TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING

INTRODUCTION
Transportation: Transportation may be defined as the convey men and materials from one place to
another.
Engineering: Engineering means the application of science to design building and use of machines
for construction.
Transportation Engineering: It is the branch of civil engineering which deals with construction
and maintenance of the road, the railway track, harbour and airport for safe and efficient movement
of road vehicles, trains, ships, boats and aircrafts on it respectively.

Module - 1
Principles of Transportation Engineering
Importance of transportation: The importance of transportation will be studied under the
following headings.
1. Role of transportation.
2. Economic activities and transport.
3. Social effects of transportation.
Role of Transportation: Transportation contributes to the economic, industrial, social and cultural
development of any country. Transportation is important for economic development of any
religion. Since every commodity produced needs transport at all stages from production to
distribution. In the production stage, transportation is required for carrying raw materials. In the
distribution stage it is required from production centre to marketing centre and later to retailers and
consumers for distribution. The inadequate transportation facilities retard the process of socio-
economic development of country. The adequacy of transportation system of a country indicates its
economic and social development.
Economic Activity and Transport: The economic activities are the process by means of which the
products are utilised to satisfy human wants. Two important factors well known in economic
activities are,
1. Production or supply.
2. Consumption for human wants or demand.
Man and his products are thus not bound to his local surroundings. The importance of
transportation in economic activity is to be found in its effects on both human wants for goods and
satisfaction through production and distribution. While discussing the general effects of
transportation, it may be said that the increased productivity and its efficient transportation can
lower the cost of products. The transportation cost is always an influencing factor on consumer
price of commodities.
Social effects of transportation: The various social effects of transportation are,
1. Sectionalism and Transportation: Improved transportation has important implication in
reducing sectionalism within country and also outside the country. Under developed colonies
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and tribes are improving their living conditions since the distance have apparently been reduced
with reduction in travel time. More frequent travels in other parts of the country and outside the
country tend to increase the knowledge of people from other sections of society. The
international understanding for better peace and order also improves with efficient network of
transportation.
2. Concentration Of Population into Urban Area : The improved transportation network brings
prosperity to the urban population. The prosperity and employment opportunities in urban area
attract the population from other areas resulting in enhanced economic activities. Adequate
mass transportation facilities are needed to cater the internal movements in urban area such as
daily movement to and from the factories, offices, schools, hospitals and other social needs.
Efficient rapid transit facilities are necessary for sub-urban and inter-city long distance travel
for business needs, social visits and tourist activities. This also encourages the people to live in
places away from their work centres, thus helping to decrease the growth of slums in urban
areas. In general, transportation facilities are essential for well-being community.
3. Aspects of Safety, Law and Order :Transport facilities are essential for rushing aids to areas
affected by an emergency. To maintain law and order at home, it is required to have an efficient
system of transport network. To defined the territory of country against the external aggression
and to guard the borders with the foreign territories, transport facility are needed connecting the
farthest border area from headquarters or capitals. At times, this alone may be a sufficient
reason to develop a transport network which may not involve any economic and social benefit
directly.
Modes of Transportation: Since human being is surrounded by three basic medium i,e., land,
water and air. The modes of transportation also connect with these three mediums for movement.
Land has given scope for development of road and rail transport. Water and air have developed
water and airways respectively.
Therefore, there are four modes of transportation,
1. Roadways or Highways or Highway Engineering.
2. Railways or Railway Engineering.
3. Waterways or Harbour Engineering.
4. Airways or Airport Engineering.
Railway Engineering: It is the branch of civil engineering which deals with the construction and
maintenance of railway track for safe and efficient movement of train on it.
Harbour Engineering: It is the branch of civil engineering which deals with the construction and
maintenance of harbour on sea or river shore for safe departure and arrival of ship on it.
Airport Engineering: It is the branch of civil engineering which deals with the construction and
maintenance of airport for safe landing and take-off of aircraft.
Highway Engineering: It is the branch of civil engineering which deals with the construction and
maintenance of road for safe and efficient movement of vehicle on it.
Among the four modes of transportation, air transportation is the fastest mode of transportation. It
also provides more comfort and saves the transportation time. Transportation by water is the
slowest among four modes but these mode needs minimum energy.
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Transportation along the railway track could be advantageous by railways between the station for
both passengers and goods, particularly for longer distances. The energy requirement to haul unit
load through unit distance by railway is only a fraction (one fourth to one sixth) of that required by
road. Therefore it is used transportation of bulk goods.
Road transportation is the only mode that can give maximum service to one and all. This mode has
also the maximum flexibility for travel with respect to route, direction, time and speed through any
mode of road vehicle. It is also possible to provide door to door service. The other three modes
depend on road transport for service to and from their respective terminals, airport, harbour or
stations.
Characteristics of road transport
1. Roads are used by various types of road vehicles like passenger car, buses, trucks, 2 and 3
wheeled automobiles and pedal cycle’s animal drawn vehicles. But railway tracks are used
only by rail locomotives and wagons, waterways are used by ships and boats.
2. Lowest initial investment motor vehicles are much cheaper than other carriers like rail
locomotives and wagons, water and air carriers. Construction and maintenance of road is
also cheaper than that of railway tracks, harbour, docks and airport.
3. Flexibility in location direction, speed and timing to transfer vehicle from one lane to
another and from one road to another according to need and convenience. This flexibility of
change in location, direction, speed and timings of travel is not available to other modes of
transport.
4. In particular for short distance of travel, road transport saves time. Trains stops at junction
and main stations for comparatively longer time.
5. Speed of movement is directly related with the severity of accident. The road safety
decreases with the increasing in dispersion in speed. Road transport is subjected to a high
degree of accidents due to flexibility of movements offered to the road users. Derailment of
railway locomotives and air crash of aeroplanes is also uncommon. They are in more fact
disastrous.
6. Road transport is the only means of transport that offers itself to the whole community
alike.
Importance of Roads in India
Roads are an important mode of transportation in India and India has a network of over 6,215,797
km of roads as of December 2021; which is the second-largest road network in the world. India’s
road network carries over 71 percent of freight and about 85 percent of passenger traffic. Since
the 1990s, efforts have been taken by the government to modernize the road’s

Current Road development Programmes in India

Golden Quadrilateral

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The Golden Quadrilateral is a highway network connecting many of the major industrial,
agricultural and cultural centres of India. A quadrilateral of sorts is formed by
connecting Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai, and hence its name. The largest highway project
in India and the fifth longest in the world was launched in 2001 by Prime Minister of India Atal
Bihari Vajpayee and was completed in 2012.[10] It is part of the first phase of the National
Highways Development Project (NHDP) and consisted of building 5,846 km (3,633 mi) four/six
lane express highways at a cost of ₹600 billion (US$7.5 billion).[11]
North–South and East–West Corridor]
The North–South and East–West Corridor is part of the second phase of the National Highways
Development Project (NHDP) and consists of building 7,142 kilometres (4,438 mi) of four/six
lane expressways connecting Srinagar in the north and Kanyakumari & Kochi in the
south, Porbandar in the west and Silchar in the east, at a cost of US$12.317 billion (at 1999 prices).
[12]

National-Green-Highway-Mission
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Government of India has promulgated
Green Highways (Plantations, Transplantations, Beautification, and Maintenance) Policy – 2015 on
29 September 2015 to develop green corridors along National Highways for sustainable
environment and inclusive growth. The policy envisions "development of eco-friendly National
Highways with the participation of the communities, farmers, NGOs, private sector, institutions,
government agencies and the Forest Departments for economic growth and development in a
sustainable manner."
Under the aegis of the Policy, development of green corridors is proposed along developed and
upcoming National Highways in the width available in existing Right of Way (ROW) in the form
of median and avenue plantations.
Roadside plantations have immense potential to enhance the green cover of the nation and generate
employment opportunities for the rural community. Green Highways Division - under National
Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has been entrusted with the task of planning, implementation
and monitoring roadside plantations along one lakh km network of National Highways which
would, in turn, generate one lakh direct employment opportunity in plantations sector in next ten
years. For effective project planning, implementation and monitoring GHD has developed
Guidelines and Vision Document.

Highway Development and Planning

HIGHWAY DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA
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Overview
Road network provides the arterial network to facilitate trade, transport, social integration and
economic development. It facilitates specialization, extension of markets and exploitation of
economies of scale. It is used for the smooth conveyance of both people and goods. Transportation
by road has the advantage over other means of transport because of its easy accessibility, flexibility
of operations, door-to-door service and reliability. Consequently, passenger and freight movement
in India over the years have increasingly shifted towards roads vis-à-vis other means of transport.
History of highway engineering
The history of highway engineering gives us an idea about the roads of ancient times. Roads in
Rome were constructed in a large scale and it radiated in many directions helping them in military
operations. Thus they are considered to be pioneers in road construction. In this section we will see
in detail about Ancient roads, Roman roads, British roads, French roads etc.
Ancient Roads
The most primitive mode of transport was by foot. These human pathways would have been
developed for specific purposes leading to camp sites, food, streams for drinking water etc. The
invention of wheel in Mesopotamian civilization led to the development of animal drawn vehicles.
To provide adequate strength to carry the wheels, the new ways tended to follow the sunny drier
side of a path. After the invention of wheel, animal drawn vehicles were developed and the need
for hard surface road emerged. Traces of such hard roads were obtained from various ancient
civilization dated as old as 3500 BC. The earliest authentic record of road was found from Assyrian
empire constructed about 1900 BC.

Roman roads
The earliest large scale road construction is attributed to Romans who constructed an extensive
system of roads radiating in many directions from Rome. Romans recognized that the
fundamentals of good road construction were to provide good drainage, good material and good
workmanship. Their roads were very durable, and some still exist. The roads were bordered on
both sides by longitudinal drains. A typical corss section is shown in Fig.2.1. This was a raised
formation up to a 1 meter high and 15 m wide and was constructed with materials excavated during
the side drain construction. This was then topped with a sand leveling course. In the case of heavy
traffic, a surface course of large 250 mm thick hexagonal ag stones were provided They mixed
lime and volcanic puzzolana to make mortar and they added gravel to this mortar to make
concrete. Thus concrete was a major Roman road making innovation.

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Fig.2.1 Roman roads

French roads

The significant contributions were given by Tresaguet in 1764 and a typical cross section of this
road is given in Figure 2.2. He developed a cheaper method of construction than the lavish and
locally unsuccessful revival of Roman practice. The pavement used 200 mm pieces of quarried
stone of a more compact form and shaped such that they had at least one at side which was placed
on a compact formation. Smaller pieces of broken stones were then compacted into the spaces
between larger stones to provide a level surface. Finally the running layer was made with a layer
of 25 mm sized broken stone. All this structure was placed in a trench in order to keep the running
surface level with the surrounding country side. This created major drainage problems which were
counteracted by making the surface as impervious as possible, cambering the surface and providing
deep side ditches.

Fig. 2.2. French roads

British roads
The British government also gave importance to road construction. The British engineer John
Macadam introduced what can be considered as the first scientific road construction method. Stone
size was an important element of Macadam recipe. By empirical observation of many roads, he
came to realize that 250 mm layers of well compacted broken angular stone would provide the
same strength a better running surface than an expensive pavement founded on large stone blocks.
Thus he introduced an economical method of road construction. A typical cross section of British
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roads is given in Fig. 2.3.

Fig. 2.3. British roads

Modern roads
The modern roads by and large follow Macadam's construction method. Use of bituminous
concrete and cement concrete are the most important developments. Development of new
equipments helps in the faster construction of roads. Many easily and locally available materials
are tested in the laboratories and then implemented on roads for making economical and durable
pavements.

Road Development in India

Excavations in the sites of Indus valley revealed the existence of planned roads in India as old as
2500-3500 BC. The Mauryan kings also built very good roads. During the time of Mughal period,
roads in India were greatly improved. Roads linking North-West and the Eastern areas through
gangetic plains were built during this time. The construction of Grand-Trunk road connecting
North and South is a major contribution of the British.

Modern developments
Jaykar Committee
After the 1st world war various types of vehicles using the road is increased the existing roads were
not capable to withstand the mixed traffic condition. To examine and report on the question of road
development in India, Indian Road Development Committee was formed with Mr.M.R. Jaykar as
chairman in 1927 and was called Jaykar committee.
Jaykar Committee Recommendations
The most important recommendations of Jaykar committee was,
1. The road development in the country should be considered as a national interest as this has
become beyond the capacity of provincial government and local bodies.
2. An extra tax should be levied on petrol from road users to develop a road development fund
called central road fund (CRF).
3. A semi-official technical body should be formed, to pool the technical knowledge from
various parts of country and act as advisory bodies on various aspects of roads.

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4. A research organisation should be instituted to carry out research and development works
and to be available for consultations.
Implementations: Most of the recommendation of the Jaykar committee was accepted by
government and major items implemented subsequently. The central road fund was formed by year
1929, the semi-official body called Indian Road Congress was formed in 1934 and Central Road
Institute was started in 1950.
Central Road Fund (CRF) :As per recommendation of Jaykar committee central road fund was
formed in 1929. The consumers of petrol were charged with an extra tax of 2.64 paisa per litre of
petrol consumption from 1st march 1929. The rate of collection of tax towards Central Road Fund
has been revised in order to argument the revenue under this fund. As per Act 2000, present tax is
Rs 2 per litre. The revenue collected under this fund, 80% is being allotted by central government
to the various states based on actual petrol consumption or revenue collected. The balance 20% is
been set apart as Central Reserve, from which grants are being given by central government for
meeting expenses on the administration of road fund, road experiments and research work on
various aspects of roads and bridges.
Indian Road Congress (IRC) : As per recommendation of Jaykar committee, a semi-official
technical body called Indian Road Congress was formed in 1934. IRC has played an important role
in formulation of four 20 year plan. It has become an active body of national importance
controlling specification, standardisation and recommendation on materials, design and
construction of roads and bridges. The IRC publishes journals, research publications,
specifications, guidelines and other publication on various aspects, on highways and bridges. The
main objectives of IRC are,
1. To provide national forum for regular pooling of experiences and ideas on all matters
affecting planning, construction and maintenance of roads and bridges.
2. To recommend standard specifications.
3. To form a long term (20 year) road development plan.
Central Road Research Institute (CRRI): In accordance with the recommendation of Jaykar
committee on research organisation, central road research institute was started in 1950. The CRRI,
New Delhi is a premium national laboratory engaged in research and development work in field of
road transport. As an effective organisation in road sector CRRI is always rewind in the forefront
by exploring the emerging areas and providing guidance in solving problems concerning roads.
Thus, the various functions of CRRI are,
1. To engage itself in fundamental and applied research on road materials, design and
construction.
2. Offering technical advice to state government on various problems concerning roads.
3. To device suitable equipment’s for various tests on measurement of irregularities on road
surface, test on materials etc…

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Nagpur road plan 1943 / First 20-year road development plan

A twenty year development programme for the period (1943-1963) was finalized. It was the first
attempt to prepare a co-ordinated road development programme in a planned manner.
The roads were divided into four classes:
 National highways which would pass through states, and places having national
importance for strategic, administrative and other purposes.
 State highways which would be the other main roads of a state.
 District roads which would take traffic from the main roads to the interior of the district.
According to the importance, some are considered as major district roads and the
remaining as other district roads.
 Village roads which would link the villages to the road system.

The committee planned to construct 2 lakh kms of road across the country within 20 years. They
recommended the construction of star and grid pattern of roads throughout the country. One of the
objective was that the road length should be increased so as to give a road density of 16 kms per
100 sq.km

Bombay road plan 1961 / Second 20-year road development plan

The length of roads envisaged under the Nagpur plan was achieved by the end of it, but the road
system was deficient in many respects. Accordingly a 20-year plan was drafted by the Roads wing
of Government of India, which is popularly known as the Bombay plan. The highlights of the plan
were:
 It was the second 20 year road plan (1961-1981)
 The total road length targeted to construct was about 10 lakhs.
 Rural roads were given specific attention.
 They suggested that the length of the road should be increased so as to give a road density
of 32kms/100 sq.km.
 The construction of 1600 km of expressways was also then included in the plan.

Lucknow road plan 1984 / Third 20-year road development plan

Third 20-year road development plan was finalised for the 1981-2001 and this plan document was
published by the year 1984. The third 20-year road development plan was also called as Lucknow
road plan.
Objectives and policies
The major policies and objectives of third 20-year road development plan are
 The future development should be based on revised classification of road system. The
revised classification is as follows:
i) Primary system: Includes expressways and national highways.
ii) Secondary system: It includes state highways and MDR.
iii) Tertiary system: Includes ODR and VR
 All villages with population over 500 should be connected by all-weather roads.

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 The overall road density should be increased to 82 km per 100 sq. km area. In hilly areas of
altitude up to 2100 m above mean sea level the road density should be 40 km/100 sq. km. In
hilly areas of altitude above 2100m, above mean sea level the road density should be 15 km
per 100 sq. km area.
 The National highway network should be expanded from square grids of 100 km sides so
that no part of country is more than 50 km away from NH.
 The lengths of SH and MDR in a state should be decided based on both areas and number of
towns with population above 5000.
 Expressway should be constructed along major traffic corridors to provide fast travel.
 All towns and villages with population more than 1500 should be connected by MDR. All
villages with population between 1000 to 1500 should be connected by ODR. There should
be a rod within a distance of 3 km in plain and 5km in hilly terrain connecting all villages
with population less than 500.
 Road should be built in less industrialised areas to attract the growth of industries.
 Long term master plans for road development should be prepared at various levels like
taluk, district, state etc.
 Existing roads should be improved by rectifying defects to achieve safety in traffic
movement.
 There should be improvement in environmental quality.

Determination of road length by third 20-year road plan

Length of NH= Area/50 sq.km
Length of SH:
i) Based on area = Area/25
ii) Based on number of towns = 62.5× Number of towns - length of NH
Adopt length of SH as larger among these two.
Length of MDR:

i) Based on area = Area/12.5

ii) Based on number of towns = 90× Number of towns
Adopt length of MDR as larger among these two.
Length of ODR + VR:
Overall road length=Area × Road density(target)
=Area × 82/100
Length of ODR+VR= Overall road length – Lengths of (NH+SHH+MDR)

Problems-
1. Determine the length of different category of road in a state in India by year 2001 using third
20-year road development formula. Area of states=150000sq.km, number of towns=20, road
density= 82km/100sq.km area.
Solution-

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Length of NH= Area/50 =15000/50 =300 km

Length of SH:
i) Based on area = Area/25 =15000/25 = 600 km
ii) Based on number of towns = 62.5× Number of towns - length of NH
= 62.5× 20 - 300 = 950km > 600 km
Therefore, Adopt length of SH = 950km (larger among above two)
Length of MDR:

i) Based on area = Area/12.5=15000/12.5 =1200km

ii) Based on number of towns=90×No. of towns =90×20 = 1800km > 1200 km
Therefore, Adopt length of MDR=1800km (larger among above two)
Length of ODR + VR:
Overall road length=Area × Road density(target)
=15000 × 82/100 =12300 km
Length of ODR+VR= Overall road length – Lengths of (NH+SHH+MDR
= 12300-(300+950+1800) = 9250 km

2. Determine the length of different category of road in India by the year 2001 using third 20-year
road development formula for following data
Total area of state=308000
Number of towns as per 1981 census=276
Number of villages as per 1981 census=41833

Solution-
Length of NH= Area/50 =308000/50 =6160 km
Length of SH:

i) Based on area = 308000/25 =308000/25 = 12320 km

ii) Based on number of towns = 62.5× Number of towns - length of NH
= 62.5×276-6160 = 11090km < 12320 km
Therefore, Adopt length of SH = 12320 km (larger among these two).

Length of MDR:

i) Based on area = Area/12.5=308000/12.5 =24640 km

ii) Based on number of towns=90×No. of towns =90×276
= 24840km > 24640km
Therefore Adopt length MDR=24840 km (larger among these two)
Length of ODR + VR:
Overall road length =4.74 × (No. of towns + No. of villages)
=4.74 × (276 +41833 =199597 km
Length of (ODR+VR) = 12300-(6160 +12320 +24840) = 156276.66 km

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Classification of roads
Types of road: Basically, different types of roads can be classified based on various aspects
namely, All-weather roads and Fair-weather roads.
1. Based on different seasons of the year
All-weather roads: These roads are negotiable during all weather, except at major river
crossings where interruption of traffic is permissible upto a certain limit extent, the road
pavement should be negotiable during all weathers.
Fair-weather roads: On these roads the traffic may be interrupted during monsoon season at
causeways where streams may overflow across the roads.
2. Based on the carriageway
Paved Roads: These roads are provided with a hard pavement course which should be at least a
water bound macadam (WBM) layer.
Unpaved Roads: These roads are not provided with a hard pavement course of at least a WBM
layer. Thus earth roads and gravel roads may be called as unpaved roads.
3. Based on Surface pavement provided
Surface Roads: These roads are provided with a bituminous or cement concrete surfacing.
Unsurfaced Roads: These are not provided with bituminous or cement concrete surfacing.
Roads which are provided with bituminous surfacing are called as black toped roads and that of
concrete are referred to as concrete roads respectively.
4. Based on Traffic Volume:
Heavy
Medium
Light traffic roads.
5. Based on Load transported or tonnage:
Class-I or Class-A Class-II or Class-B.
6. Based on location and Function first Road Development Plan:
National Highways (NH): The NH connects the capital cities of the states and the capital
cities to the port. The roads connecting the neighbouring countries are also called as NH. The
NH are atleast 2 lanes of traffic about 7.5m d wide. The NH are having concrete or bituminous
surfacing.
State Highways (SH): SH are the main roads within the state and connect important towns
and cities of state. The width of state highways is generally 7.5m.
Major District Roads (MDR): These roads connect the areas of production and markets with
either a SH or railway. The MDR should have atleast metalled single lane carriage way (i.e.,
3.8m) wide. The roads carry mixed traffic.
Other District Roads (ODR): these roads connect the village to other village or the nearest
district road, with ghat, river etc. these roads have a single lane and carry mixed traffic.
Village Roads (VR): these roads, like other district roads, connect the village or village or
nearby district road. The roads carry mixed traffic.
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7. Modified Classification of Road system by Third Road Development Plan: As per IRC the
road were classified into following three system in 1981,
1. Primary System.
2. Secondary System.
3. Tertiary System.
The primary system consists of Expressways and National Highways, secondary system
consists of State Highways and Major District Roads and tertiary system also consists of Other
District Roads and Village Roads.
Expressways : Expressways are a separate class of highways with superior facilities and
design standards and are meant as through routes having very high volume of traffic. The
expressways are to be provided with divided carriageways, controlled access, grade separation
at cross roads fencing. These highways should permit only fast moving vehicles
8. Based on Urban Roads:
a) Arterial roads
b) Sub-arterialroads
c) Collector Streets
d) Local Streets
Arterial and Sub-arterial roads are primarily for through traffic on a continuous route, but sub-
arterials have a lower level of traffic mobility than the arterials. Collector streets provide access to
arterial streets and they collect and distribute traffic from and to local streets which provide access
to abutting property.

ROAD PATTERNS
There are various types of road patterns and each pattern has its own advantages and limitations.
The choice of the road pattern depends upon the various factors such as Locality, Layout of the
different towns, villages, industrial and production centres and planning Engineer. The various road
patterns may be classified as follows:
1. Rectangular or block pattern:

In this, entire area is divided into rectangular segments having a common central business and
marketing area. This area has all the services located in the central place. This pattern is not
convenient or safe from traffic operation point of view and it results into more number of
accidents at intersections. Eg: Chandigarh city.

2. Radial or star and block pattern:

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3. Radial or star and circular pattern:
4. Radial or star and grid pattern:
5. Hexagonal pattern:
In this, roads radially emerge from the central
business area in all directions and between
two built-up areas will be there. The main
advantage in this, central place is easy
accessible from all the directions. Eg: Nagpur
In this roads radiate in all the directions and
also circular ring roads are provided.
Advantages: Traffic will not touch the heart
of the city and it flows radially and reaches
the other radial road and thereby reducing the
congestion in the centre of the city. This ring
road system is well suited for big cities where
traffic problems are more in the heart of the
city. Eg: Connaught place in New Delhi.
It is very much similar to star and the circular
pattern expects the radial roads are connected
by grids. In this pattern a grid is formed
around the central point which is a business
centre. Eg: Nagpur road plan.
In this entire zone of planning is divided into
hexagonal zones having separate marketing
zone and central services surrounded by
hexagonal pattern of roads. Each hexagonal
element is independent. At each corner of
hexagon three roads meet.
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6. Minimum travel pattern:

In this type, city is divided into number of nodal
points around a central portion by forming
sectors. And each sector is divided again in such a
way that from each of the nodal centre, the
distance to the central place is minimum.

Planning surveys:
For assessing the road length requirement, field surveys are to be carried out to collect the data
required for determining the length of road system. The field surveys thus required for collecting
the factual data may be called as planning surveys or fact-finding surveys. The planning based on
factual data may be considered scientific and sound. The various planning survey consisting of
following studies
1. Economic studies
2. Financial studies
3. Traffic or road use studies
4. Engineering studies
Economic studies:
The various details to be collected are useful in estimating the economics involved in the highway
development program. Hence it is desirable to find the service given by each road system to the
population and products of the area. All details of existing facilities should available before
estimating the requirement such that economic justification can be made for each plan. The
important details to be collected during economic studies are
• Population and its distribution in each village, town and other locality with the area
classified in groups.
• Trend of population growth.
• Agricultural and industrial products and their listings in classified groups, area wise.
• Industrial and agricultural development and future trends
• The existing facilities with regard to communication, recreation and education etc...
• Per capita income
Financial studies:
Financial studies are essential to study the various financial aspects like source of income and
manner in which funds for project may be mobilized. The important information’s to be collected
during financial studies are
• Sources of income and estimated revenue from taxation on road transport.
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• Living standards
• Resources at local level, troll taxes, vehicle registration and fines.
• Future trends in financial aspects.
• Traffic or road user studies.
Traffic studies:
Traffic survey should be carried out in the whole area and on selected routes and locations in order
to collect the following information such as,
• Traffic volume in per day, annual average daily traffic, peak and design hourly traffic
volume.
• Origin and destination studies.
• Traffic flow patterns.
• Mass transportation facilities.
• Accidents, their cost analysis and causes.
• Future trend and growth in traffic volumes and goods traffic, trend in traffic pattern.
• Growth of passenger’s trips and trend in choice of modes.
Engineering surveys:
All details of topography, soil and other problems such as drainage, constructional and maintenance
problems should be investigated before a scientific plan or program is suggested. The important
data to be collected during engineering studies are
• Topographic survey.
• Soil survey
• Location and classification of existing roads.
• Estimation of possible developments in all aspects due to the proposed highway
development.
• Road life studies.
• Special problems in drainage, construction and maintenance of roads.

Master plan:
Master plan is the final road development plan for the area under study which may be a block,
taluk, district, state or whole country. Based on different proposals for road networks and
improvement of some of the possible existing roads are suggested. In each proposal the population
and productivity of each locality, both existing and possible changes in future are kept in view. The
next step is to compare the various alternate proposals of road system in hand ad to select the one
which may be considered as best under the plan period. This is a quite difficult problem as the
decision has to be balanced one. In arriving at the best road system out of the alternate proposals, it
is desirable to make use of concept of saturation system based on max utility unit system of
highway planning.

Saturation system:
In this system the optimum road length is calculated for area, based on concept of obtaining
maximum utility per unit length of road. Hence this system is called “maximum utility system”.
The factors which are taken for obtaining utility per unit length of road are:
• Population served by road network

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• Productivity served by road network

a) Agricultural products
b) Industrial products
The following steps may be followed to find best road network for having maximum utility per unit
length of road by saturation system.
Step 1- population units
The area under consideration consists of towns and villages in different population range. It is
required to group these into some convenient population ranges and to assign some reasonable
values of utility units to each range of population served.
For example: villages having population range between 1001 to 2000 may be grouped together and
we assigned one utility unit per village. Similarly, the various villages and towns may be grouped
into different population ranges and we assign suitable utility units as given below.
Population less than 500, utility unit per village or town = 0.25
501-1000, utility unit per village or town = 0.5
1001-2000, utility unit per village or town = 1
2001-5000, utility unit per village or town = 2
The total number of units based on population can be obtained for each road system proposals
. Step 2-productivity units
The total agricultural and industrial products served by each road system should be worked out.
The productivity served may be assigned appropriate values of utility units per unit weight.
For example: 1000 tons of agricultural products may be considered equivalent to 1 unit. Similarly,
the industrial products may also be assigned suitable utility units per unit weight. The total
productivity units served by each road system may be estimated.
Step 3- utility units
The total units of each road system are found by adding population units and productivity units.
The total utility units are divided by total length of each road system to obtain the utility rate per
unit length.
T otal population units+Total productivity units
Utility unit per km length, U =
Length
Each road system having different layout and length would show different values of utility per unit
length. The proposal which gives maximum utility per unit length may be selected as final layout,
with optimum road length, based on maximum utility in saturation system.

Problems:
1. There are 5 alternate proposals of road plan for a backward district. The details are given below.
Justify with reasons which proposal is the best. Assuming utility units are 0.5,1,2,4 and 8. For
the 5 population ranges and 1 and 5 per 1000 tons of agricultural and industrial products
respectively.

Proposal Length No. Of towns and villages served with Productivity in 1000
km population range tonnes

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2001- 5001- 10001- >2000

<2000 Agricultural Industrial
5000 10000 20000 0
P 500 100 150 40 20 3 150 20
Q 600 200 250 68 28 3 220 25
R 700 270 350 82 36 4 300 35
S 800 280 410 91 41 4 400 42
T 900 290 430 96 44 4 430 45

Solution:
T otal population units+Total productivity units
Utility unit per km length, U =
Length
Up = (100×0.5 + 150×1 + 40×2 + 20×4 + 3×8) + (150×1 + 20× ) / 500 = 1.268 Utility units / km
Uq = (200×0.5 + 250×1 + 68×2 + 28×4 + 3×8) + (220×1 + 25×5) / 600 = 1.611 Utility units / km
Ur = (270*0.5+350*1+82*2+36*4+4*8)+(300*1+35*5)/700 = 1.857/km
Us = (280*0.5+410*1+91*2+41*4+4*8)+(400*1+42*5)/800 = 1.922/km ×
Ut = (290*0.5+430*1+96*2+44*4+4*8)+(430*1+45*5)/900 = 1.811/km

The plan proposal S has the maximum utility per unit length of road and hence the proposal S is the
best proposal.

Phasing of road program

The road network to be constructed and improved in the plan period while finalising the master
plan of road development project. The plan period maybe long term, like 20-year-old plan or of
short term 5-year plan. But whatever be the plan period it is necessary to phase the road
development program from financial year consideration. In other words, it is necessary to fix the
priorities for the construction of each link of road network development program to decide which
link should be taken up first and which one is the next and so on. The phasing may also be done for
each annual budget year hereby fixing up the priorities. Here again the priority for each road link
maybe fixed scientifically based on maximum utility. The utility per unit length of road based on
population and productivity for each road is worked out. Each link of network is listed in order of
priority based on utility per unit length of road.

2. Four new road links A, B, C and D are to be constructed during a five year plan period. Assume
population units 0.5,1,2 and 4 and 1/1000 tons, 500 tons and 100 tonns of agricultural and raw
material and industrial products respectively. Find the order of priority for following system of
roads.

No. Of towns and villages served

Productivity in tonnes
Road Length with population range
link km 501- 1001- Raw
<500 >2000 Agricultural Industrial
1000 2000 Material
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A 70 30 18 8 3 8000 4000 1000

B 45 11 7 6 3 6000 1000 1600
C 65 23 7 5 5 4500 2000 3200
D 60 38 4 3 3 4000 6000 500

Ua=
( 30 ×0.5+18 ×1+ 8× 2+3 ×4 ) + ( 8000
1000
×1+
4000
500
×1+
100 )
1000
=1.24 Units/km
70

Ub=
( 11×0.5+ 7× 1+6 ×2+5 × 4 )+ ( 6000
1000
× 1+
1000
500
× 1+
100 )
1600
=1.344 Units/km
45

Uc=
( 23 × 0.5+7 ×1+5 ×2+5 × 4 )+ ( 4500
1000
×1
2000
500
×1+
100 )
3200
=1.37 Units/km
65

Ud=
( 38 × 0.5+4 ×1+3 ×2+3 × 4 )+ ( 4000
1000
×1
6000
500
× 1+
100 )
500
=1.03 Units/km
60

Order of Priority Utility units/km Road proposal

1 1.37 C
2 1.344 B
3 1.24 A
4 1.03 D

Highway Alignment and Surveys

Highway alignment
The position or the layout of central line of highway is called as alignment on the ground. A new
road should be aligned carefully, as if the alignment is improper the cost of construction and
maintenance will increase drastically. Once alignment is aligned, it can’t be changed because
changing of alignments involves more costs.
Requirements of an ideal alignment.
Following are the basic requirements for an ideal alignment between two stations
1. It should be short,
2. It should be easy,
3. It should be safe,
4. It should be economical,

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If it is not possible for an alignment to satisfy all the four requirements, a highway alignment.
Which satisfies maximum number of requirements may be considered as the best or ideal
Alignment.
Factors affecting highway alignment.
1. Obligatory points.
2. Traffic.
3. Geometric.
4. Economics.
5. Other considerations.
The above five factors to be considered as for as road alignment on plain and rolling terrain. If the
alignment is in hilly terrain, addition to the above five factors other additional four factors should
be considered they are.
1. Stability.
2. Drainage.
3. Geometric standards for hill roads.
4. Resisting length.
Obligatory points: These are also called as control points the obligatory points can be broadly
classified into two groups.
a) Points through which alignment can pass.
b) Points through which alignment shouldn’t pass.

Points through which alignment can pass.

The obligatory points through which the alignment has to pass may cause the road alignment to
deviate from its shortest path .various examples are mountains pass, bridge site ,intermediate town
or a Pond thus here mountain pass , bridge site ,intermediate town and pond or lake has obligatory
points.

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 TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING

Points through which alignment shouldn’t pass.

Alignment shouldn’t pass through middle of the town or village because it will create
Congestion .the alignment shouldn’t pass through important religious places such as temples,
Mosques and churches because it disturbs sentiments of a particular community. lastly the
Alignment shouldn’t pass through marshy land and costly fertile land because the cost of the
pavement increases drastically .thus here middle of the town or village , religious places, Marshy
land and costly fertile area act as obligatory points.
Traffic: The alignment should satisfy the traffic requirement .origin and destination studies should
be carried out to indicate the trend of traffic flow in an area. Hence during the alignment of a new
road, normally traffic flow and its future development should be given due consideration.
Geometric Design: The geometrics of highway includes the cross section details like width of
roads, number of lanes, horizontal curve, radius of curves, amount of superelevation ,design speed
and extra width at curves. The vertical alignment includes gradient, type of vertical curve, shape
and length of vertical curve, sight distance requirement lastly depending on the type of terrain
condition appropriate geometrics should be provided.
Economics: The cost of the cost of the construction, maintenance and operation should e minimum
.to reduce cost of construction, deep cuts and high embankments must be avoided the number of
bridge structures and culverts must be reduced to minimum.
Other considerations: Before aligning a road, other considerations such as territory aspects,
boundary aspects and strategic aspects are to be taken care.

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Special considerations while Aligning roads on hilly Areas:

Stability: The stability of hill slopes and provision of earth retaining structures are to be taken care
as for stability factors are considered.
Drainage: To lead away the rain water, both surface and subsurface drainage should be provided
both in longitudinal and lateral directions. apart from that , at suitable points cross drainage works
has to be provided in the form of pipe or box culvert.
Geometric standards of hill roads: Especially at hilly regions while aligning a new road
alignment, change of grade, vertical curve, radius and length of vertical curve sight distance
requirement etc are to be taken into considerations.
Resisting length: In hilly terrains, since the radius of curve is small and length available for curve
is less to gain the momentum for vehicle to climb a particular slope, some minimum length is
required .such a length is called resisting length.
Engineering Surveys
Before a highway alignment is finalized in highway project the engineering surveys are to be
carried out. Four stages of engineering survey are.

1. Map study.
2. Reconnaissance survey.
3. Preliminary survey.
4. Final location and detail survey.

Map study: The first step in road survey and investigation is to study all available informations in
the office .the survey of India published toposheets to the scale of 1:50000 to 1:250000. The
toposheets give contours, existing roads and other communication facilities and villages and towns,
thus the toposheet will act as valuable data source. The geological survey of India published maps
on soil types, geological features (faults) and ground water conditions. The town planning
organization has land use plans and master plans drawings .when a full examination of available
maps and data’s is made in the office the engineer would have some idea about alternative
alignments. This stage is also known as desk study.
Reconnaissance survey: it starts with field inspection to know the general character of area. A
field survey party may inspect a fairly broad sketch of land along the proposed alternative routes in
the map study. In this stage, all informations which are useful in design, construction and
maintenance should be collected. Only simple instruments like abney level, clinometer, barometer,
etc are carried. The following list gives the points on which data should be gathered.
 Type of terrain in which alignment passes.
 Length of road along various alternatives.
 Bridging requirements like number of bridges , number of spans ,etc
 Details of geometrics like approximate value of gradients , length of gradients ,radius of
curves, etc
 Soil type along the routes from field identification test and observation of geological
features.
 Sources of construction material.
 Climate conditions like temperature, rainfall ,etc
 Value of land like agricultural land , forest land, built up area ,etc
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 Crossing with railway line and other communication line.

 design characteristics
From the details collect during reconnaissance survey, the alignment proposed in map study may be
altered or even changed completely .as the result of reconnaissance, a few alternative alignments
may be chosen for further study based on practical considerations observed at site.
Note: A rapid reconnaissance of area especially when it is vast and terrain is difficult may be done
by an aerial survey.
Preliminary survey : The main objectives of the preliminary survey are
1. To survey the various alternative alignments and to collect the necessary information.
2. To compare the different proposals in view of the requirement of good alignment.
3. To estimate the quantity of earth work, materials and other construction aspects and to
workout the cost of alternative proposal.
4. To finalise the best alignment from all considerations.
The preliminary survey consists of establishing a base line traverse also called a primary traverse. It
is a series of straight lines along a selected alignment. A theodolite is used for traversing and levels
are taken along and across the traverse. The distances are measured continuously along a traverse
line with a metallic tape. Levels along the line should be taken at an interval of 50m under all
intermediate breaks in ground. The cross sections should be at intervals of 100-200m in plain
terrain and can be reduced in hilly terrain. Bench mark should be established at the interval of 250-
300m. The points where individual straight line intersect should be carefully referred be located by
means of offsets. The width to be covered for such detailing should be about the land width
proposed to be acquired.
The information on subsoil, water table, rainfall intensity, soil type should be collected and
recorded. The survey enables the preparation of map including the plan and sections [longitudinal
and cross section]

The scales generally recommended are;-

 Plain and rolling terrain -1:2500 for horizontal scale
-1:250 for vertical scale ,
 In built up areas and hilly terrains -1:1000 for horizontal scale
-1:100 for vertical scale

It is desirable to map in contours to an interval of 1-3m. The map should indicate all the physical
features survey. The drawing will enable the final centre line to be selected in the office keeping in
mind the geometric standards for horizontal and vertical alignment.
Final location and detail survey: Finally the selected route , the central line should be transferred
to the ground .while transferring the central line on the ground wherever there is sudden changes in
directions then suitable curves has to be incorporated. While providing actual geometrics in field
the original alignment get shifted because of extra width of curve.

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The details of level along the longitudinal section and proposed cross section are to be take
care .they have to be prepared in terms of plans giving details of constructions as well as structural
details .
Drawings
The following drawings are usually prepared in a highway project.
Key map: key map shows the proposed roads and important places to be connected [scale
1:250000]
Index map: Index map shows the general topography of the area, the details of area symbolically
represented.[scale 1:50000]
Preliminary survey plans:- shows the details of various alternate alignments and all information
collected [ scale 1:10000 to 1:40000]
Plan and longitudinal section: The normal practice to show both the plan and longitudinal profile
together in one sheet. Plan should show the alignment with details of features and contours at
suitable intervals. Longitudinal section shows the final profile with details of grades, vertical
curves, etc.
Scale: In plain terrain - Horizontal scale = 1:25000
- Vertical scale = 1:250
In hilly terrain - Horizontal scale = 1:1000
- Vertical scale = 1: 100
Detailed cross sections: Shows existing ground profile, proposed road levels , area of cut and fill,
thickness of various components , etc [scale- 1:100]
Land acquisition plans: Shows all general details such as boundary of various fields and survey
umbers, buildings, etc [scale -1:2000 to 1:8000].
Road junction drawings: Showing existing road , proposed improvement , road signs ,markings ,
high lands, etc [ scale – 1:500 to1:600]
Drawings for cross drainage structures: Standard design can be used [scale -1:50]

Project Report
The project report forms an important part of the project document. It should contain infomations
such as:
1. General details of the project and its importance.
2. Features of the road including selection of the route, alignment ,traffic, etc
3. Road design specifications like geometric standards , road design , pavement design ,etc
4. Drainage facilities and cross drainage structures :-surface drainage , subsurface drainage ,
ground water table ,high flood level, etc
5. Materials, labour and equipments: Source of construction materials, availability of labour
and equipment.
6. Rates:-Schedule of rates, justification of rates, etc
7. Construction programming: - Working season, schedule of completing work, etc.
8. Miscellaneous: - like diversion routes, traffic control, road side amenities, guest houses, etc.

Steps in New Highway Project

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 TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING

Step 1:- Route selection: it includes - Map study .

- Reconnaissance survey.
- Location survey.
- Detailed survey.
Step 2: Materials and design: It includes - Material survey.
- Design
 Pavement layers.
 Embankment.
 Bridges.
Step 3:-Construction stage : It includes - Earth work
- Actual pavement construction
- Quality control
Re-alignment Project
The necessities of re-alignment project are:-
1) To improve the horizontal alignment, it includes .radius, super elevation, clearance, etc.
2) To improve the vertical alignment, it includes steep gradient, change in curve for sight
distance.
3) To increase the level of road in conditions such as flooding, submergence and water logged areas .
4) To reconstruct the weak and narrow bridges.
5) To construct over bridges and under bridges .To provide separate intersections.
6) To construct a bypass for avoiding traffic running through a town or city.
Principles of Re-alignment Project
1) Improvement of vertical alignment for stopping sight distance at summit curve and
checking of valley curve for HLSD [Head Light Sight Distance] and comfort condition.
2) Development on whole.
3) Roads remaining submerged even for short duration should be raised for widening or
strengthening.
4) New bridges should be construction at different sites then at existing .
5) Grade separation should be justified based on traffic
6) Bypass also should be justified.
Steps in Re-alignment Project
1) Reconnaissance:- it includes the study of deficiency and possible changes.
2) Survey of existing roads: - It includes recording topographical features and other existing
features including drainage.
3) Longitudinal and cross sectioning to note the gradients, cross slopes, super elevation etc.
4) Soil survey along the stretches of land.
5) Comparison of economics of existing and proposals.
6) Finalisation of alignment and design standards.
7) Preparation of drawings including plan and longitudinal cross section.
8) Marking the centre-line of realigned road.
9) Earth work and pavement construction.

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