University of Bahrain

College of Engineering
Institute for Transport Studies
Department of Civil Engineering
FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT

Chapter Two
Highway Surveys and Location

Prepared by: Dr. Rashed Abdulrahman

Introduction
▪ Selecting the location of a proposed highway is an important initial
step in its design
o The decision to select a particular location is usually based on topography, soil
characteristics, environmental factors (e.g. noise and air pollution) and
economic factors
Principles of Highway Location (1)
▪ The basic principle for locating highways is that roadway elements
(e.g. grade and curvature) must blend with each other:
o To produce a system that provides for the easy flow of traffic at the design
capacity, while meeting design criteria and safety standards

▪ The highway should cause a minimal disruption to historic and

archaeological sites and other land-use activity
▪ Environmental impact studies are therefore required in most cases
before a highway location is finally agreed upon
Principles of Highway Location (2)
▪ Direct as possible between control points
▪ Gradients - as low & short as possible
o Not too long or steep - especially if many HGVs
o If gradient long & steep, consider a crawler lane

▪ Economic
▪ Minimise property take
Principles of Highway Location (3)
The Highway Location Process
▪ The highway location process involves four phases:

1) Office study of existing information

2) Reconnaissance survey

3) Preliminary location survey

4) Final location survey

1) Office Study of Existing Information
▪ The first phase in any highway location study is the examination of all
available data of the area in which the road is to be constructed
▪ This phase is usually carried out in the office before prior to any field
investigation
▪ These data can be obtained from existing
engineering reports, maps, aerial
photographs, and charts
o The type and amount of data collected and examined
depend on the type of highway being considered
1) Office Study of Existing Information
▪ In general, data should be obtained on the following characteristics of
the area:
o Engineering: including topography, geology, climate, and traffic volumes
o Social and demographics: including land use and zoning patterns
o Environmental: including types of wildlife; location of historic and archaeological
sites; and the possible effects of air, noise, and water pollution
o Economic: including unit costs for construction and the trend of agricultural,
commercial and industrial activity

▪ Excluded sites (Example)

▪ At the completion of this phase, the engineer will be able to select
general areas through which the highway can traverse
2) Reconnaissance Survey
▪ The aim of this phase is to identify several feasible routes

▪ Feasible routes are identified, taking into consideration several factors

such as:

Crossing of
Terrain and Serviceability Directness of other
soil conditions of route route transportation
facilities
3) Preliminary Location Survey
▪ During this phase of the study, positions of feasible routes are set as
closely as possible by establishing all the control points and determining
preliminary vertical and horizontal alignments for each
o This preliminary alignments are used to evaluate both the economic and
environmental feasibility of the alternative routes

Economic
evaluation Environmental
evaluation
3) Preliminary Location Survey
▪ Economic evaluation:
o Carried out for each alternative route to determine the future effect of investing
the resources necessary to construct the highway
o Factors usually taken into consideration include: road user costs, construction costs,
maintenance costs, road user benefits, and any disbenefits, which may occur
include adverse impacts due to dislocation of families, businesses, and so forth
o The results obtained from the economic
evaluation of the feasible routes provide
valuable information to the decision makers
o This evaluation also guide the decision
makers in determining whether the highway
should be built or not
3) Preliminary Location Survey
▪ Environmental evaluation:
o Construction of a highway at any location will have a significant impact on its
surroundings
✓ A highway is therefore an integral part of the local environment and must be
considered as such
o The highway construction may impact the equilibrium and result in significant
adverse effects on the environment which may lead to a reduction of the quality of
life of the animals and/or human communities
o It is therefore essential that the environmental impact of any alignment selected be
fully evaluated
3) Preliminary Location Survey
▪ Environmental evaluation:
o Requirements of the environmental evaluation:
✓ A detailed description of alternatives
✓ The probable environmental impact (the assessment of positive and negative effects)
✓ An analysis of short-term and long-term impact
✓ Probable adverse environmental effects that cannot be avoided if the project is
constructed

The best alternative, based on all the factors considered, is then selected as the
preliminary alignment of the highway
4) Final Location Survey
▪ The final location survey is a detailed layout of the selected route
o The vertical and horizontal alignments are determined
o The positions of structures and drainage channels are located

▪ Detailed design of the vertical and horizontal alignments is then

carried out to obtain both the cuts and fills for vertical curves, and
the deflection angles for horizontal curves
▪ The design of horizontal and vertical curves will be described later in
the course (Chapter 3)
Location of Recreational and Scenic Routes
▪ The primary purpose is different:
o Provide access to recreational sites (lakes and campsites)
o Provide special scenic views

▪ Additional factors should be considered when designing highways for

these areas:
o Design speed are usually low (discourage fast driving)
o Only straight alignment when the view is spectacular
o Location should be such that minimum disruption is caused to the area

▪ Avoid areas of natural beauty (with large roads & interchanges)

Location of Highways in Urban Areas
▪ Urban areas usually present complex conditions that must be
considered in the highway location process

▪ In addition to factors discussed under office study and reconnaissance

survey, other factors that significantly influence the location of highways
in urban areas include:

Coordination of Adequate
Connection to Right-of-way the highway provision for
local streets acquisition system with other pedestrians and
transport systems cyclists
Location of Highway in Urban Areas:
Connection to Local Streets
▪ Junction location & capacity
▪ When the location of urban freeway is being planned, it is important
that adequate thought be given to which local streets should connect
with ramps:
o The main factor to consider is the existing travel pattern in the area
o The freeway location should enhance the traffic flow on the local streets
o Traffic assignment techniques can be used to determine the effect of the proposed
highway on the traffic flow at the existing streets
o Ramps should not be placed at intervals that will cause confusion or increase the
crash potential on the freeway
Location of Highway in Urban Areas:
Right-of-Way Acquisition
▪ One factor that significantly affects the location of highways in urban
areas is the cost of acquiring right of way
▪ This cost is largely dependent on the land use in the right of way of the
proposed highway
o Cost tend to be much higher in commercial areas
o People unwilling to give up their property
o Elevated structures to avoid property take (noise and aesthetic + very expensive)

Housing • Acquisition & rehousing (social impact)

• High cost of acquisition

Industry • Closure of industries
Location of Highway in Urban Areas:
Coordination of the Highway System With Other Transport Systems
▪ The need of a balance transportation system (fully integrated
system) between highways and public transport
o This integration should be taken into consideration during the location process
o Examples: Park and ride, bus lanes
Location of Highway in Urban Areas:
Adequate Provision for Pedestrians and Cyclists
▪ Pedestrians and cyclists are an integral part of any highway system but
are more important in urban areas
o Special attention for pedestrians and cyclist facilities must be given in planning and
designing urban highways

▪ Facilities for pedestrians should include sidewalks, crosswalks, traffic-

control features, dropped curb, and ramps for the handicapped
▪ Facilities for cyclists could include
bicycle paths (i.e. cycle lanes)
Principles of Bridge Location
▪ The basic principle is that the highway location should determine the
bridge location area (not the reverse)
▪ In some cases (detailed examination of the sites):
o Skewed bridges (more expensive to construct)
o Unsuitable soil conditions (foundation problems)

▪ Bridges considerations:
o Minimise span length
o Foundations
o Position & width of river channel
Highway Survey Methods (1)
▪ Very important initial step
▪ Highway surveys usually involve:
o Measuring and computing horizontal and vertical angles, vertical heights
(elevations), and horizontal distances
o The surveys are then used to prepare base maps with contour lines and
longitudinal cross-sections

▪ Highway surveying techniques have been revolutionized due to the

rapid development of electronic equipment and computers
Highway Survey Methods (2)
▪ Surveying techniques can be grouped into three general
categories:
Computerized techniques

Ground Remote Computer

surveys sensing graphics

▪ The selection of a specific technique depends on the topography

and the size of the project
Ground Surveys
▪ Ground surveys are the basic survey technique for highways, which
include:
o Theodolite (standard and electronic)
o Electronic distance measuring device
(EDM)
o Measuring tapes
o Digital survey advancements
✓ Survey data collectors (i.e. GPS unit)
Remote sensing (1)
▪ Remote sensing is the measurement of distances
and elevations by using devices located above the
earth:
o Such as airplanes or orbiting satellites using Global
Positioning Satellite systems (GPS)

▪ The most commonly used remote-sensing method is

photogrammetry, which utilizes aerial photography
▪ This process is fast and economical for large projects
but can be very expensive for small projects
Remote sensing (2)
▪ The successful use of the method depends
on the type of terrain
▪ Difficulties will arise when it is used for
terrain with the following characteristics:
o Areas of thick forest, such as tropical rain forests,
that completely cover the ground surface
o Areas that contain deep canyons or tall buildings,
which may conceal the ground surface on the
photographs
Computer Graphics
▪ Computer graphics, when used for
highway location, is usually the
combination of photogrammetry and
computer techniques
▪ Easy to change the design
▪ Examples:
o GIS, Google Earth