CEC 411: HIGHWAY ENGINEERING

3 UNITS

COURSE OUTLINE
1. Introduction
- Highway Engineering as a subset of Transportation Engineering
2. Steps/Procedure for locating highway routes (Reconnaissance survey, Location Survey,
Preliminary Survey and Final Survey)
3. Design of Visible Elements of the Highway (Horizontal Curves, Vertical Curves etc.)
4. Pavement Design Procedures for Flexible and Rigid Pavements
5. Construction Techniques in weak soil/ground conditions
6. Typical road Cross sections suitable for different situations. (embankment, cut, super
elevation etc.)
7. Drainage and culverts of different types
8. Different Types of Road Construction Equipment: Characteristics, Application and
General Preventive Maintenance Techniques.

Grading
Classwork: 20%
Test: 20%
Exam: 60%

Recommended Textbooks
i. Highways: The Location, Design, Construction and Maintenance of Pavements.
C.A. O’Flaherty. 4th Edition. 2002
ii. Highway Engineering: Pavement Design, Construction and Maintenance. T.M.
Oguara.
iii. Introduction to Highway Construction. O.A. Apampa and M.O. Popoola.
Lecture 1: Introduction

Introduction of Course Outline etc.

General discussion on Highway Engineering as a subset of the all encompassing Transportation

Engineering of the previous session (CEC 327) which included roads (highways and railways)
water (ports and harbours) and air (airports). This course focuses specifically on highways.
Lecture 2: Location of Highway Routes

There are four key steps in locating the center lines of proposed highways, namely:

1. Reconnaissance Survey: This is the first step in determining the alignment to be followed
by a highway. It consists of selecting what appear to be possible routes between the
terminal points, then closely examining each of these in turn to decide which will be the
most suitable without actually determining the actual center line. Reconnaissance survey
can be in the form of either Ground Reconnaissance (ordnance maps, topographic maps
etc.). The scale of maps used at this stage is in the range of 1:25000 to 1:80000. In recent
times, Google Maps has become available as an App on smart phones, making maps and
satellite images of most places on the globe available. This can be relied on at least at the
reconnaissance stage of the Highway Location Studies.
2. Location Survey: This is the second step in determining the alignment to be followed by
a highway. Its purpose is to begin the process of pinning the final center line of the road
alignment, and it consists of running a series of connecting lines and determining the
ground elevations at known intervals along this line.
3. Preliminary Survey: This is a more detailed survey, using ground and aerial methods,
whose aim is to take a closer look at the topographical features along the route in order
to determine the best location for the center line, both in plan and in elevation. The
contour intervals on the ordnance maps are too wide for this purpose. Two methods are
in use, namely:
- Ground Survey, which is essentially and open traverse in which angle and distance
measurements respectively can be made with total station, theodolite, tapes or other
angle and distance and measuring devices.
- Aerial Survey, in which photographs taken from an aircraft flying at a pre-determined
height and at a constant speed along a series of parallel strips on the proposed route.
Survey drawings at this stage are in the range of 1:500 to 1: 2500
4. Final Location Survey: Having completed the preliminary survey by ground or aerial
methods, the plans are then studied to obtain the best location of the road centerline
within the surveyed strip. The final alignment, particularly the vertical profile will be
influenced to a large extent by subsoil conditions.
Example on Longitudinal Profile

The following Table gives the existing ground levels and the proposed center line levels for a
section of a new carriage way, taken at intervals of 20m.

Ground Levels (AOD), m 20.50 22.75 23.00 20.00 18.50 21.25

Proposed Levels (AOD), m 21.50 21.20 20.90 20.60 20.30 20.00
Chainage 0.00 20.00 40.00 60.00 80.00 100.00

Plot the longitudinal section showing the existing ground and proposed center line levels, using
a horizontal scale of 1:500 and a vertical scale of 1:100.

What is the depth of excavation or fill at each location?

Solution

24.00

23.00

22.00
Elevations

21.00

20.00

19.00

18.00
0.00 20.00 40.00 60.00 80.00 100.00 120.00

Ground
Levels (AOD),
m 20.50 22.75 23.00 20.00 18.50 21.25
Proposed
Levels (AOD),
m 21.50 21.20 20.90 20.60 20.30 20.00
Chainage 0.00 20.00 40.00 60.00 80.00 100.00

Depth of Excavation at each point = (Existing ground level) – (Proposed Level). Negative values indicate
fill.
 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
Gradient of proposed road at this section = 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒

20.50−21.50
= 60.00−0.00

1
= − 60 = - 1.67%

Assignment

Pick a contour map and carry an exercise similar to the example above.
Lecture 3: Simple Setting Out Techniques

I. Straight Line Setting Out: Ranging rods are commonly used in setting out between two
points. These are round wooden poles having a pointed steel shoe to enable them to be
driven into the ground. They vary from 2 – 4m in length are painted in red and white bands.
When using ranging rods, place the first and the last and eye in the intermediates.
II. Right Angled Offset from a Point on Line: This can be done using the 3,4,5 method outlined
as follows:
- From the point A to which you want to take the offset, measure 4m along the line from
which you are offsetting and call this point B. from point A take your tape and describe an
arc of radius 3m. From point B, measure 5m and describe another arc until it crosses the
first arc. Call this point C. The line AC is our offset.
III. Curve Ranging (Halving and Quartering):
Given two points AB, say 140m apart and mid point offset of 20m, set out the curve by
halving and quartering.
Procedure: Halve the chord and quarter the offset successively.

Some Setting-Out Equipment

i. Chain, tape, etc.

ii. Side square
iii. Optical square
iv. Cross Staff
v. Theodolite
vi. GPS equipment
vii. Total Station