DIVINE WORD COLLEGE OF CALAPAN

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE DEPARTMENT

PLATE NO. 1

The Importance of the Course “Transportation Engineering"

in Civil Engineering Program.
Where Do You See yourself 3 years From Now?

SUBMITTED BY:

LIEZYL M. MANTARING

SUBMITTED TO:

ENGR. NOELENE MEDINA

The Importance of the Course “Transportation Engineering" in Civil Engineering Program.

Civil engineering is all about finding solutions to help shape a perfect world around us. The word civil itself
originates from Latin word ‘civis’ meaning citizen. Civil engineering is not restricted to building structures that
inspire awe. In addition to structural engineering, civil engineering spreads out to diverse domains
like surveying, environmental engineering, earthquake engineering, geotechnical engineering, and
transportation engineering, among others. Take for example the recently completed Commonwealth games at
Glasgow. At the games, civil engineers were responsible for construction, enabling works, transportation, water,
waste and energy works.
At Civil Simplified, the objective is to nurture budding civil engineers by providing them with practical training
workshops in diverse fields of Civil engineering. Transportation engineering is one such crucial field and Civil
Simplified is proud to announce the launch of the workshop in Transportation Engineering. This is a great
opportunity for engineering students to explore into a unique and rewarding career option, which is
transportation engineering.

But, what exactly is transportation engineering? - Transportation engineering is essentially the use of science
and technology for organizing, functioning, and managing transportation systems. The major motive of any
transportation system is to make sure that the passage of people and commodities is secure, structured, swift,
pleasant, suitable, inexpensive, and eco-friendly. That’s a lot to take in. But, you may argue, ‘Is a transportation
problem so tough that an engineer is needed to solve it? Can’t we just add a signal or something?’ To answer
that, take the instance of a situation when needless or an excess of traffic controls are installed. The result of
such situations, usually don’t end well – with some cases being hazardous. So, the moral of the story is that
transportation systems need to function with proper engineering plans. And that is where comes the need for
transportation engineers.
It is evident that transportation is the key component of a nation’s progress. In India infrastructure is growing at
a rapid pace. Transportation systems need to cope with this progress. The role of a transportation engineer is to
develop efficient transportation systems that fulfill these needs. Transportation engineers also:

o Could review the effect of urban development on traffic systems

o Simulate traffic in an intersection to make sure that traffic movement is smooth
o Consider developing systems to enable pedestrian movement
o Redesign existing transportation systems to accommodate more traffic

Apart from these technicalities, transportation engineers also need to study the mindset and mannerisms of
transportation system users, to come up with appropriate solutions.

Astoundingly, the road network in India is the third largest in the world. But what boggles the mind is that in
India, traffic is increasing with an annual rate of 10%. Currently, India loses more than 60,000 crores a year due
to traffic congestion. To reduce these losses road networks are going through a major upgrade. 30,000
kilometers of new highway roads and 800,000 of rural paved tracks are being added. Engineers with practical
skills in transportation engineering are and will be in demand to help develop the nation’s transportation
systems.
More about the Transportation Engineering workshop
The Transportation Engineering workshop includes all
elements of engineering a transportation system. The
workshop will start with an introduction to various
transportation systems and their working. Students will
then learn all concepts of geometric design of roads,
railways and airports. Geometric design essentially
involves the physical layout and features of
transportation systems. It includes topography i.e. the land
features, and the elevation of the road systems.
Students will understand how to find the most
feasible way to work with several constraints
associated with the design of a transportation system.

After clearly understanding the geometric requirements of a road system, students will learn the concepts of
pavement design of the roads. Pavement design involves construction of the actual surface of the roads.
Pavements are classified into rigid and flexible types. Students will be able to grasp the various criteria and
procedures to design both these types of pavements. They will be taught to design the pavement as per
requirements of the transportation needs. The
objective is to make roads strong to withstand harsh
conditions. Also, importantly, students get to know
about the use cost-effective materials for road
construction. Furthermore, students will manually
calculate and solve geometric design & pavement
design problems, to get a stronghold on all these
concepts.

Next, students will be familiarized with the

concepts of traffic engineering. Students will get to
comprehend signal design, phase design and
interval design of traffic systems. It is to be noted
that design of a road intersection depends on the
traffic densities. As a matter of fact, an integral part
of a transportation engineer’s job is to reduce the
time spent on waiting for the green signal. To fathom this problem, students will get to work on various
problem scenarios from real-world. The workshop includes practical sessions in analysis of traffic flow
situations using latest CAD based software simulation technology – where students simulate traffic flow
situations in signalized, non-signalized roads and flyovers. By simulating traffic flow, students will be able to
calculate the required green timeline and red timeline of traffic signaling systems.

In the workshop, the simulations aren’t limited to virtual traffic situations. Students can simulate traffic flow
situation of a real intersection! This will be done by extracting the Google map data of the intersection and
downloading it onto the simulation software. Students will then try to find the solution to overcome associated
traffic problems. The solution maybe the need of a new flyover or, maybe widening of the roads needs to be
done. Students can check all possible alternatives and find the perfect solution to ease traffic. Towards the end
of the workshop, students will be provided with a challenge to solve the traffic flow problem from a real-life
location. By working on this challenge, students will be able to comprehend the problems faced by
transportation engineering professionals, and thereby realize what the correct solution is.
Overall, the workshop will serve as an ideal platform for engineering students to kick start a career in the
dynamic field of transportation engineering which combines multi-disciplinary specialties. Especially if you are
interested in the combination of knowledge and technology that benefits all, this workshop is for you.
 Where do you see yourself 3 years from now?

In 3 years from now, I see myself in a plane with a suitcase and ready to face a new journey of my life. I am hoping
that 3 years from now I am going to work abroad with my older sibling. I think 3 years is enough to have 2 years work
experience in the Philippines. I want to devote the next few years learning new skills, taking up challenging jobs and putting in
my hard work to grow. This will help me become smarter and more professional at work. In addition, I would like to develop
my leadership skills and hopefully I see myself advancing to the next level. But since today we are facing a world pandemic, it
is hard to move forward but I know that whatever happens, God is in controlled.