HIGHWAY ENGINEERING

IMPORTANCE AND CLASSIFICATIONS OF ROAD

IMPORTANCE OF ROADS IN A COUNTRY
• For any type of movement, a road is an important form of infrastructure that can take a person from
one point to another. Therefore, whether people have to be transported along a route or a transport of
goods has to take place, a road will always help in completing the task.
• Land Transport

• Bus

• Trucks

• Motorcycles/Scooter

• Cars
 CLASSIFICATION OR TYPES OF ROADS

The roads are classified based on many factors as follows.

• Materials
• Location & function
• Traffic volume
• Width
• Economy
• Traffic type
• Rigidity
• Topography
TYPES OF ROADS BASED ON MATERIALS
• Earthen roads
- Earthen roads are laid with soil.
• Gravel roads
-are also low quality roads but they are good when compared
to earthen roads.
• Murrum roads
-is a matter obtained from the disintegration of igneous rocks
by weathering agencies.
• Kankar roads
-is nothing but impure form of lime stone.
• Water Bound Macadam (WBM) roads
-contain crushed stone aggregate in its base course. The
aggregates are spread on the surface and these are rolled after sprinkling
water.
• Bituminous roads
-most commonly used roads in the world, they are flexible
and thickness of bituminous roads depends upon the
subgrade soil conditions.
• Concrete roads
-cement concrete is used to construct the pavements in case
of concrete roads.
TYPES OF ROADS BASED ON LOCATION AND FUNCTION
• National highways
-are main roads of a particular country.
They connects all major cities to the capital of the
country.
• State highways
-are second main roads which connect major parts of
state with in it. State highway ultimately connects to the
national highways.
• District roads
-are provided with in the cities and connects markets and
production places to state and national highways.
• Major district roads
-connect headquarters of neighboring district with
main parts of district
• Minor district roads
-are laid with in the district.
• Rural roads or Village roads
-connects the nearby villages with each other. They lead
to nearby town or district roads.
TYPES OF ROADS BASED ON TRAFFIC VOLUME
• Light traffic roads
-The roads which are carrying 400 vehicles daily on an
average is called light traffic roads.
• Medium traffic roads
-If a road carrying 400 to 1000 vehicles per day then it
is said to be medium traffic road.
• High traffic roads
-If a road is carrying is more than 1000 vehicles per day
then it is considered as high traffic road.
TYPES OF ROADS BASED ON ECONOMY
• The economy depend upon the location and
function of roads and also on the traffic analysis.

• Low cost roads

• Earthen Roads
• Kankar Roads
• Gravel Roads
• Medium cost roads
• Bituminous roads
• Concrete roads
• High cost roads
• Four lane highways
TYPES OF ROADS BASED ON TRAFFIC TYPE
• Pedestrian ways
-are exclusively built for pedestrians and no
vehicles are permitted in this way.

• Cycle tracks
-are provided on both sides of pavement for cyclists
hence they can travel safely.

• Motorways
-are also known as expressways. The vehicles
which can move with high speed acceleration are
permitted into this way.
TYPES OF ROADS BASED ON RIGIDITY
• Flexible roads
• Consists of a flexible layer as pavement
surface which require good maintenance
otherwise it can be disintegrated easily with
heavy traffic. All types of roads except
concrete roads come under this category.
• Rigid roads
• non-flexible and cement concrete roads come
under this category.
TYPES OF ROADS BASED ON TOPOGRAPHY

• Plain area road

• The roads constructed on leveled
surface is known as plain area
roads.
• Hilly area roads
• Roads constructed in hilly regions
are called as hill area roads or ghat
roads. Generally these are provided
around the hill in spiral shape.
PLANNING SURVEY

 Highway planning involves the assessment of the length of road required for a given area, which may
be a city, district, state or a country; further, it includes the preparation of a master plan for the area
taking into consideration future needs, and phasing the programme in annual or five-year plans, based
on the priorities and utility.

 For assessing the required road length for the area, field studies are to be carried out to collect the
necessary data.
PLANNING SURVEY

Economic Studies:
 Details of the existing facilities, their utility, distribution of the existing population in the area, population growth
trends, existing products in the agricultural and industrial sectors, future trends of development in these sectors,
existing communication and education facilities, and the per capita income are to be collected.

Road Use Studies:

 Details of the existing road facilities, traffic volume in vehicles per day, traffic flow patterns, classes of traffic
such as passenger cars, busses and trucks, loads carried, average speeds, anticipated future trends of traffic growth,
and other traffic-related studies are to be conducted.
PLANNING SURVEY

Engineering Studies:
 These include study of the topography, soil, road life and special problems, if any, relating to construction,
drainage and maintenance.

Financial Studies:
 Various financial aspects such as the sources of funding, estimated revenue from taxes on vehicles, toll tax, and
indirect benefits of raising the living standards of the people due to the proposed road network are considered.
TRANSPORT PLANNING SURVEY
Modal Interchange Surveys & Studies
 These could entail any combination of passenger, walker, shopper or in transit person with or without a vehicle
interchange or parking requirement.

Mode Choice Surveys & Studies

 Generally undertaken by personal interview technique is the determination of mode choice and trips purpose
surveys.

Trip Purpose Surveys & Studies

 Generally undertaken by personal interview technique is the determination of mode choice and trips purpose
surveys.