UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.

Santiago City, Philippines

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE
HIGHWAY AND RAILROAD ENGINEERING

HIGHWAY AND RAILROAD ENGINEERING
PBSCE 009
MODULE 01
The Importance of Transportation
Transportation is literally described as a means of
carrying people as well as goods and animals from one
location to another. It has been in existence since the
earliest times where wooden carts and animals like
horses, donkeys, and bulls were used exclusively. As
times changed we saw numerous inventions taking place
and the changes resulted in the invention of cars, buses,
trucks, spacecraft, helicopters, ships, airplanes, etc
taking the place of earlier transports.
The importance of transportation is that it enables
trade, commerce, and communication that establish
civilization. It is good planning that manages traffic
flows and enables the undisturbed and steady movement
from one place to another.
It is transportation that acts as a link between
manufacturing facilities and consumer markets.
Transportation is a reality of our life and without
effective and affordable transportation it becomes
2. TRANSPORTATION HELPS IN
impossible for any kind of movement from one place to
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
another.
Transportation has been an all-important contributing
factor in the development of all the nations and that too
at every stage of civilization in this world. Remember if
the current transport means were not in existence the
situation in this modern world would have been quite
different.
It is impossible to think of speedy industrialization as
well as mass production as well as distribution in place
without a fully developed infrastructure and
transportation. The transportation facilities have also
been a prominent factor in the development of political,
social, economic and cultural fields of a country.
1. TRANSPORTATION HELPS IN MASS
PRODUCTION AND STABILITY
The credit for the development of large scale
industries goes to a certain extent on the better
transport facilities in the world. Buying raw
materials cheaply in huge amounts from the
faraway places has been possible because of
effective infrastructure and transportation
facilities. It has encouraged mass production that
has resulted in the creation of new and
expansion of old markets.
If the cost of labor in one specific place is very
high then it is possible to hire labor from
different regions as they can travel without
difficulties from one place to another. The
importance of transportation is that it has helped
in minimizing production costs. There was a
time when prices used to fluctuate immensely
because of the scarcity of goods in one place and
surplus in another.
Transportation has now brought about
uniformity in price ranges by equalizing and
stabilizing it throughout the nation. This move
has been a blessing in disguise because it has
encouraged healthy competition and discouraged
the policy of monopoly of goods.
Human beings depend upon natural resources
and materialistic goods and services to satisfy
the needs and wants of life. There is no
uniformity in the production of these resources
and things and at this point in time, it is the
transportation that comes forward as a blessing
in disguise and distributes the necessities as well
as luxuries from one place to another.
Trade is no longer restricted within certain
boundaries but has spread far and wide within
every nook and corner of the world. It is the
advancement of transportation that has acted as a
binding force to link the world market. The
importance of transportation is that it has
become a major force in boosting the immobility
of capital and labor.

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 UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.
Santiago City, Philippines
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE
HIGHWAY AND RAILROAD ENGINEERING
Now it is possible for laborers to migrate to
places where the job facilities and opportunities
to earn are greater than the local
places. Economic development has been
possible because efficient transportation
infrastructure has been able to minimize the
exploitation of the labor class and maximize the
optimization of national resources. It is now
possible for a region to concentrate on the
production of goods that it is best suited for and
distribute it to places where the demand is more.
The importance of transportation is that it has
become a crucial element of economic growth as
it can transport resources easily enabling
societies to prosper and grow at a good rate.
There is now better accessibility to investors for
new as well as existing business entities. It is
easy to see the emergence of markets, schools,
colleges, and other facilities that have been a
sign of increased economic growth in a place
3. TRANSPORTATION OFFERS
NUMEROUS OPPORTUNITIES
There are several modes of transportation like
air, water and road where ships, trains, aircraft,
etc reign supreme. The importance of
transportation is that offers numerous
opportunities to millions of people all around the
globe.
An effective transport system offers social,
economic, political and cultural advantages like
accessibility to markets, infusion of investors,
distribution of resources, etc that result in an
indirect impact on the growth and development
of a country. It can be measured in terms of
added value and employment.
There is an increase in employment
opportunities and it helps to boost the national
income of a country. It also acts as a viable
opportunity for the consumer who can enjoy the
usage of numerous goods and services that were
earlier not available at their local place.
It is because of the importance of the
transportation that goods and services have been
able to breach local boundaries and find new
markets for their items. This has ultimately
reduced the cost price of the consumer,
increased his purchasing power and given him
an opportunity to save some money in the
process.
4. TRANSPORTATION HELPS IN
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
It is because of transportation that human beings
have bee able to travel to faraway places where
the idea of a visit was inconceivable. New lands
have been discovered which are now utilized to
gain optimal benefits.
The value of land has increased because
mankind is determined to use even wastelands
for their advantage. Quality links of
transportation have ensured connectivity that has
resulted in social inclusion and a better lifestyle.
There has been a diffusion of population because
it is not necessary to live in a place where the
resources are maximum in number instead due
to easy distribution facilities people can live
anywhere and purchase desired resources
accordingly.
One of the vital importance of transportation is
that it has been possible to increase in the rate of
production as equipment, materials, and labor
can now be transported from one place to
another.
As the problem of distance is no longer an issue
there has been more contact and mutual
understanding between individuals and business
entities. It has also increased the standard of
living because the earning power of a person has
increased.
5. TRANSPORTATION HELPS IN
INDUSTRIAL AND AGRICULTURAL
DEVELOPMENT
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 UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.
Santiago City, Philippines
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE
HIGHWAY AND RAILROAD ENGINEERING
The importance of transportation is that it has
helped in the industrial as well as agricultural
development of a country. It has been possible to
use good fertilizers, qualitative seeds, and
numerous modern equipment and techniques
because they could be transported from one
place to another at reasonable costs.
Similarly, it is transportation that has helped the
industries in acquiring the necessary raw
materials as well as equipment and labor that is a
must for industrial development. Remember
encouraging trade, industry, commerce, and
agriculture is one of the simplest and most
economical ways of boosting the national wealth
of the country.
6. TRANSPORTATION HELPS IN
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT
Transportation is no doubt a vital key for the
growth and development of civilization but it is
also a tool and a means for creating a political
awakening in the people. Sometimes people
come together for a common cause from
different parts of the country and at that point in
time, it is effective transportation that helps
them to meet at a common point-of-contact and
raise their voices against the cause of injustice.
The importance of transportation is that it helps
in political development. It enables political and
economic interdependence by encouraging the
division of labor and strengthening national
unity and integration. It helps in maintaining
peace and harmony as the deployment of troops
in any nook and corner of a country is no longer
difficult.
Transport also plays a major role in maintaining
the national defense of a nation. During war or
emergency situations it is an effective transport
system that can move quickly between sensitive
areas and transport defense personnel,
equipment, materials, food items, and other
necessities.
It is also an important source of revenue for the
central and state governments and helps in
boosting the national income and wealth of the
nation.
7. TRANSPORTATION HELPS IN
BRINGING PEOPLE CLOSER
DURING NATURAL CALAMITIES
The importance of transportation is that it helps
in bringing people closer during natural
calamities. Floods, drought, earthquake, and
famine are natural disasters that are
unpredictable by nature. It is next to impossible
to make predictions about their arrival, length or
severity. One can just wait for the time it loses
its fury and dies a natural death.
The worst thing about such disasters is that they
leave behind immense destruction that is
immeasurable. Loss of lives, resources, and
infrastructure are common after-effects that
people have to deal with. In such dire
circumstances, it is transportation that acts as a
blessing in disguise and manages to distribute
survival kits and emergency food items
immediately afterward.
Helicopters dropping important items like food
packages and medicinal facilities are a common
scenario during natural disasters. Moreover, it is
the transportation that helps helpers and disaster
management guides to travel to these places and
lend out a helping hand for further re-habitation
process.
8. TRANSPORTATION HELPS IN
CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
The importance of transportation is that it has
facilitated a better understanding between people
as they are no longer divided by specific
boundaries of a place. As it has become easier to
maintain contact there has been an increase in
the sharing of cultural ideas and promoting co-
operation in the world. Better understanding has
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 UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.
Santiago City, Philippines
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE
HIGHWAY AND RAILROAD ENGINEERING
resulted in warm and cordial relations between
people of different cultures.
It has broadened the outlook of the individuals
and given them a better perspective to look at
things. The importance of transportation is that it
helps in cultural development by spreading
relevant information and knowledge amongst
individuals. It is also a factor in minimizing
ignorance and prejudice that is prevalent in
society.
9. TRANSPORTATION HELPS IN
GROWTH OF BUSINESS
ORGANIZATIONS
Transportation is considered a major force that
has contributed heavily to the growth of business
organizations. It is the medium that physically
connects a business entity to its customers as
well as suppliers.
The importance of transportation in business is
undoubtedly immense. From bringing raw
materials from the source stations to the
manufacturing facilities and later distributing the
finished goods from these locations to the
consumer market via warehouses is an essential
service that would not have been possible
without it. It is the transportation that ensures the
availability of goods and services to the
consumer in a timely manner.
Easy movement of cheap and affordable
manpower, coordination between scarcely and
more supplied areas has helped in mass
production and greater sales figures. This has led
to profit maximization.  It is a fact that
most business activities are dependent upon
transportation and are also influenced by its role.
DIFFERENT MODES OF TRANSPORTATION
The way through which the traffic or goods can be
carried which could give maximum flexibility of
services from origin to destination maintaining safe,
rapid, and economically condition is known as modes of
transportation.
BASIC MEDIA FOR MODES OF
TRANSPORTATION
 LAND
 WATER
 AIR
The land has given scope for development of
transportation by roads and railways.
Water and air media are used for waterway
transportation and airway transportation respectively.
The roads or the highways, city streets, feeder roads, and
village roads, has given scope for a wide range of road
vehicles and the pedestrians.
Railways are developed each for long distance
transportation of products and passengers
and conjointly for urban travel.
The transportation through ocean, river, canal and large
lakes by the help of ships and boats is known as
waterway. Here water is media for transportation.
The airways help in faster transportation by aircraft and
carriers. Besides this, there are other modes of
transportation include pipelines, elevators, belt
conveyors, cable cars, and aerial rope-ways. The
transportation of substances like fluid i.e oil, water, gas,
etc from one place to another place are carried by the
help of Pipelines.
DIFFERENT MODES OF TRANSPORTATION
 ROAD TRANSPORTATION
The branch of transportation engineering that
deals with the planning, design, construction,
and maintenance of roadway facilities is termed
Road Engineering or Highway Engineering.
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 UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.
Santiago City, Philippines
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE
HIGHWAY AND RAILROAD ENGINEERING

Among all types of the transportation road pollution due to transportation, it is desirable to
system is an only mode which could give work out and implement a national policy on
maximum flexibility of service to reach from coordination between various modes of
one place to the desired location. transportation.

Various classes of vehicles such as a car, bus, It may be necessary to permit a to keep clean
truck, two- wheeler, etc. may be permitted to and healthy environment competition between
make use of the roads. Apart from the road the different modes of transportation.
vehicles, pedestrians also make use of the
facilities of the road system.
ADVANTAGES OF ROAD TRANSPORTATION

Road transport mode has the maximum

flexibility for travel with reference to choice of 1) Large influential area.
the route, direction, time and speed of travel.
2) Low capital investment required.
Road transportation is the only mode that caters
to the movement of passengers and goods
independently right from the place of origin up 3) Door to door service
to the destination of any trip along with the land.
In other words, it is possible to provide a door to 4) Flexibility in service, road users has the
door service only by road transport.
freedom to transfer the vehicles from one lane
to another or from one road to another as per
The other three modes of transportation i.e
railways, waterways and airways have to depend
requirement.
on transportation by road to initiate and finish
the journey. 5) Economic modes of transportation and are
also essential for the economic development
Therefore road network is essential to serve as a of a country.
feeder system for all other modes of
transportation and also to supplement them.
6) It can serve as a feeder line for other modes
Thus it is necessary to develop a well-planned of transport.
road network throughout the country so as to
serve both as an independent transport system 7) Have a very high potential for employment
and also as feeder transport for the other
three modes of transportation.
& help to solve the unemployment problem.

The limitations of road transport are that the rate 8) Safety is high as road accident has a less
of petroleum energy consumed for transportation disastrous effect than that of railway or
of unit weight by unit distance) is higher than for airways accident.
transportation by railways and waterways.

9) Movements railways on roads are not time-

The rate of emission of pollutants is also
higher than the other modes of transport. bound, as in case of airways

From the point of view of conservation of Disadvantages of the Road Transportation

energy in the country and minimizing the air
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 UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.
Santiago City, Philippines
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE
HIGHWAY AND RAILROAD ENGINEERING
1) Safety: It has a poor record of safety.
2) Moreland coverage, destroy forest and agricultural
land
3) Environmental pollution
4) Energy consumption: It consumes to be imported
large fuel which needs Parking: In road, transport
parking is already a big problem.
 RAIL TRANSPORTATION
The concept of rail transportation is movement
of multiple wagons or a train of wagons or
passenger bogies fitted with steel wheels
running over two parallel steel rails of the
railway track.
The resistance to traction along the railway track
for the movement of the steel wheels of the rail
wagons is much lower than that along the more
uneven road surface for the movement of road
vehicles with rubber tires, under identical
conditions of speed and atmospheric factors.
The energy requirement to haul unit load
through unit distance by the railway is only a
fraction (one fourth to one sixth) of that required
by road.
Therefore the full advantage of rail
transportation should be taken for the
transportation of bulk goods and passengers,
especially for a long distance on land routes and
where the railway tracks are available.
Railway transportation between the railway
stations could be economical and advantageous
both for the passengers and also for the
transportation of goods on long haul distances.
The railways can transport a large number of
passengers or a large number of goods at a time.
The railways also serve as mass rapid transport
for the commuters to travel from the suburban
areas to the urban centers and for travel within
the urban area of large cities.
The branch of transportation engineering which
deals with the planning, design, construction,
and maintenance of the railway track, rail
stations and the yards including the control
system and safety devices is called Railway
Engineering.
Different types of locomotives with steam or
diesel engines or electric locomotives along the
electrified railway tracks have been used all over
the world to haul the trains.
The transportation to and from the railway
stations are to be performed by road
transportation. passengers and goods on land
routes at relatively low cost and the roads could
serve as a feeder system for transportation to the
interior parts and to the intermediate localities
between the railway stations.
 WATER TRANSPORTATION
Transportation by water offers minimum
resistance to traction and therefore needs
minimum energy to haul unit load through unit
distance.
The amount of energy required to propel a vessel
on the water is much lesser than that required on
land and is far lesser than that required to keep
an aircraft airborne.
Therefore water transportation is the most
energy efficient. But, water transportation is
very slow, which is the greatest disadvantage of
this mode.
In fact, this is the slowest among the four modes.
Though some passenger traffic makes use of
water transportation, the greatest user of this
mode is a bulk cargo of relatively low value,
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 UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.
Santiago City, Philippines
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE
HIGHWAY AND RAILROAD ENGINEERING

mainly because of the slow speed and low
transportation cost for the bulk cargo.
The waterway is needed to operate the ships and
boats on sea routes between the harbors and
ports. quays, wharves, etc.
Another limitation is that the operation of air
transport is very much long hauls is on airports.
One of the limitations is that the energy required
and affected by weather conditions such as
severe storms and thick fog developed to
provide facilities for the aircraft for take-off,
landing, out maintenance works.

The other facilities required are to provide

shelter to the ships and the crews and also Some of the essential components of an
facilities for loading, unloading, and storage of Airports parking and carrying airport are a
cargo and for carrying out routine and major runway, taxiway, terminal facilities, visual aid,
maintenance of the vessels. control, and safety system.

Transportation engineering which deals with the
planning, design, construction and maintenance
of docks and harbors is called Harbour
Engineering.
The branch of transportation engineering which
deals with the planning, design construction and
maintenance of the airports to cater to the needs
of the aircraft that expected to make use of these
airports is called Airport Engineering.

Harbors are terminals built with components

such as docks, The branch of Inland water
transportation is made possible along the rivers,
canals, and lakes by boat and ferry service,
which operate between small ports.
Inland waterways, being of relatively shallow
depth, the freight is mostly carried on barges and
are hauled by towing boats The road and rail
transport serves as a feeder system to transfer
goods and passengers to and from the harbors
and ports.
 AIR TRANSPORTATION
The airway is For shorter hauls, helicopters take-
off. Military aviation is also important to meet
the defense needs of a country.
The requirements of military airports could vary
depending upon several other factors are used
and heliports developed for their landing and are
Thus air transportation caters for the movement
of passengers and freight between the airports.
The travel to and from airports transportation,
particularly by road transportation or by both rail
and road transportation

Transportation by air is the fastest among the

four modes. Air transport provides more
comfortable and fast travel resulting in
substantial saving in travel time for the
passengers between the airports.

Unlike other modes of transport, air transport

allows continuous journey over the land and
water, even across inaccessible places in
between two the overall operating expenses for
air transportation are the highest in comparison
to the other modes.

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