ITEM NO. 1.

Introduction to Highway Planning:

Planning is a prerequisite for any engineering activity or project; this is particularly true

for the development of a highway network or system in a country.

The objectives of highway planning are:

• Planning a highway network for safe, efficient and fast movement of people and

goods.

• Keeping the overall cost of construction and maintenance of the roads in the network

to a minimum.

• Planning for future development and anticipated traffic needs for a specific design

period.

• Phasing road development programmes from considerations of utility and importance

as also of financial resources.

• Evolving a financing system compatible with the cost and benefits.

 ITEM NO. 2. SAFETY

In road construction, there are several risks of viz; loss of property, material and most

important is losing life and time which is very critical in any project particularly road

construction. 

Few suggestions I would ask and recommended by company, country and International

organizations such as OSHA safety guidelines,1) Keeping and well-maintained signs.2)

Press and radio releases also educating workers by implementing JSA/JHA on the work

area.3) Proper safety training to the workers particularity drivers/operators/traffic

controllers.4) Proper clothing to the workers specially working in night shift.5)

Maintaining safe work practices by implementing limits and/or restrictions on

speed/phone/cellular devices.6) Creating Action plan/Safe work plan (emergency plan)

in case of any [Link] these and other necessary control measures

recommendations by company's safety practices/procedures will definitely

minimize/controls the risk of accidents.

 ITEM NO. 3. EFFICIENCY

In a chosen location, you must plan and design a highway that is suitable for the needs

of the area, a highway must have adequate measurements; taking in consideration the

type of road and also the travel time or speed of the vehicles that will use the highway.

For example, in an expressway it should have multiple lanes both side so that multiple

vehicles can pass through at certain points simultaneously. For high-speed roads or

highways, the design of of the simple curve parts should have a large radius. It is

because of the centripetal force that a vehicle will have if they are travelling in high-

Highway safety has been one of the most important public policy issues discussed in

recent years. Accidents involving commercial vehicles result in many negative effects,

both personal and economic. Although the numbers of highway accidents have been

declining in the past decade, many people still suffer from the effects of severe highway

accidents. speed.
ITEM NO. 4. ECONOMIC OR MINIMAL COST

In engineering, you should always consider the cost of your project. It must be

economic because resources are limited, or at least minimalize it for the sake of saving

money, time and for environmental issues. You must design a highway that is enough to

provide the needs of area where it is located. Like for rural areas, of course you don’t

need to build a skyway if you could simply construct a common design of road. Usually

the higher the cost of a highway, the longer it takes the construction to be finished, it

wont just add labor cost and material cost but also it will delay the time that it can

already start serving people; and gain profit for some highways with toll fees.
 ITEM NO. 5. PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING PLAN

Preliminary engineering planning determines the approximate location of the

road, the road’s connections to the existing and future road network and land

use, basic technical and traffic solutions and the principles underlying the

prevention of negative impacts to the environment. Planning is performed at a

level of detail which ensures that the plan is technically, financially and environ-

mentally feasible. When legislation requires an environmental impact assessment

(EIA), the road project’s environmental impact is assessed according to the Act

on Environmental Impact Assessment Procedure during the preliminary

engineering planning phase.
ITEM NO. 6. Classification of Roads:

The classification of roads depends on the criterion considered.

They may be all-weather roads if they can be used during all seasons of a year; fair-

weather roads, if traffic is interrupted during monsoon at course ways where water

overflows for a few hours. Based on the type of carriage-way or the road pavement, it

may be a paved road with at least a water-bound macadam layer; or it may be an

unpaved road. Earth roads and gravel roads fall in this category.

Superior paved roads have bituminous surface or concrete surface for the carriage-way.

A bituminous road is also known as a black-top road.

Traffic volume, load transported per day, and the location and function are important

criteria for classification of roads. These criteria have been taken into account in the

classification recommended by the Nagpur Plan—NH, SH, MDR, ODR and VR, as also

in the one modified by the Lucknow Plan—with categories of Primary, Secondary and

Tertiary roads.

ITEM NO. 7. Highway Planning Studies:

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. These are: (i) 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. (ii) 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. (iii)

Engineering Studies: These include study of the topography, soil, road life and special

problems, if any, relating to construction, drainage and maintenance. (iv) 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

ITEM NO. 8. Highway Alignment:

The laying out of the center line of a proposed highway on the ground is called its

‘alignment’. A new road should be aligned carefully since any change in alignment may

not be possible or may be expensive at a later stage, owing to increased land

acquisition costs and roadside structures constructed after the road has taken shape.
Requirements of an Ideal Alignment:1. Directness: The aligned route between end

points should be as direct as possible and result in the minimum possible length under

the circumstances. 2. Ease of Construction, Maintenance and Operation: The

alignment should be such that it is easy to construct, maintain and operate the highway.

The curves and gradients should be easy. 3. Safety: Safety for the road-users should

be the primary consideration; the stability of natural slopes and man-made slopes for

embankments and cuttings should be ensured to prevent possible accidents. 4.

Economy: The overall cost of construction and maintenance of the road, as also the

operation cost of the vehicles should be as low as possible. 5. Special

Considerations: Depending upon the purpose of the highway and the characteristics of

the terrain, special considerations may be needed as in the case of hill road.
 ITEM NO. 9. Factors Controlling Alignment:

The selection of alignment of a proposed new highway route will be based on a

careful consideration of the following factors:

•. Obligatory Points: These are the points through which the alignment has to

necessarily pass for maximum utilisation of the road (Figure 2.2). While aligning a new

highway route between two end points, it would be necessary to make it pass through

places of importance. This may be based on the population that can be served, or

places of business or industrial importance.

• Topographical Features: Topographical features like a lake or a hillock may require

the alignment to be taken around them. In the case of a big hill the option of

constructing a tunnel through it for maintaining a straight alignment can be considered.

The relative costs of these options have to be studied to finalise the alignment.

• Geometric Design Aspects: Factors such as radius of curve, longitudinal gradients,

sight distances, road intersections, design speed, lateral friction, and super-elevation

govern the alignment to a considerable degree; radii of horizontal curves and

 ITEM NO. 10. Highway Project Preparation:

A highway project may be an entirely new route or it may involve re-alignment and re-

design of an existing road such as for upgrading its geometric design standards.

The work of a new highway project involves:

(a) Selection of the alignment.

(b) Geometric design.

(c) Testing and selection of the materials for the subgrade and the pavement.

(e) Pavement construction including surfacing.

(f) Rolling and compaction and curing, if necessary.

(g) Quality control during construction.

(h) Performance of review and appraisal under traffic.

 ITEM NO. 11. Realignment of an Existing Road:

An existing road may have to be realigned under a variety of circumstances:

(i) Redesign and improvement of geometric design aspects owing to increased traffic

needs.

(ii) Raising the level of a road subjected to flooding.

(iii) Reconstruction of weak culverts and bridges to take care of increased traffic needs.

(iv) Construction of over-bridges and under-bridges at road intersections and level

crossing. (v) Construction of a bypass near a busy town.

 ITEM NO. 12. Engineering Surveys:

Highway alignment and location are facilitated by a systematic step-by-step procedure

of conducting ‘engineering surveys’.

These surveys include: 1. Study of Topographic Maps 2. Reconnaissance Survey 3.

Preliminary Survey 4. Location Survey 5. Soil Survey 6. Construction Survey.

ITEM NO. 13. Study of Topographic Maps:

Topographic maps are available from the Survey of India; these are contour maps with

15 to 30 m contour intervals and show important topographic features like rivers,

valleys, ridges, and hills. By a careful study of these maps, it is possible to align

highways bearing in mind the obligatory points. Depending upon the elevations of the

terminal points, and considering the ruling gradients and other factors, two or three

alternative routes may be chosen.

ITEM NO. 14.

Reconnaissance Survey: The objective of reconnaissance survey is to physically

examine the possible alignments observed during the study of topographical maps.

This is generally carried out using simple surveying instruments such as prismatic

compass, Abney level, hand level or tangent clinometer.

ITEM NO. 15. Preliminary Survey:

The objectives of a preliminary survey are: (i) To compare the proposed routes

chosen during reconnaissance for a good alignment. (ii) To carry out accurate field work

for detailed surveys on the chosen alternative routes (iii) To estimate the quantities of
the earth work and other materials to facilitate the preparation of detailed and abstract

estimates of the project cost. (iv) To choose the best alignment from all angles.

Detailed Survey: The various kinds of detailed survey carried out are: Traverse

Survey: Open traverse are run with the help of a theodolite and tapes, the lengths of

each of the lines and the deflection angles wherever a change in direction is required

are measured accurately. Levelling: Longitudinal section along the proposed route and

cross-sections at intervals of 30 m to 100 m along the route are to be taken, depending

upon the nature of terrain – plain or rolling. Contouring is also done in the vicinity of the

route by using either tachometry or precise levelling. Bench-marks are connected to

GTS bench-marks.

ITEM NO. 16. Environmental Impact:

With a view to assess the effects of highway projects on the environment and the

surrounding areas, environmental impact assessment (EIA) has been made mandatory
by the government. Environmental impact analysis deals with positive and negative

effects of the project and presents cost-effective preventive measures against any

possible damage due to soil erosion, submergence due to floods, loss of vegetation,

forest cover and wild life ecological balance. Economic justification needs economic

analysis including cost-benefit studies with reference to IRC specification-IRC: SP: 30.

Based on these studies, the final location of the selected route is made on paper, before

being translated on to the ground in the next stage of location survey.

ITEM NO. 17. Location Survey: This involves the location of the final alignment

on the ground and includes pegging the centre-line; establishing bench marks,

and determining levels at the pegged stations and at critical points of change in

slope. Pegging the Centre-Line: The center-line of the final route is marked by

establishing pegs on the ground. All angles are accurately measured using a

transit theodolite. The recommended spacing of the pegs depends on the nature
 of the terrain. It is 50 m for plain terrain and 20 m for hilly terrain. The pegs

should be fixed in relation to at least three reference marks, so that they may be

re-established in case they are disturbed. Cross-Sections: Cross-sections are

taken at 50-100 m intervals on plain terrain, 50 m intervals on rolling terrain and

20 m intervals on hilly terrain. Precise Levelling: Precise levelling has to be

performed and suitable benchmarks, temporary and permanent, have to be

established. The following dates are obtained for the implementation of the

project: (i) Right of way available along the route. (ii) Land acquisition costs. (iii)

Date required for geometric design aspects. (iv) Data for pavement design. (v)

Cost calculation. (vi) Construction materials, equipment, and labor.

ITEM NO. 18. Soil Survey:

The nature and extent of the soils available in and around the chosen route have to be

ascertained. The purpose of soil survey is to identify and classify soil for use in the

design and construction of the road.

Information is gathered on the presence of unstable strata or marshy areas, subsoil

water level, and demarcation of possible borrow areas along the road in accordance

with IRC recommendations.

ITEM NO. 19. Construction Survey:

This consists of removing all under-growths such as shrubbery, thickets, tree stumps

and rubbish along the route, setting out the center-line and the right of way by affixing

pegs at appropriate intervals, cutting a narrow V- shaped cut called ‘Lockspit’ in

between the pegs along the route and making the necessary preparations for

implementation of the project.

The final center-line and profile can be selected using the Digital Terrain Model (DTM).

ITEM NO. 20. ALTERNATIVE ROUTE OF HIGHWAY AND BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION

Say the word “construction” to a motorist and the reaction you get is almost universal.

Construction means orange barrels, caution signs, workers in yellow vests and massive

delays. The travel delays and aggravation felt by the public can also lend an unintended

consequence to infrastructure projects. There is always be an alternative route and to

be considered to also be the location that a highway or road will pass through. The

safety, efficiency and cost should be considered but also the problems or discomfort it

will cause to the people near the construction project.

TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF THE PHILIPPINES

 QUEZON CITY

938 AURORA BOULEVARD

CE 400

HIGHWAY ENGINEERING

REPORT # 1

PLANNING OF HIGHWAY SYSTEM FACILITIES

OYARDO, JOHN PAULO A.

TUES/THU

7:30PM - 9:00PM

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