CEP333 – Highway and Railroad Engineering

REVIEWER
MODULE 2 HIGHWAY DEVELOPMENT AND 4. In particular for short
PLANNING distance travel, road transport
saves time. Trains stop at
A. CHARACTERISTICS OF ROAD
junctions and main stations for
TRANSPORT
comparatively longer time.
Road transport is one of the most
5. Speed of movement is directly
common modes of transport. Roads
related with the severity of
in the form of trackways, human
accidents. The road transport is
pathways etc. were used even from
subjected to a high degree of
the prehistoric times. Since
accidents due to the flexibility
then, many experiments were going
of movements offered to the road
on to make the riding safe and
users. Derailment of railway
comfort. Thus, road construction
locomotives and air crashes of
became an inseparable part of
airplane are also common.
many civilizations and empires.
In this module we will see the 6. Road transport is the only
different generations of road and means of transport that offers
their characteristic features itself to the whole community
alike.
CHARACTERISTICS OF ROAD TRANSPORT
B. History and Development of
1. Roads used various types of
Highway Engineering
road vehicles like passenger
cars, buses, trucks, two or three The history of highway
wheeled automobiles, pedal cycles engineering gives us an idea
and animal drawn vehicles. But about the roads of ancient ages
railway tracks are used only by and how it evolves through time.
rail locomotives and wagons, Roads in Rome were constructed in
water ways are used by only ships a large scale, and irradiated in
and boats. many directions helping them in
military operations. Thus, they
2. Road transport requires a
are considered to be pioneers in
relatively small investment for
road construction. In this
the government. Motor vehicles
section we will see in detail
are much cheaper than carriers
about ancient roads, Roman roads,
like rail locomotives and wagons,
British roads, French roads etc
water and air carriers.
Construction and maintenance of ANCIENT ROADS
roads is also cheaper than that
The first mode of transport was
of railway track, docks, harbors,
by foot. These human pathways
and airports.
would have been developed for
3. Road transport completely specific purposes leading to camp
offer freedom to road users to sites, food, streams for drinking
transfer the vehicles from one water etc. The next major mode of
lane to another and from one road transport was the use of animals
to another according to the need for transporting both men and
and convenience. This flexibility materials. Since these loaded
of changes in location, animals required more horizontal
direction, speed and timings of and vertical clearances than the
travel is not available to other walking man, track ways emerged.
modes of transport. The invention of wheel in
CEP333 – Highway and Railroad Engineering
REVIEWER
Mesopotamian civilization led to The next step was the
the development of animal drawn construction of the agger. This
vehicles. Then it became was a raised formation up to a 1
necessary that the road surface meter high and 15 m wide and was
should be capable of carrying constructed with materials
greater loads. Thus, roads with excavated during the side drain
construction. This was then
topped with a sand leveling
course. The agger contributed
greatly to moisture control in
the pavement. The pavement
structure on the top of the agger
harder surfaces emerged.
varied greatly. In the case of
ROMAN ROADS heavy traffic, a surface course
of large 250 mm thick hexagonal
The earliest large-scale road flag stones was provided.
construction is attributed to
Romans who constructed an FRENCH ROADS
extensive system of roads The next major development in the
radiating in many directions from road construction occurred during
Rome. They were a remarkable the regime of Napoleon. The
achievement and provided travel significant contributions were
times across Europe, Asia minor, given by Tresaguet in 1764 and a
and north Africa. Romans typical cross section of this
recognized that the fundamentals road is given. He developed a
of good road construction were to cheaper method of construction
provide good drainage, good than the lavish and locally
material and good workmanship. unsuccessful revival of Roman
Their roads were very durable, practice. The pavement used 200
and some are still existing. mm pieces of quarried stone of a
Roman roads were always more compact form and shaped such
that they had at least one flat
side which was placed on a
compact formation. Smaller pieces
of broken stones were then
compacted into the spaces between
constructed on a firm - formed larger stones to provide a level
subgrade strengthened where surface. Finally, the running
necessary with wooden piles. The layer was made with a layer of 25
roads were bordered on both sides mm sized broken stone. All this
by longitudinal drains. structure was placed in a trench
in order to keep the running
surface level with the
surrounding countryside.
CEP333 – Highway and Railroad Engineering
REVIEWER

MODERN ROADS
The modern roads by and large
follow Macadam's construction
method. Use of bituminous
concrete and cement concrete are
BRITISH ROADS
the most important developments.
The British government also gave Various advanced and cost-
importance to road construction. effective construction
The British engineer John Macadam technologies are used.
introduced what can be considered Development of new equipment’s
as the first scientific road help in the faster construction
construction method. Stone size of roads. Many easily and locally
was an important element of available materials are tested in
Macadam recipe. By empirical the laboratories and then
observation of many roads, he implemented on roads for making
came to realize that 250 mm economical and durable pavements.
layers of well compacted broken To minimize complex drainage and
angular stone would provide the maintenance issues, road
same strength and stiffness and a pavements are often built on
better running surface than an modest embankments, slightly
expensive pavement founded on above the normal ground level
large stone blocks. Thus, he where practicable.
introduced an economical method
of road construction. The
mechanical interlock between the
individual stone pieces provided
strength and stiffness to the
course. But the inter particle
friction abraded the sharp
interlocking faces and partly
destroy the effectiveness of the
course. This effect was overcome
by introducing good quality
interstitial finer material to
produce a wellgraded mix. Such
mixes also proved less permeable Scope of transportation system
and easier to compact. has developed very largely.
Population of the country is
increasing day by day. The
lifestyle of people began to
change. The need for travel to
CEP333 – Highway and Railroad Engineering
REVIEWER
various places at faster speeds The need for and state of road
also increased. This increasing transportation have been examined
demand led to the emergence of in the preceding paragraphs. As a
other modes of transportation result, it's only natural to talk
like railways and travel by air. about highway engineering, which
answers topics like:
• How are highways planned and
developed? and
• How are these built and
maintained?
Each of these questions has an
impact on the development of the
issue. In a nutshell, highway
engineering is concerned with a
variety of phases such as
development, planning, alignment,
highway geometric design and
location, highway traffic
operation and control, materials,
C. SCOPE OF HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
pavement design, construction and
maintenance, economic
considerations, finance, and
Highway Engineering deals with
administration.
various processes including
development and planning, design, These concepts were welcomed by
construction, operations, and the city, and they will be
maintenance of different types of incorporated in their future
roads. As a result, the name Capital Improvement Program. The
"highway" is applied to the newly development community is another
constructed road or railway, and example of traffic engineering in
science and technology associated relation to project design.
with road engineering is referred Developers in the private sector
to as "Highway Engineering." are frequently required to
furnish communities with Traffic
Impact Studies (TISs) completed
by traffic engineers.

D. HIGHWAY PLANNING
Planning is considered as a pre-
requisite before attempting any
development program in the
present era. This is particularly
true for any engineering project,
as planning is the basic
requirement for any new project
or an expansion program.
BEST PLANNING PRINCIPLES:
CEP333 – Highway and Railroad Engineering
REVIEWER
• To plan an overall road network should be negotiable during all
for efficient and safe traffic weathers.
operation, but at minimum cost.
b. On 'fair weather roads' the
Here the costs of construction,
traffic may be interrupted during
maintenance and resurfacing or
monsoon season at causeways where
strengthening of pavement layers
streams may overflow across the
and the vehicle operation cost
road.
are to be given due
consideration; Based on the type of carriageway
or the road pavement, the roads
• To arrive at the road system
are classified as “paved roads”
and the lengths of different
and “un-paved roads”.
categories of roads which could
provide maximum utility and could The roads with a hard pavement
be constructed within the surface on the carriageway are
available resources during the called “paved roads”.
plan period under consideration;
The roads without a hard pavement
• To divide the overall plan into surface on the carriageway are
phases and to decide priorities; called “unpaved roads”.
• To fix up date-wise priorities Earth roads and gravel roads may
for development of each road link be called unpaved roads. Based on
based on utility as the main the type of pavement surfacing
criterion for phasing the road provided, the roads may be
development program; classified as “surfaced roads”
and “un-surfaced roads”.
• To plan for future requirements
and improvements of roads in view Road pavements with any type of
of anticipated developments; and bituminous surface or cement
concrete are called surfaced
• To work out suitable financing
roads. The roads which are not
system phases of highway planning
provided with bituminous or
which includes the following
cement concrete surfacing are
phases:
called un-surfaced roads.
E. CLASSIFICATION OF ROADS AND
HIGHWAY TYPES PHILIPPINE HIGHWAY NETWORK
The roads are generally The Philippine highway network is
classified into two categories, a network of national roads owned
depending on whether they can be and maintained by the Department
used during different seasons of of Public Works and Highways
the year: (a) All-weather roads (DPWH) and organized into three
and (b) Fair-weather roads. classifications according to
their function or purpose:
a. All-weather roads are those national primary, secondary, and
which are negotiable during all tertiary roads.
seasons of the year, except at
major river crossings where some A number of laws and orders have
interruption to traffic is been passed regarding the
permissible up to a certain classification of roads in the
extent, but the road pavement country. The first comprehensive
reference to a Road
CEP333 – Highway and Railroad Engineering
REVIEWER
Classification System is found in national primary roads and
Executive Order (E.O) No. 483, s. national secondary roads, as well
1951, “Establishing the as for "national aid" roads,
Classification of Roads”, for the defined as those provincial and
purpose of classifying and city roads of sufficient
establishing the limits of public importance that may be
roads and fixing the incorporated eventually into the
responsibility for the proper national system of highways.
maintenance of the roads built or
In 1987, by virtue of E.O. No.
to be built, and upon the
124, s. 1987, the Department of
recommendation of the National
Public Works and Highways (DPWH),
Transportation Board.
through the Secretary, was given
Following the implementation of the power to classify roads and
E.O. No. 483, s. 1951, an Act to highways based on “objective
provide for an effective highway criteria it shall adopt” and also
administration, modify to “provide and authorize the
apportionment of highway funds, conversion of roads and highways
give aid to the provinces, from one category to another”.
chartered cities, and
In April 2002, a Technical
municipalities in the
Working Group (TWG) was
construction of roads and
established in connection with
streets, and for other purposes,
the New Planning Process under
Republic Act (R.A.) No. 917,
NRIMP-1, where the main
known as the "Philippine Highway
recommendation was to
Act of nineteen hundred fifty-
transferover 10,000km of national
three" was enacted. As provided
roads to the local government
in Section 26, Article VIII of
units (LGU’s) but said handover
said R.A., the classification of
did not materialize.
roads established through E.O.
483, s. 1951, was revised taking
into consideration the military
highway needs of the Philippines
and including “secondary systems
of national and of "national aid"
provincial and city or municipal
roads to assure continuity and
articulation in the entire
integrated system”.
Subsequently, in 1955, E.O. No.
113, s. 1955, "Establishing the
Classification of Roads," was
implemented pursuant to the
provisions of Section 26, Article
VIII of R.A. No. 917 in 1953.
Said Order established the
criteria for the
TWO (2) CLASSIFICATIONS OF
NATIONAL ROADS:
CEP333 – Highway and Railroad Engineering
REVIEWER
METHODS OF CLASSIFYING ROADS 2. Provincial Roads
3. City Roads
The roads are generally
classified based on the
4. Municipal Roads
following:
• Traffic Volume
• Load transported or Tonnage
• Location and Function
The classification based on
traffic volume or tonnage has
been arbitrarily fixed by
different agencies and there may
not be a common agreement
regarding the limits for each
classification group.
BASED ON THE TRAFFIC VOLUME OR
FLOW, THE ROADS ARE CLASSIFIED:
1. HEAVY
2. MEDIUM
3. LOW VOLUME ROADS.

CLASSIFICATION OF HIGHWAYS 5. Barangay Roads

1. National Roads

6. Tourism Road
7. Farm to Market Road
CEP333 – Highway and Railroad Engineering
REVIEWER
ROAD CLASSIFICATION
ACCORDING TO PRIMARY
FUNCTION
Road classifications based on the
primary functions are the
following:
1. Expressways These are
divided arterial highways for
through traffic, with full or
partial control of access and
generally with grade separations
at major intersections.
2. Parkways Parkways are arterial
highways for non-commercial
traffic with full or partial
control of access, usually
located within a park or a ribbon
of park-like development