Highway
Engineering
Lecture 1: Introduction
• Highway engineering
is a branch of transportation engineering which deals with complete
study (analysis and design) of pavements. It is very specific to
highway design. Geometric and Pavement designs are carried out.
In Geometric design we study about stopping sight distance,
curvature, parking etc In Pavement design we study about Flexible
and Rigid pavement design
• Transportation Engineering
• deals with all kinds of transportation systems, may it be on
land, in the air and in the water.
• Land transportation systems include Highways, Tunnels and
Railways and hence we have Highway engineering, Tunnel
Engineering and Railway Engineering.
• Air transportation engineering deals with the design of airport
structures and run ways.
• Water transportation engineering deals with the design of
harbor structures
overview
• Road transport is one of the most common mode of
transport. Roads in the form of track ways, human
pathways etc. were used even from the pre-historic
times. Since then many experiments were going on to
make the riding safe and comfort. Thus road
construction became an inseparable part of many
civilizations and empires.
• Surveyor
• Road and highway
engineer
• Traffic engineer
• Geologist
• Structural engineer
• Hydrologist
• M&E engineer
• Landscape architect
• Traces of early roads have been found since the recorded history of
the man kind.
• The first and oldest mode of travel obviously was foot path.
• Before invention of wheel, people used to move on foot, thus creating
foot paths.
• Men and material must have been transported either on backs of men
or
animals.
Early/ Basic
• The roads road development can be divided in to the following era
historical
: Roman
roads
Modern
roads
The needs of road started from the invention of wheel in Samaria in 3000 BC. Among the early
road inventions in many parts of the world were :
• China Dynasty – ‘China Silk Route’ was the first road built around 2600 BC. The road was
used to transport silk
and elephant tusks between China and India
• Parsian Empire – Big trade involving import and export such as silk, porcelain and wood crafts
between China and Europe.
• Britain – ‘Raft Road’ believed was built around 2500 BC
• India – Indus Valley where roads made of bricks with drainage system equipped with pipe
• Mesopotamia and Egypt – Brick road and asphalt road was found in Babylon and
mountainous area of Mesopotamia. In Egypt, the road was built to transport block of
rock to construct pyramid
• Roman’s developed very elaborate system of roads mainly for the purpose of military
movement.
• They constructed in all about one lakh kilometers of road, extending in whole of their
empire.
• An Important road constructed by Romans in 312 B.C called Appian way is still in
existence in Rome.
• The main characteristics of Roman roads were as follows:
– They weary very thick. Total thickness of the road varied from about 0.7 m to as much as 1.2
m.
– They were straight, without any regard for gradient. Probable reason for straightness may be
their main use for army.
– Roads were not built on soft soil formations but on hard stratum reached after excavation.
Highway Surveys and Location
• selecting the location of a proposed highway is
an important initial step in its design. based on
• topography,
• soil characteristics,
• Environmental factors such as
• noise
• air pollution,
• economic
Principles of Highway Location
• The basic principle for locating highways is that
roadway elements such as curvature and grade must
blend with each other to produce a system that
provides for the easy flow of traffic at the design
capacity, while meeting design criteria and safety
standards.
• The highway location process involves four phases :
• Office study of existing information
• Reconnaissance survey
• Preliminary location survey
• Final location survey
Office Study of Existing Information
• Engineering, including topography, geology, climate, and traffic
volumes
• Social and demographic, including land use and zoning patterns
• Environmental, including types of wildlife; location of
recreational, historic, and archeological sites; and the possible
effects of air, noise, and water pollution
• Economic, including unit costs for construction and the trend of
agricultural, commercial, and industrial activities
Reconnaissance Survey
The object of this phase of the study is to identify several feasible
routes, each within band of a limited width of a few hundred feet.
When rural roads are being considered, there is often little
information available on maps or photographs, and therefore aerial
photography is widely used to obtain the required information.
Feasible routes are identified by a stereoscopic examination of the
aerial photographs, taking into consideration factors such as :
topography and soil conditions
Serviceability of route to industrial and population areas
Crossing of other transportation facilities, such as rivers, railroads, and highways
Directness of route
Preliminary Location Survey
• During this phase of the study, the positions of the
possible routes are set as closely as possible by
establishing all the control points and determining
preliminary vertical and horizontal alignments for
each. Preliminary alignments are used to evaluate the
economic and environmental feasibility of the
alternative routes
• Economic Evaluation
• Environmental Evaluation
Final Location Survey
• The final location survey is a detailed layout of
the selected route. The horizontal and vertical
alignments are determined, and the positions
of structures and drainage channels are
located.
Location of Recreational and Scenic Routes
• The location process of recreational and scenic
routes follows the same steps as discussed earlier,
but the designer of these types of roads must be
aware of their primary purpose. For example,
although it is essential for freeways and arterial
routes to be as direct as possible, a circuitous
alignment may be desirable for recreational and
scenic routes to provide access to recreational
sites (such as lakes or campsites) or to provide
special scenic views
• Design speeds are usually low, and therefore special
provisions should be made to discourage fast driving, for
example, by providing a narrower lane width.
• Location should be such that the conflict between the driver’s
attention on the road and the need to enjoy the scenic view is
minimized. This can be achieved by providing turn-outs with
wide shoulders and adequate turning space at regular intervals,
or by providing only straight alignments when the view is
spectacular
• Location should be such that minimum disruption is caused to
the area
Location of Highways in Urban Areas
• Urban areas usually present complex
conditions that must be considered in the
highway location process. In addition to
factors discussed under office study and
reconnaissance survey, other factors that
significantly influence the location of high
ways in urban areas include
• Connection to local streets
• Right-of-way acquisition
• Coordination of the highway system with other
transportation systems
• Adequate provisions for pedestrians
