What is Highway planning?

Why planning the road is important?

Highway Project Cycle
Problem Identification
Pre-feasibility Study
Feasibility Study/ Preliminary Engineering Design
Factors to Consider During Planning
Final Design
Final Design
Procurement & Negotiation (pre-construction)
Implementation (construction)
Operation
Monitoring and Evaluation
 1.2 Highway Route Surveys and Location
 Highway location involves:
 Acquisition of data concerning the terrain upon which the
road will traverse and the economical siting of an alignment.
 Selecting the location of a proposed highway is important
& initial step in design.
 Decision to select a particular location usually based on
topography, soil characteristics, environmental factors
(noise, air pollution), and economic factors.
 Data required for the decision process are usually obtained
from different types of surveys, depending on the factors
being considered.
 Highway locations use computerized
techniques to process the vast amounts of
data that are generally handled in the
decision process.

 Techniques include remote sensing, which

uses aerial photographs for the preparation
of maps, and computer graphics, which is a
combination of the analysis of computer-
generated data with a display on a computer
monitor.
Route Selection
Route Selection
B) Alignment and Route location
surveys
• Desk study
• Reconnaissance Survey
• Preliminary survey
• Final Location survey
C) Drainage Studies
• Surface run- off :
hydrologic and hydraulic
• Subsurface drainage:
Ground water & Seepage
• Cross –drainage: location
and water-way area
required for the cross-
drainage structures
Route Selection Steps
 At least three route will be selected.
 Best route is selected by comparing the routes
using factors such as; Administrative, Economical,
Engineering, Environmental and Social factors
Principles of Highway Locations
Requirements of Highway Alignment
Factors controlling highway alignment
 Government: road project needs a large investment, the
government should be clear about the requirement of
the road (when, what, how and why to construct).
Obligatory Points: are factors determine the highway
alignment. They are further divided into two.

1) Positive Obligatory Points: through which the

alignment should pass.
 Existing Road: to reduce the cost of construction, the
newly constructed road should be linked to the existing
road.
 Intermediate Town: If there is the possibility of a
straight road between point A and B and there lies the
intermediate town at C, then the road need to link the
intermediate town reducing the change in highway
alignment.
 Bridge site/Existing Bridge: road linking with the
bridge must not be curved highway alignment may be
changed.
 Mountain: When the road has to cross a row of hills,
mountain pass may be the suitable alternative.
2) Negative Obligatory Points: through which the
alignment should not pass.
Valleys, ponds, and marshy land need to be avoided.
 Religious places cannot be destroyed.
 Costly constructed structures cannot be destroyed
because its value of compensation is more.
 Conservation areas and restricted zones.
 Densely populated area.
Factors controlling highway alignment
Traffic (Type, Amount and Flow Pattern)
 Alignment should be according to the traffic
amount and flow pattern. The number of lanes can
be determined as:
 A number of lanes = Traffic Volume / Traffic
Capacity.
 Geological Condition: geologically stable hill
slope must be considered for selecting the highway
alignment.
 Geometric Design: factors regarding geometric
design as the radius of curve, sight distance,
gradient determines the highway alignment.
 Availability Of Construction Materials and
Labor construction works become easier and
economical when the construction materials are
near the place of highway alignment.
 Economy:construction,operation,and
maintenance work should be economical. So,
highway alignment is selected keeping these things
in mind.

 Other Considerations
 Drainage: alignment to be fixed such that the
number of cross drainage structures are less.
 Political Pressure: Pressure from the government to run
the highway alignment in the way they have decided also
affects the selection of highway alignment.
 Monotony: Setting the straight alignment leads to
monotonous driving. So a small bend is provided to make
the driver aware and alert. The roads are designed as
forgiving roads.
Special Consideration in Hill Roads
 Stability: road should be aligned with the hill side that is
stable. Excessive cutting and filling may effect on their
stability.
 Drainage: Adequate drainage facility need to be provided
across the road and the number of cross drainage structures
need to be less during construction.
 Geometric Standards: Geometric design parameters also
influence on the construction of roads.
 Resisting Length: Ineffective rise and excessive fall
should be minimum.
Engineering Survey and its stages
 Desk study [Map Study]
 Reconnaissance
 Preliminary Survey
 Final Location and detailed Survey

 Desk study [Map Study]: review of published and

unpublished information about the physical, economic and
environmental characteristics of a study area.
 Published literature includes road construction and
maintenance case histories and geological, economic and
environmental reviews.
 Topographical maps
 Geological maps, agricultural soil maps and other
natural resource maps; and
 Aerial photography
 Desk study [Map Study]
 Desk study [Map Study]
 This survey types may conducted:
i. At Office level
ii. At field level
 Desk study
Available information Alignment controls
 Topographic Maps • Topography
scale 1:50,000 (EMA) • Slope stability
 Aerial photographs, appro. scale
1:50,000 (EMA) • Flood hazard
 Geological Map, • Erosion
scale 1:2,000,000 (GSE) • Environment
 Hydrological Map,
• Technical, economic, social
scale 1:2,000,000 (MoA) and environmental factors
 Land Use and Land Cover Map,
scale 1:1,000,000 (MoA)
 Site visit (Reconnaissance Survey)
• Employed to verify interpretations of identified
potential route corridors during the desk study
analysis.

• Help to determine the preferred route, and identify

factors that will influence the feasibility design
concept and cost comparisons.

Site visit team ►Highway Engineer

►Soils & Materials Engineer ►Hydrologist
►Bridge/Structures Engr ►Chief Surveyor
►Environmentalist, and ►Local Admin.
Personnel
 Map Study
Study of the topographical map is done to find out the
possible routes of the road.
Reconnaissance Survey
Simple Survey Instruments are used in the reconnaissance
procedure. Information that will obtained from the
reconnaissance survey:
 Valley, pond, lakes and other features that were not present
in the topographical map.
 Number of cross drainage structures, High Flood Level
(HFL), Natural Ground Level.
 Values of the gradient, the length of gradients and radius of
the circular curve.
 Soil type along the routes from field identification tests and
observation of the geological features.
 Sources of construction materials.
 Reconnaissance Survey
Objective: to identify several feasible routes.
 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:
 Terrain 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
 Control points between the two endpoints are determined
for each feasible route. The feasible routes identified are
then plotted on photographic base maps.
•To collect the details of obstacle along the route
which are not available in the map.
•To collect geological features of the field. For
example, Soil type along the route from the field
identification tests observation required for foundation
work of bridges and construction of road pavements.
•To collect information regarding the availability of
local construction material, water, and labor.
•To determine the approximate values of a gradient,
length of gradients and radius of curves of alternate
alignments.
•To locate the obligatory points along the alternative
routes.
•To determine an approximate estimate of the total
cost of construction of the road along each route.
 Terrain classification;
 Slope stability and the location of pre-existing
landslides;
 Rock types, geological structures, dip orientations, rock
strength and rip ability
 Percentage of rock in excavations;
 Materials sources, presence and distribution;
 Water sources;
 Soil types and depth (Silty, clay, gravel,…etc)
 Soil erosion and soil erodibility;
 Slope drainage and groundwater conditions;
 Land use
 Likely foundation conditions for major structures;
 Approximate bridge spans and the sizing and frequency
culverts;
 When selecting the best route…
• Length: the shortest distance is better

• Mean Gradient: the least is taken.

• Route of least earthworks which makes survey

and construction easier

• Terrain type of least severe has been preferable

Example: Rolling terrain for example has less

construction and vehicle operating cost than
mountainous terrain.
 Preliminary Location Survey…
At its initial step, this survey carry outs the baseline
traverse
To furnish data for a profile of the baseline, levels
should be taken at all marked stations in the ground.

Elevations should be noted at all cross roads, streams,

and other critical points on the line.

After the baseline has been pegged and levels run over
it, the topography elevations may be taken by one of
the several methods, i.e. cross sectional leveling at the
same time as the profile levels.

At the same time locations of all trees, fences, building

and important elements are noted so that they can be
shown on the preliminary map.
• During this phase, the positions of the feasible routes are
established as closely as possible by establishing all the
control points and determining preliminary vertical and
horizontal alignments for each.
• It is used to evaluate the economic and environmental
feasibility of the alternative routes.

 Economic Evaluation, EE
• carried out to determine the future effect of investing the
resources necessary to construct the highway.
• Evaluation methods such as capital cost (construction cost,
right-of-way cost, and vehicle cost), maintenance cost,
facility operating costs, travel time (total hours and cost
of system travel.
• Average door to door speeds, vehicles operating costs,
safety, social and environmental costs are used for this
decision process.
Results obtained from the EE of the feasible routes
provide valuable information to the decision maker.
Factors to be taken into consideration include:
- Road user costs,
-Construction costs,
- Maintenance costs,
- Road user benefits,
Information from these results will provide information
on the economic resources that will be gained or lost.
Information is used to help the policy maker in
determining whether the highway should be built, and
what type of highway it should be.
Results obtained from the economic evaluation of the
feasible routes provide valuable information to the
decision maker.
Preliminary survey: art of finding the details of alternative
alignments found suitable during the reconnaissance survey.
During this survey, instruments to be used are chain type,
prismatic compass, leveling instrument, plane table
theodolite.

 Objective
To survey various alignments found later the reconnaissance
and to collect all physical information and details of
topography, drainage, and soil.
To compare the different proposals in outlook of the
requirements of good road alignment.
To estimate the cost of constructing the road including
bridges and other construction aspects along each
alternative alignment of the road.
To finalize the best alignment from construction,
maintenance, and traffic operation point of view.
Comparison of Alternative routes
1) Cost Benefit Analysis [CBA]:
Technique for comparing the costs and benefits
of a project in monetary terms.
Compares costs (capital and recurrent) of road
investment with the resultant benefits to road users.
Benefits includes: vehicle operating cost savings,
travel time savings, reductions in accident costs and
future maintenance expenditure.
 Principal Out put of CBA:
 NPV [Net present Value]
 BCR [Benefit to cost ratio]
 IRR (%) [Internal Rate of return]
Principal Out put of CBA:
 NPV [Net present Value] of proposed project:
• Total discounted benefits minus total discounted costs
 BCR (Benefit to cost ratio of project):
• Ratio of discounted benefits to discounted costs
 IRR (%) (Internal Rate of return):
• Discount rate at which NPV = 0 Benefit equal costs
2) Multi-Criteria and cost effectiveness Analysis:
MCA: developed to combine both quantified and non-
quantifiable benefits
MCA: involves the ranking of route alternatives on
the basis of their performance against a set of
criteria. It is subjective.
 Final location Survey
This survey often carried out as part of the preliminary survey.
It serves the dual purpose:
i) to fix the centre line of the selected alignment and
ii) collect additional data for the design and preparation of working
drawings.
• Steps in Final Location Survey
i. Pegging the centre line: usually done at stations established at 30m
intervals with reference to preliminary traverse/ base line (if used
earlier) or a control survey (if aerial survey was used).
ii. Centre-line Levelling: at the stations and at intermediate points
between stations where there is a significant change in the slope to
obtain the representative profile of the ground
iii.Cross-section Levelling: at each station and at points with
significant change in ground slope
iv) Intersecting Roads: the directions of the centre line of all
intersecting roads, profiles, and cross-sections for some
distance on both sides.
v) Ditches and Streams: horizontal alignment, profile, and
cross section levelling of the banks of the stream.

A complete sets of drawings for a road design include:

• Site plan of proposed alignment
• Detailed Plan & Profile
• Cross-sections for Earth work
• Typical Roadway sections at selected locations (e.g.
junctions)
• A mass-haul diagram
• Construction details of structures like bridges, culverts
 Final Location Survey
Control Establishment: GPS
•First you should buy EMA point near the project area (at
least two)
•Use this point as a reference to establish control
•Points along the route.
•GPS control points are established at a maximum of 5 km
interval.
•Static GPS measurements are used
•Coordinate of the points are taken from GPS, the height is
determined by BM leveling.
BM Leveling: Level: Determine elevation of each points
including intermediate points.
Traversing: Coordinates of BM and BM BS must be known
including with traverse leg distances.
Cross-Sectional Leveling: Total Station
 Guidelines for alignment selection and route
locations
Direct alignment is recommended
No steeper gradient and sharper curve
Minimize using agricultural land (follow the existing if
any)
Least impact on environment
Decrease the demolition of houses
Avoid location near to school, play grounds and hospitals
Avoid interferace with utility services: tele, electric,
water Lines
Locate near source of material for embankment pavement
and
Avoid frequent crossing of railway lines
Avoid areas with flooding, marshy land, landslide
Have to be right angle with river crossing
Align the route with minimum earthwork