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Highways Engineering
Highways Engineering
) History of highways
Early road with hard surfaces were found to have been constructed in
Mesopotamia as early as 3,500 BC. Stone surface roads found in the island of
Crete in the Mediterranean were also found to have been similarly constructed
in the western hemisphere by the Mayans, Aztec and the Incas of central and
south America.
The early road system was constructed primarily for the following purposes
1. For the movement of armies in their conquest or for defense against
invasion.
2. For transport of food and trade of goods between towns and cities.
The romans, who discovered and introduced the use of cement, expanded their
vast empire through an extensive road network radiating in many directions
from the capital city of Rome. Many of the roads that were built by the Romans
are still existing even after 2,000 years
In the 17th century under the reign of napoleon the great France made a great
stride n road building. Jerome Tresaguet, (1716-1796) the famous French
engineer, introduced new methods of construction and maintenance of stone
roads. He improved the crown, the drainage and the grade of the road including
the stone foundation by reducing the depth of broken stones to 25 centimeter.
Tresaguet made it possible for napoleon to build the massive highways in
France. He was accredited as the father of modern road building.
After world war II, the newly independent Philippine government gave special
attention to the development of the roads through finances coming from the war
damage reparations paid by the Japanese government and other financial aid
extended by the U.S. government. The newly installed government embarked on
a massive road building program were previously constructed macadam roads
were treated with hot bituminous asphalt.
Twenty years later, major highways and expressways were constructed with
financial assistance and loans from the World Bank and the IMF. The Philippine
government's industrialization program plus the boom in vehicles import which
was flooding the roadways needs an impact projects to boost the economy
necessitated the loan from foreign banks. The year 1950 to the early 1980 was
considered as the automobile age. Cars which were considered as a rich man's
toy was a vital means in transporting persons and goods. Under the new
government concept, development is to get the farmers out of the mud. It was
during this period that road construction and improvement becomes a matter of
priority the government with a slogan saying that "This nation is on Wheels".
DPWH is the highest administrative agency responsible for the construction and
maintenance/management of highways, bridges and other infrastructures in the
Republic of the Philippines.