: All the details of the topography, soil and drainage characteristics,
alignment of the existing roads, deficiencies in drainage, alignments and geometrics of
existing roads and requirements of essential upgradation, identification of maintenance and
problems etc., This involves:
• Topographic study and Soil details
• Location and classification of existing roads
• Assessment of various other developments in the area that are likely due to the
proposed highway development
• Road life studies
• Specific problems in drainage constructions and maintenance.
Preparation of plans
The details collected during the planning surveys are tabulated and plotted on the maps of the
area under planning. Before finalizing the alignment and other details of the road
development program, the information collected during the fact-finding studies are presented
in the form of various plans. They are as follows
Plan-1: General area plan showing most of the existing details about the topographical
details related to existing road network, drainage, structures, towns and villages with
population, agricultural, industrial and commercial activities.
Plan-2: Plan showing the distribution of population groups in accordance with the categories
made in appropriate plan.
Plan-3: Plan showing the locations of places with their respective quantities of productivity.
Plan-4: Should indicate the existing network of roads and proposals received. Ultimately, the
Master plan is the one to be implemented.
Master plan
Master plan is referred to as road development plan of a city; district or a street or for whole
country. It is an ideal plan showing full development of the area at some future date. It serves
as the guide for the plan to improve some of the existing roads and to plan the network of
new roads. It helps in controlling the industrial, commercial and agricultural and habitat
growth in a systematic way of that area. It gives a perceptive picture of a fully developed area
in a plan and scientific way.
Stages in the preparation of master plan:

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• Data Collection: It includes data regarding existing land use, industrial and
agricultural growth, population, traffic flow, topography, future trends.
• Preparation of draft plan and invite suggestions and comments from public.
• Revision of draft plan in view of the discussions and comments from experts and
public.
• Comparison of various alternate proposals of road system and finding out the
sequence in which the master plan will be implemented.
In India, targeted road lengths were fixed in various road plans, based on population, area and
agricultural and industrial products. The same way it may be taken as a guide to decide the
total length of road system in each alternate proposal while preparing a master plan for a
town or locality.
Saturation system
In this system optimum road length is calculated for an area based on the concept of attaining
maximum utility per unit length of the road. This is also called as MAXIMUM UTILITY
SYSTEM.
Factors to attain maximum utility per unit length are:
a. Population served by the road network
b. Productivity served by the network
· Agricultural Products
· Industrial Products
The various steps to be taken to obtain maximum utility per unit length are:
1. Population factors or units: Since, the area under consideration consists of villages and
towns with different population these are grouped into some convenient population range and
some reasoning values of utility units to each range of population serve are assigned.
· Population less than 500, utility unit = 0.25
· 501 to 1001, utility unit = 0.50
· 1001 to 2000, utility unit = 1.00
· 2001 to 5000, utility unit = 2.00 etc.
2. Productivity Factors or units: The total agricultural and industrial products served by each
road system are worked out and the productivity served may be assigned appropriate values
of utility units per unit weight.
3. Optimum Road length: Based on the master plan the targeted road length is fixed for the
country on the basis of area or population and production or both. And the same may be taken
as a guide to decide the total length of the road system in each proposal.
Present scenario of road development in India

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National Highway Development Projects (NHDP)

• Realizing the deficiencies in the National Highway System in the country the National
Highways Authorities of India (NHAI) took up the National Highways Development
Projects (NHDP) by the year 2000 in different phases
• The National Highways Development Project (NHDP) is a project to upgrade,
rehabilitate and widen major highways in India to a higher standard.
• The project was started in 1998 under the leadership of then Prime Minister, Atal
Bihari Vajpayee. National Highways account for only about 2% of the total length of
roads, but carry about 40% of the total traffic across the length and breadth of the
country.
• This project is managed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) under
the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways.
• The NHDP represents 49,260 km of roads and highways work and construction in
order to boost economic development of the country.
• The government has planned to end the NHDP program in early 2018 and consume
the ongoing projects under a larger Bharatmala project.
Phase I: Golden Quadrilateral of total length 5846km connecting the 4 major metropolitan
cities. The four sides of the quadrilateral are Delhi – Mumbai, Mumbai – Chennai (Via
Bengaluru), Chennai – Kolkata and Kolkata- Delhi.
Phase II: North-South and East-West corridors comprising national highways connecting
four extreme points of the country. The North–South and East–West Corridor (NS-EW; 7,142
km) connecting Srinagar in the north to Kanyakumari in the south, and Silchar in the east to
Porbandar in the west. Total length of the network is 7,142 km.
Phase III: The government on 12th April, 2007 approved NHDP-III to upgrade 12,109 km
(7,524 mi) of national highways on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis, which takes
into account high-density traffic, connectivity of state capitals via NHDP Phase I and II, and
connectivity to centers of economic importance.
Phase IV: The government on 18th June, 2008 approved widening 20,000 km of highway
that were not part of Phase I, II, or III. Phase IV will convert existing single-lane highways
into two lanes with paved shoulders.
Phase V: As road traffic increases over time, a number of four-lane highways will need to be
upgraded/expanded to six lanes. On 5 October, 2006, the government approved for upgrade
of about 5,000 km (3,100 mi) of four-lane roads.
Phase VI: The government is working on constructing 1,000 km (620 mi) expressways that
would connect major commercial and industrial townships. It has already identified 400 km
(250 mi) of Vadodara (earlier Baroda)-Mumbai section that would connect to the existing
Vadodara (earlier Baroda)-Ahmedabad section. The World Bank is studying this project. The
project will be funded on BOT basis. The 334 km (208 mi) Expressway between Chennai—
Bangalore and 277 km (172 mi) Expressway between Kolkata—Dhanbadhas been identified
and feasibility study and DPR contract has been awarded by NHAI.

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Phase VII: This phase calls for improvements to city road networks by adding ring roads to
enable easier connectivity with national highways to important cities. In addition,
improvements will be made to stretches of national highways that require additional flyovers
and bypasses given population and housing growth along the highways and increasing traffic.
The government has planned to invest Rs. 16,680 Cr for this phase. The 19 km (12 mi) long
Chennai Port—Maduravoyal Elevated Expressway is being executed under this phase.

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)

• An accelerated village road village road development called Pradhan Mantri Gram
Sadak Yojana was launched by the Govt. of India in Dec 2000 under the guidance of
Ex. Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajapayee to provide villages with all-weather
roads.
• The ministry of Rural Development was given the responsibility to prepare the master
plans in consultation with the State Governments.
• The objective of PMGSY was to provide connectivity to all unconnected habitations
having a population of 500 and above with all-weather roads.
• The above population limit is relaxed in the case of hills, tribal and desert areas of the
country.
• The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) is a 100% Centrally Sponsored
Scheme. Rs.0.75/-litre out of the Cess on High Speed Diesel (HSD) is earmarked for
this Programme.
Programme objectives
i. The primary objective of the PMGSY is to provide Connectivity, by way of an All-weather
Road (with necessary culverts and cross-drainage structures, which is operable throughout the
year), to the eligible unconnected Habitations in the rural areas with a population of 500
persons and above in Plain areas.
ii. In respect of the Hill States (North-East, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir
and Uttarakhand), the Desert Areas (as identified in the Desert Development Programme), the
Tribal (Schedule V) areas and Selected Tribal and Backward Districts (as identified by the
Ministry of Home Affairs and Planning Commission).
iii. The objective would be to connect eligible unconnected Habitations with a population of
250 persons and above.
KSHIP
• The Karnataka State Highways Improvement Project (KSHIP) is an initiative of the
Public Works Department of the Government of Karnataka for improvement of road
network of the state with World Bank assistance.
• The Public Works Department carried out Strategic Option Study (SOS) during 1996
on a road network of 13,362 km comprising State Highways and Major District Roads
and the study identified 2888 km of roads for prioritized improvements.

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• The World Bank have extended Technical Assistance (T.A.) Loan of US $ 3.2 million
for project preparation through the Department of Economic Affairs of Ministry of
Finance, Government of India for taking up the Project Coordinating Consultancy
(PCC) Services to investigate and prepare detailed project report on the 2888 km and
Institutional Development Strategy (IDS) Study.
• With concurrence of the World Bank, M/s. Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick, United Kingdom
were selected and appointed on 07-01-1999 to carryout PCC Services for 2505 km of
roads.
• The PCC Services were divided into Phase I & II. The PCC Consultants carried out
feasibility and social & environmental screening and identified 2271 km for
prioritized improvement. It is proposed to undertake Upgradation of 992 Km and
Rehabilitation of 1277 Km.
KRDCL
Karnataka Road Development Corporation (KRDCL) was incorporated on 21st of July 1999
as a wholly owned Government of Karnataka Company as per the Provisions of the
Company's Act, 1956
• KRDCL is a company under the Public Works, Ports & Inland Water Transport
Department. This Company was established to promote surface infrastructure by
taking up Road Works, Bridges etc., and to improve road network by taking up
construction widening and strengthening of roads, construction of bridges,
maintenance of roads etc., and to take up projects on BOT, BOOT, BOLT.
• Since inception Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited has strived to
improve the road network and to establish connectivity to all the nook & corner of the
State.
Road development plan: Vision 2021
• The Indian Road Congress created this strategy at the Ministry of Road Transport and
Highways’ request.
• The primary road system, which consists of expressways and national highways, and
the secondary road system, which consists of state highways and important district
roads, are both covered by this road document.
• It has taken into account the requirement for the country’s overall road system
development.
Salient Features of Fourth Twenty Year Road Development Plan:
• The Road Development Plan Vision: 2021, which was created with the full
participation of the highway profession in both the public and private sectors,
expresses the intention for highway development in the 20 years starting in 2001.
• This vision addressed issues such as the need to mobilise financial resources,
including the expansion of the road fund, toll financing, private sector participation,
capacity expansion of main highways, pavement strengthening to handle the

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movement of heavy commercial vehicles, undertaking a massive programme of

village road construction, and preservation of existing road assets.
• Needs for road construction in the North Eastern region and other remote places have
received specific attention in the aforementioned document.
• Using the most cutting-edge and sophisticated tools for building roads was given
priority.
• The importance of research and development efforts in the road sector has increased.
• Priority was placed on improving road safety through various engineering techniques.
• More focus should be paid to engineer training.
• Providing complete connectivity to all habitations, including the construction of
bridges and culverts, must be the goal. The following concept for new connectivity
has been suggested as a result.
• Habitations with populations above 1000 by the year 2009–10 (or 500 in the case of
hills, NE states, deserts, and tribal areas) and above 500 by the year 2014–15 (or 250
in the case of hills, NE states, deserts, and tribal territories) Communities with a
population of more than 250 by 2021–2022.
The following list provides the country’s 2020 primary and secondary road system total target
lengths:
a. The main highway network
• 15,766 km of expressways (Target length)
• 80,000 km (target length) of national highways; 57,700 km (Achieved length)
b. Secondary road network:
• 1,60,000 km (target length) of State Highways; 1,24,300 km (Achieved length)
• 3,20,000 km (target length) of major district roads; 29,94,000 km (Achieved length)
• Other District Roads and Village Roads: 29,94,000 km (achieved length), no objective
set.
Rural Road Development Plan: Vision 2025
It was developed for the 20-year period of 2005-2025 to provide basic access to villages in
phases:
• Phase – I: Villages with population above 1000
• Phase – II: Villages with population above 500
• Phase – III: Villages with population below 500
Lower population limits were fixed for under developed regions including hills, deserts and
tribal areas.
Highway Alignment

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The position or the layout of the central line of the highway on the ground is called the
alignment. Highway Alignment includes both
a. Horizontal alignment includes straight and curved paths, the deviations and horizontal
curves.
b. Vertical alignment includes changes in level, gradients and vertical curves.
A new road should be aligned very carefully as improper alignment will lead to increase in
construction, maintenance and vehicle operation cost. Once the road is aligned and
constructed, it is not easy to change it due to increase in cost of adjoining land and
construction of costly structures by the roadside.
Requirements
The requirements of an ideal alignment are
a. Short: The alignment between two terminal stations should be short and as far as possible
be straight, but due to some practical considerations deviations may be needed.
b. Easy: The alignment should be easy to construct and maintain. It should be easy for the
operation of vehicles. So, to the maximum extend easy gradients and curves should be
provided.
c. Safe: It should be safe both from the construction and operating point of view especially at
slopes, embankments, and cutting. It should be safe for traffic operation with safe geometric
features.
d. Economical: The alignment should be economical and it can be considered so only if the
total life cycle cost considering the initial cost, maintenance cost, and vehicle operating cost
is lowest.
Factors Controlling Alignment
For an alignment to be shortest, it should be straight between the two terminal stations, but
this is not always possible due to various practical difficulties such as intermediate
obstructions or topography. A road which is economical with low initial investment may not
be the most economical in terms of maintenance or vehicle operation cost (VOC). Thus, is
may be seen that an alignment can fulfil all the requirements simultaneously, hence a judicial
choice is made considering all the factors. The various factors that control the alignment are
as follows:
a. Obligatory Points
b. Traffic
c. Geometric Design
d. Economics
e. Other Considerations
Obligatory Points: These are the control points governing the highway alignment. These
points are classified into two categories.

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19 Transportation Engineering – 21CV52

1. Points Through Which the Alignment Should Pass

2. Points Through Which the Alignment Should Not Pass.
Points Through Which the Alignment Should Pass
a. Bridge site: The bridge can be located only where the river has straight and permanent
path and also where the abutment and pier can be strongly founded. The road approach to the
bridge should not be curved and skew crossing should be avoided as possible. Thus, to locate
a bridge the highway alignment may be changed.
b. Mountain: While the alignment passes through a mountain, the various alternatives are to
either
c. Construct a tunnel or to go around the hills. The suitability of the alternative depends on
factors like topography, site conditions and construction and operation cost.
d. Intermediate town: The alignment may be slightly deviated to connect an intermediate
town or village nearby. These were some of the obligatory points through which the
alignment should pass.
Points Through Which the Alignment Should Not Pass.
· Religious places: These have been protected by the law from being acquired for any
purpose. Therefore, these points should be avoided while aligning.
· Very costly structures: Acquiring such structures means heavy compensation which would
result in an increase in initial cost. So, the alignment may be deviated not to pass through that
point.
· Lakes/ponds etc.: The presence of a lake or pond on the alignment path would also
necessitate deviation of the alignment.
Traffic
The alignment should suit the traffic requirements. Based on the origin- destination data of
the area, the desire lines should be drawn. The new alignment should be drawn keeping in
view the desire lines, traffic flow pattern etc.
Geometric design
Geometric design factors such as gradient, radius of curve, sight distance etc. also governs
the alignment of the highway. To keep the radius of curve minimum, it may be required to
change the alignment of the highway. The alignments should be finalized such that the
obstructions to visibility do not restrict the minimum requirements of sight distance. The
design standards vary with the class of road and the terrain and accordingly the highway
should be aligned.
Economics
The alignment finalized should be economical. All the three costs i.e. construction,
maintenance, and operating cost should be minimum. The construction cost can be decreased
much if it is possible to maintain a balance between cutting and filling. Also try to avoid very

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high embankments and very deep cuttings as the construction cost will be very higher in
these cases.
Other Considerations
The various other factors that govern the alignment are drainage considerations, political
considerations and monotony. The vertical alignment is often guided by drainage
considerations such as sub surface drainage, water level, seepage flow, and high flood levels.
A foreign territory coming across the alignment will necessitate the deviation of the
horizontal alignment. In flat terrain, even though it is possible to have a very long stretch of
road which is absolutely straight may be monotonous for driving. Hence it is recommended
to have a slight bend or road side amenities to break monotony.
Engineering surveys for highway alignment
Stages of Engineering Surveys
Before a highway alignment is finalised in a new highway project, engineering surveys are to
be carried out. These engineering surveys may be completed in the following four stages:
i. Map Study
ii. Reconnaissance Survey
iii. Preliminary Surveys
iv. Final Location and Detailed Surveys
Map Study
It is possible to suggest the likely routes of the roads if the topographic map of the area is
available. In India, topographic maps are available from the Survey of India, with 15 or 30
metre contour intervals. The main features like rivers, hills valleys, etc. are also shown on
these maps.
The probable alignment can be located on the map from the following details available on the
map.
· Alignment avoiding valleys, ponds or lakes
· When the road has to cross a row of hills or mountains, possibility of crossing through a
mountain pass.
· Approximate location of bridge site for crossing rivers, avoiding bend of the river, if any
· When a road is to be connected between two stations, one of the top and the other on the
foot of the hill, then alternate routes can be suggested keeping in view the design or ruling
gradient and the maximum permissible gradient
Thus, from the map study alternate routes can be suggested. It may also be possibly from map
study to drop a certain route in view of any unavoidable obstructions or undesirable ground
and map study gives a rough guidance of the routes to be further surveyed in the field.
Reconnaissance Survey

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The second stage of engineering surveys for highway alignment is the reconnaissance survey.
During the reconnaissance, the engineer visits the site and examines the general
characteristics of the area before deciding the most feasible routes for detailed studies. A field
survey party may inspect a fairly broad stretch of land along the proposed alternative routes
of the map in the field, very simple survey instruments are used by the reconnaissance party
to collect additional details rapidly, but not accurately. All relevant details which are not
available in the map are collected and noted down. Some of the details to be collected during
reconnaissance are given below
a. Valleys, ponds, lakes, marshy land, ridge, hills, permanent structures and other obstructions
alone the route which are not available in the map
b. Approximate values of gradient, length of gradients and radius of curves of alternate
alignments.
c. Number and type of cross drainage structures, maximum flood level and natural ground
water level along the probable routes.
d. Soil type along the routes from field identification tests and observation of geological
features
e. Sources of construction materials, water and location of stone quarries
f. When the road passes through hilly or mountainous terrain, additional data regarding the
geological formation, type of rocks, dip of strata, seepage flow etc. may be observed so as to
decide the stable and unstable sides of the hill for highway alignment.
A rapid reconnaissance of the area, especially when it is vast and the terrain is difficult and it
may be done by aerial survey. From the details collected during the survey the alignment
proposed may be altered or even changes completed.
Preliminary Survey
The main objectives of the preliminary survey are
· To survey the various alternate alignment proposed after the reconnaissance and to collect
all the necessary physical information and details of topography, drainage and soil
· To compare the different proposals in view of the requirements of a good alignment.
· To estimate quantity of earthwork materials and other construction aspects and to work
· out the cost of alternate proposals.
The preliminary survey may be carried out by of following methods
a. Conventional approach, in which a survey party carries out surveys using the required field
equipment, taking measurements, collecting topographical and other data and carrying out
soil survey
b. Rapid approach, by aerial survey taking the required aerial photographs and by
photogrammetric methods and photo-interpretation techniques for obtaining the necessary
topographic and other maps including details of soil and geology

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c. Modem techniques by use of Global Positioning System (GPS)

The procedure of the conventional methods of preliminary survey is given in following steps:
a. Primary Traverse
b. Topographical Features
c. Levelling Work
d. Drainage Studies and Hydrological Data
e. Soil Survey
f. Material Survey
g. Traffic Studies Primary Traverse
Primary Traverse
The first step in the preliminary survey is to establish the primary traverse, following the
alignment recommended in the reconnaissance. For alternate alignments either secondary
traverses or independent primary traverses may be necessary. As these traverses are open
traverses and adjustment of errors is not possible later, the angles should be very accurately
measured using a precision theodolite.
Topographic Features
After establishing the centre lines of preliminary survey, the topographical features are
recorded. All geographical and other man-made features along the traverse and for a certain
width on either side are surveyed and plotted. The width to be surveyed is generally decided
by the survey party, but the absolute minimum width is the land width of the proposed
alignment.
Levelling work
Levelling work is also carried out side by side to give the centre line profiles and typical
cross sections. Permanent and temporary bench marks should be first established at
appropriate locations and the levels should be connected to the GTS datum. The levelling
work in the preliminary survey is kept to a minimum just sufficient to obtain the approximate
earth work in the alternate alignments. To draw contours of the strip of land to be surveyed,
cross section levels should be taken at suitable intervals, generally 100 to 200 m in plain
terrain, up to 50 m in rolling terrain and up to 30 m in hilly terrain.
Drainage Studies and Hydrological Data
Drainage investigations and hydrological data are collected so as to estimate the type, number
and approximate size of cross drainage structures. Also, the vertical alignment of the
highway, particularly the grade line is decided based on the hydrological and drainage data,
such as HFL. ponded water level, depth of water table, amount of surface runoff, etc.
Soil Survey
Soil survey is an essential part of the preliminary survey as the suitability of the proposed
location is to be finally decided based on the soil survey data. The soil survey conducted at

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this stage also helps in working out details of earth work, slopes, suitability of materials,
subsoil and surface drainage requirements and pavement type and the approximate thickness
requirements. All these details are required to make a comparative study of alternate
proposals. A detailed soil survey is not necessary. Post-hole auger or any other suitable types
of hand augers may be used depending on the soil type to collect the soil sample up to a depth
of 1 to 3 metre below the likely finished road level or the existing ground level, whichever is
lower. When the road is expected to be constructed over an embankment, the depth of
exploration should extend up to twice the height of embankment from the ground level.
During the soil exploration if the ground water table is struck, the depth from the ground
surface is also noted. The types of soils encountered along the route up to the depth under
consideration are marked on the soil profile either symbolically or by suitable colour coding.

Material Survey
The survey for naturally occurring materials like stone aggregates, soft aggregates, etc. and
identification of suitable quarries should be made. Also, availability of manufactured
materials like cement, lime, brick, etc. and their locations may be ascertained.
Traffic Survey
Traffic surveys conducted in the region form the basis for deciding the number of traffic lanes
and roadway width, pavement design and economic analysis of the highway project. Traffic
volume counts of the classified vehicles are to be carried out on all the existing roads in the
region, preferably for 24 hours per day for seven days. Origin and destination surveys are
very useful for deciding the alignment of the roads. This study may be earned out on a
suitable sample of vehicle users or drivers. In addition, the required traffic data may also be
collected so that the traffic forecast could be made for 10 to 20 year periods.
Determination of Final Centre Line
After completing the preliminary surveys and conducting the comparative studies of
alternative alignments, the final centre line of the road is to be decided in the office before the
final location survey. For this, the preliminary survey maps consisting of contour plans,
longitudinal profile and cross sections of the alternate alignments should be prepared and
carefully studied to decide the best alignment satisfying engineering aesthetic and economical
requirements. After selecting the final alignment, the grade lines are drawn and the geometric
elements of the horizontal and vertical alignments of the road are designed.
Rapid method using aerial survey and modern technique using GPS
Aerial photographic surveys and photogrammetric methods are very much suited for
preliminary surveys, especially when the distance and area to be covered are vast, The survey
may be divided into the following steps: Taking aerial photographs of the strips of land to be
surveyed with the required longitudinal and lateral overlaps. Vertical photographs are
necessary for the preparation of mosaics.
a. The photographs are examined under stereoscopes and control points are selected for
establishing the traverses of the alternate proposals. The control points are located on the
maps.

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b. Using stereo-pair observations, the spot levels and subsequently contour details may be
noted down on the maps
c. Photo-interpretation methods are used to assess the geological features, soil conditions,
drainage requirements etc.
Final Location and Detailed Survey
The alignment finalised at the design office after the preliminary survey is to be first located
on the field by establishing the centre line. Next detailed survey should be carried out for
collecting the information necessary for the preparation of plans and construction details for
the highway project.
Location
The centre line of the road finalised in the drawings is to be transferred on the ground during
the location survey. This is done using a transit theodolite and by staking of the centre line.
The location of the centre line should follow, as closely as practicable, the alignment finalised
after the preliminary surveys. Major and minor control points are established on the ground
and centre pegs are driven, checking the geometric design requirements. However,
modifications in the final location may be made in the field, if found essential. The centre line
stakes are driven at suitable intervals, say at 50 metre intervals in plain and rolling terrains
and at 20 metre in hilly terrain.
Detailed Survey
· Temporary bench marks are fixed at intervals of about 250 m and at all drainage and under
pass structures. Levels along the final centre line should be taken at all staked points.
· Levelling work is of great importance as the vertical alignment, earth work calculations and
drainage details are to be worked out from the level notes.
· The cross-section levels are taken up to the desired width, at intervals of 50 to 100 m in
plain terrain, 50 to 75 m in rolling terrain, 50 m in built-up areas and 20 m in hilly terrain.
· The cross sections may be taken at closer intervals at horizontal curves and where there is
abrupt change in cross slopes.
· All river crossing, valleys etc. should be surveyed in detail up to considerable distances on
either side.
· All topographical details are noted down and also plotted using conventional signs.
Adequate hydrological details are also collected and recorded.
· A detailed soil survey is carried out to enable drawing of the soil profile. The depth up to
which soil sampling is to be done may be 1.5 to 3.0 m below the ground line or finished
grade line of the road whichever is lower. However, in case of high embankments, the depth
should be up to twice the height of the finished embankment. The spacing of auger borings
very much depends upon the soil type and its variations.
· CBR value of soils along the alignment may be determined for designing the pavement.

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· The data during the detailed survey should be elaborate and complete for preparing detailed
plans, design and estimates of the project.
Highway projects
In a new highway project, the engineer has to plan, design and construct either a network of
new roads or a road link. There are also projects requiring re-design and re-alignment of
existing roads of upgrading the geometric design standards.
Once a highway is constructed, development takes place along the adjoining land and
subsequent changes in alignment or improvements in geometric standards become very
difficult. A badly aligned highway is not only a source of potential traffic hazard, but also
causes a considerable increase in transportation cost and strain on the drivers and the
passengers. Therefore, proper investigation and planning are most important in a road project,
keeping in view the present day needs as well as the future developments of the region.

New Highway Project

The new highway project work may be divided into the following stages:
a. Selection of route, finalisation of highway alignment and geometric design details
b. Collection of materials and testing of subgrade soil and other construction materials, mix
design of pavement materials and design details of pavement layers
c. Construction stages including quality control.
Route Selection
The selection of route is made keeping in view the requirements of alignment and the
geological, topographical and other features of the locality. However special care should be
taken as regards the geometric design standards of the road for possible upgrading of speed
standards in future, without being necessary to realign the road. After the alignment if
finalised, the plans and working drawings are prepared.
Materials and Design
The soil samples collected from the selected route during the soil surveys are tested in the
laboratory in order to design the required pavement thickness and the design of embankment
and cut slopes. The basic construction materials such as selected soil, aggregates etc. are
collected from the nearest borrow pits and quarries and stacked along the road alignment after
subjecting these materials to the specified laboratory tests. In order to design the mixes for
the pavement component layers and to specify quality control test values during road
construction, mix design tests are carried out in the laboratory.
The possibility of using low-cost construction material like soil-aggregate mixes, soft
aggregates, stabilized soil and pozzolonic concrete mixes, in the sub-base or base course
layers of pavement should be fully explored. When high quality pavement materials like
bituminous mixes or cement concrete are to be used in the surface course, the mix design
specification and construction control tests should be strictly followed. The pavement

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thickness is designed based on anticipated traffic, stability and drainage conditions of the
subgrade and the type and thickness of pavement layers chosen for the construction.
In India, the CBR method has been recommended by the Indian Roads Congress for
designing the thickness of flexible pavements.
Construction
The construction of the road may be divided into two stages as follows
i. Earth Work
ii. Pavement Construction.
Earth Work
It consists of excavation and construction of the embankments. During the excavation for
highway cuts, the earth slopes, their protection and construction of drainage network are
taken care of. Highway embankments may be best constructed by rolled-fill method by
compacting the soil in layers under controlled moisture and density using suitable rollers. In
the case of high
embankments, the stability of the embankment foundation and slopes and the possible
settlement of the embankment with time are to be investigated.
Pavement Construction
It is subsequently taken up starting with the preparation of subgrade and the construction of
sub-base, base and surface courses of the pavement.
Steps in a new project work
The various steps in a new highway project may be summarised as given below:
Map Study: This is carried out with the help of available topographic maps of the area
Reconnaissance Survey: During reconnaissance survey, a general idea of a topography and
other features, field identification of soils and survey of construction materials, by an on-the
spot inspection of the site.
Preliminary Survey: Topographic details and soil survey along alternate alignments,
consideration of geometric design and other requirements of alignment, preparation of plans
and comparison of alternate routes; economic analysis and selection of final alignment.
Location of Final Alignment: Transfer of the alignment from the drawings to the ground by
driving pegs along the centre line of finally chosen alignment, setting out geometric design
elements by location of tangent points, apex points, circular and transition curves, elevation
of centre line and super elevation details.
Detailed Survey: Survey of the highway construction work or the preparation of longitudinal
and cross sections, computations of earth work quantities and other construction material and
checking details of geometric design elements.
Materials Survey: Survey of construction materials, their collection and testing.

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Design: Design details of embankment and cut slopes, foundation of embankments and
bridges, and pavement layers and cross drainage structures.
Earth Work: Excavations for highway cutting and drainage system, construction of
embankments. Pavement
Construction: Preparation of subgrade, construction of sub-base, base and surface courses.
Construction Controls: Quality control tests during different stages of construction and
check for finished road surface such as unevenness, camber, super elevation and extra
widening of pavements at curves.
Construction Planning and Programming: The construction planning and programming to
be carried out taking into accounts all the restraints and existing problems. In order to
minimise the construction cost and time, it is essential to resort to appropriate approaches
such as use of Critical Path Method (CPM) and Project Evaluation and Review Technique
(PERT).
Re-Alignment Project
Necessity of Re-Alignment Most of the present highways in India have been upgraded in
stages, from the existing local roads of the pre-automobile era. As these roads were then
meant for slow traffic, they are found deficient in the geometric design elements for the
present-day automobile traffic. There are several stretches of NH in the country having single
lane carriageway, narrow bridges and culverts and many locations with sharp horizontal
curves and avoidable zigzags, steep gradients and inadequate sight distances. These defects
are to be rectified as early as possible at least in stages, starting with roads of greater
importance like NH and SH’s. It will be worth-while to adopt more liberal values of
geometric design parameters than the ruling minimum values specified, where the conditions
are favourable and the costs involved are not excessive. In such cases, it would be possible to
upgrade the highway if necessary in future by increasing the width standards only, but
without the necessity of re-aligning the road. However, in constrained situations and in
difficult terrain, it may not always be economical to improve the existing highway geometries
to the recommended design standards. In such cases appropriated speed restrictions have to
be imposed to minimise road accidents.
It has been decided as a policy that NH’s should as far as possible be able to fully cater to the
traffic moving at design speed, fulfilling the comfort and safety requirements, both for the
present and future traffic needs. To achieve this objective, it is necessary to plan
improvements in the geometries of roads wherever deficient, to the extent economically
practicable along with other improvements such as raising of the road above flood water
level, pavement resurfacing or construction of overlay for strengthening the pavement
structure.
Types of Improvement
The following types of improvement in alignment of existing road may be carried out:
1. Improvement of horizontal alignment design elements such as, radius, super elevation,
transition curve, providing adequate clearance on inner side of the curve or shifting the curve
to provide adequate sight distance, elimination of reverse curve and undesirable zigzags, etc.

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2. Improvement of vertical alignment design elements like steep gradients, changes in summit
curves to increase sight distance, correction of undesirable undulations like humps any dips,
etc.
3. Raising the level of a portion of a road which is subjected to flooding, submergence or
water-logging during monsoons.
4. Re-construction of weak and narrow bridges and culverts and changes in waterway at
locations slightly away from the existing site.
5. Construction of over-bridges or under-bridges at suitable locations across a railway line in
place of level crossing or across another road to provide grade separated intersections.
6. Re-alignment required due to a portion of the road being submerged under water at the
reservoir area on account of construction of a new dam.
7. Construction of a bypass to avoid the road running through a town or city
8. Defence requirements.
General Principles of Re-Alignment
· While improving the horizontal alignment of roads, improvement in sharp curves and
zigzags should be done after considering the whole alignment and not on piece meal basis.
The improvement of transition curves would not generally be very costly and therefore such
deficiencies should be rectified where-ever necessary. The sight distance available generally
gets increased when the horizontal alignment is improved, otherwise the setback distance
may be increased at horizontal curves by removing or shifting the obstruction from the inner
side of the curve, up to the desired extent.
• While improving the vertical alignment, attempts should be made to provide
Overtaking Sight Distance (OSD) at summit curves. On divided highways, the
overtaking distance required will be lesser than on un-divided two-way roads, as there
is no need to provide for the on-coming vehicles during overtaking operations.
However, if it is not possible to provide for OSD, at- least the safe stopping sight
distance should be available for the design speed at all locations of the road.
· The corrections of minor undulations such as humps and dips may not involve high cost and
so it is desirable to provide suitable vertical transition curves for shock-free movement of
vehicles travelling at the design speed. Valley curves may be checked for comfort condition
and for visibility under the head lights of the vehicles during night driving.
· The road stretches which remain submerged under water even for a short duration of the
year or those which are in water-logged areas should be raised before strengthening or
widening pavement section. The formation level be raised such that the subgrade is at least
0.6 m above the HFL (Highest Flood Level). Suitable measures should be adopted against
waterlogging and care should be taken to provide suitable drainage facilities including the
cross drainage works.
· While reconstructing bridges of length greater than 60 m on sites other than the existing
ones, separate surveys should be carried out for the selection of suitable sites. The selection
of site for major bridges would be governed by the river training works, subsoil conditions

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for foundation and hydraulic considerations. However, in small bridges, the road alignment
would essentially govern the bridge site selection.
· The deciding factor which is being considered for providing over-bridges or under bridges
for a NH across railway level crossings is product of number of gate closures and the
intensity of traffic on the highway in tonnes per day in the design year. When this product
exceeds 50,000 or when the level crossing is within the shunting limits of a railway station,
the grade separation is justified. The location is decided keeping in view the highway
alignment, the topographic and other site conditions.
· The necessity to provide alternate routes to bypass through traffic is assessed from the
origin and destination studies. If the by-passable traffic more than the traffic terminating at
the town or built-up area then the bypass may be justified.
Steps in The Re-Alignment Project
1. Reconnaissance of the stretch of road to be re-aligned, study of the deficiencies and the
possible changes in alignment.
2. Survey of existing road, recording the topographic features and all other existing features
including drainage conditions. The width of the land to be surveyed depends on the amount
of shifting anticipated when the road is re-aligned.
3. Observations of spot levels along the centre line of the road and cross section levels at
suitable intervals. The intervals should be taken at closer intervals at horizontal and vertical
curves and near cross drainage works.
4. Soil survey along the stretches of land through which the re-aligned road may pass,
preparation of typical soil profiles after testing the soil samples in the lab.
5. Finalisation of the design features of re-aligned road stretches.
6. Preparation of drawings and Marking out the centre line of re-aligned road while trying to
utilise the existing road to the maximum extent possible.
7. Earth-work and preparation of subgrade of the re-alignment road stretches, setting out and
construction of new bridges and culverts.
8. Checking the geometric design elements of the newly aligned stretches of the road.
9. Design and construction of the new highway pavements
Preparation of Drawing for Re-Alignment Project
The drawings for the re-alignment project should show all the existing features of the road as
well as all the proposed improvements.
The following drawings would be needed
1. Plan showing existing road, proposed re-alignment, contours and all other features of
importance.
2. Longitudinal section showing natural ground elevation, surface of the existing road and the
grade line for the re-construction.

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3. Cross section showing the existing highway and new roadway drawn at 250m intervals on
straights, at the beginning and end of transition curves and at the middle of circular curves.
Cross sections are drawn at 50m intervals where the new carriageway falls entirely outside
the existing one.

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