Classification of Highways
Depending on weather
All weather roads
Fair weather roads
Depending the type of Carriage way
Paved roads(WBM)
Unpaved roads(earth road or gravel road)
National highway act ( 1956 )
Depending upon the pavement surface
Surfaced roads(bituminous or cement concrete
road)
Un surfaced roads
Classification of Highways
Based on the Traffic Volume
Heavy
Medium
Light
Based on Load or Tonnage
Class 1 or Class 2 etc or Class A , B etc Tonnes per
day
Based on location and function ( Nagpur road plan )
National highway (NH)
State highway (SH)
Major district road (MDR)
Other district road (ODR)
Village road (VR)
Based on modified system of
Highways classification
Primary
Expressways
National Highways
Secondary
SH
MDR
Tertiary
ODR
VR
Expressways
Heavy traffic at high speed (120km/hr)
Land Width (90m)
Full access control
Connects major points of traffic generation
No slow moving traffic allowed
No loading, unloading,
parking.
The Mumbai-Pune Expressway as seen
from Khandala
National Highways
NH are the main highways running through the length and
breadth of India, connecting major parts,foreign
highways,capital of large states and large industrial and
tourist centres including roads required for strategic
movements for the defence of India.
The national highways have a total length of 70,548 kms.
Indian highways cover 2% of the total road network of India
and carry 40% of the total traffic.
The highway connecting Delhi-Ambala-Amritsar is denoted
as NH-1, whereas a bifurcation of this highway beyond
Jalandar to Srinagar and Uri is denoted NH-1-A
The longest highway in India is NH7 which stretches from
Varansi in Uttar Pradesh to Kanyakumari in the southern
most point of Indian mainland.
National Highways
The shortest highway is NH47A which stretches
from Ernakulam to Kochi and covers total length of
4 Kms.
Golden Quadrilateral (5,846 Kms) connecting Delhi-
Kolkata-Chennai-Mumbai
NH-2 Delhi- Kol (1453 km)
NH 4,7&46 Che-Mum (1290km )
NH5&6 Kol- Che (1684 m)
NH 8 Del- Mum (1419 km)
State Highways
They are the arterial roads of a state,
connecting up with the national highways of
adjacent states, district head quarters and
important cities within the state.
Total length of all SH in the country is
1,37,119 Kms.
Speed 80 kmph
Major District Roads
Important roads with in a district serving
areas of production and markets ,
connecting those with each other or with
the major highways.
India has a total of 4,70,000 kms of MDR.
Speed 60-80kmph
Other district roads
serving rural areas of production and providing
them with outlet to market centers or other
important roads like MDR or SH.
Speed 50-60kmph
Village roads
They are roads connecting villages or group of
villages with each other or to the nearest road of a
higher category like ODR or MDR.
India has 26,50,000 kms of ODR+VR out of the
total 33,15,231 kms of all type of roads.
Speed-40-50kmph
