3.

Sharp ditches and steep slopes requires costly manual labour

ROAD MAINTENANCE maintenance as compared to flat ditches and slopes which allows
equipment to work at a lower cost.
9.1 Highway Maintenance
4. Narrow road lanes usually force the large and heavy vehicles to
Highway maintenance begins just after the construction, reconstruction or travel with one set of wheels near the edge or off the pavement
rehabilitation of the roadway facilities. It enables those working within the giving maintenance personnel a serious problem in the care of
highway industry to demonstrate their knowledge and competence in this pavement edge and the shoulders.
field.
5. High maintenance cost is the result of poor design or construction
As defined by AASHHTO, “Maintenance is the preservation and keeping methods. This is the main problem that causes the numerous
each type of roadway, roadside, structures and facilities as nearly as possible demolition and reconstruction activities being undertaken by the
in its original condition of highway facilities and services to provide satisfactory highway authorities.
and safe transportation.”
Maintenance calls for periodic and immediate corrections of unfavourable
Objectives of Highway Maintenance conditions. Most likely making the facilities as near the newly constructed or
• The highway programs and activities are measured by the amount reconstructed conditions as possible. The utilization of manpower makes the
of expenditures for construction of new facilities and reconstruction maintenance very costly. Cost could be reduce if and only if the operations is
of existing structure with the aim of keeping up with the traffic done by the use of equipment. Unfortunately, instead of using modern
demand. equipment as a product of modern technology, they still used those primitive
• Maintenance has its own role: by giving priority to local rural and tools.
urban facilities particularly the paving and rehabilitation after the Maintenance is categorized into:
construction has been completed. 1. Road Surface maintenance
• Maintenance is focused on the do-betterment projects. It includes 2. Shoulder and approach maintenance
grading and paving for short alignment changes, to correct steep 3. Bridge maintenance
grades or sharp curves, re-surfacing and mulching, planting, flood 4. Traffic services
and erosion control.

Relationship between Design, Construction and Maintenance Road Surface Maintenance

1. Poor preparation of the base, insufficient slab thickness and poor
Unlike construction which involves high volume of work, maintenance
mixture ratio will only result to the very expensive road repair. Thus,
operation involves small amount of work at separate locations.
maintenance absorb the end result of design and construction
• For gravel roads, blading and periodic re-shaping or resurfacing is a
inefficiency.
routinary periodic maintenance activities.
2. Poor drainage design will mean erosion or deposition of materials
• For surface treatment of low type bituminous pavement,
that requires costly clean-up operations.
maintenance could be patching, seal coating, remixing and
relaying.
 • For slick asphalt surface, roughening, burring or non-skid seal is Drainage Maintenance
required.  Cleaning of: ditches, culverts, drop inlets, and catch basins to
accommodate free flow of water
• For Portland cement concrete road, maintenance could be
removal and replacement or filling of damaged areas.  Removal of sediments, branches, and other debris gathered at trash
tracks, culvert and structure entrances.
Maintenance of Shoulder and Approach
• Sod shoulders are removed and periodically bladed down to the  Repair of eroded channels and dikes.
roadway elevation to avoid entrapment of water in the travelled
 Riprapping and bank protection to prevent recurrence.
way.

• Grass prevent shoulder erosion. If necessary, be fertilized, re-seeded, Bridge Maintenance

or treated to keep it in good condition. 1. For steel bridge structure, the routinary maintenance calls for
cleaning by sandblasting, flame, or other means of repainting.
• Gravel and earth shoulder should be maintained by blading under
favourable weather conditions. 2. Cleaning and re-sealing of deck joints that are extruded or filled with
dirt.
• Rutting or setting of the shoulder should be corrected at once by
reconstruction or re-surfacing. 3. Repair of drainage handrails.

Maintenance of Roadside 4. Re-surfacing of surface deck which are rough or slicky.

• If the roadside is full of grass, mowing closer to the shoulder is the 5. To correct serious scour around the piers and abutments.
answer. If necessary, grass at the roadside is fertilized or treated with
lime. 6. Most of bridges maintenance are of specialized work, traveling
crews exclusively for bridges work along is a function of the
• If the roadside has dry grass that is considered as fire hazard, burning maintenance operations.
or plowing is the solution.
7. Concrete bridge decks deteriorate due to deicing salts which is
• If bush covers the back slope, trimming is necessary to maintain considered as a real problem.
clearance and sight distance.
8. Correction is to remove the concrete, clean the steel and apply new
material such as polymer concrete.
Ingenious machine used for roadside maintenance are: 9. Sometimes seal-put or overlay of asphaltic materials are used as
• Mechanical sod cutter protective covering.
• Combined seed and fertilizer spreaders
• Power mowers 10. Check the bridge deck deterioration by:
• Portable grass cutter  applying waterproof membranes
• Bush mower  applying latex modified concrete
• Bush copper  impregnating the deck with polymers
 passing electric current through the reinforcing steel
 11. If decks are dismantled, an epoxy-coated reinforcing steel may be Example:
used Studies made on roadside mowing show:
a) The use of better equipment could accomplish mowing from 3 –
Traffic Service 6 times as much area compared to the use of poor and
• Striping – this is a continuous function antiquated tools.
• Repair of road signs b) Two mowers working side by side accomplish less than when they
• Maintenance of street and highway light and signals work separately.

• Coping up with emergencies. Personnel on patrol to keep the c) Not less than one and one half to two hours a day is spent
road open, and rescue stranded vehicles. unproductively for the preparatory operation and travel of the
mower to the job site.
9.2 Maintenance Management
Requirements for Maintenance Management
Maintenance is regarded before as secondary functions of the Highway
Agencies. The personnel of the maintenance sections often felt that they are 1. To stabilize the standard level of maintenance by setting
regarded as secondary class employees of the Highway agency. performance standards for workers crew and maintenance units.
2. To develop an accurate monitoring and fair reporting system and to
Today, maintenance and its management is considered as the most
compare actual work with the expected production.
intricate and ever changing highway technology. Considering appropriations
3. To develop a management system that will give efficient work
and expenditures, maintenance is regarded as one of the most important part
scheduling assignment.
of the Highway agency.
4. To develop effective procedures, methods, machinery or
Studies about maintenance have been focused on the best management, organization
time utilization, and, productivity. Studies showed the need for improvement
for the following: Effective maintenance personnel
1. Education in management technique. 1. Personnel devoted to the maintenance work.

2. More detailed and careful planning, scheduling of work, and 2. Personnel responsible for keeping the roadway open to traffic
establishing standards for the level of maintenance. moving under all conditions.

3. Maintenance tools and equipment. 3. Personnel rescue operation in assisting stranded motorists.

4. Providing a better and efficient communication. 4. Maintenance personnel.

5. Establishing line of authority and responsibilities. Highway agency is legally held responsible for injury to person or damages
to property resulting from poor highway maintenance. Employees and
6. Staffing with permanent trained and dedicated personnel. supervisors are even charged in court, condemned and crucified by the
7. Efficiency, accuracy and fairness in budgeting and reporting media people prior to the hearing of the case.
procedures to achieve effective management.
9.3 Rehabilitation 3. Substantial pavement work
4. Reworking or strengthening of sub-base
Pavement Rehabilitation is an activity primarily to provide good riding and 5. Recycling existing materials to improve their structural integrity
skid resistance. Pavement Rehabilitation is to improve the structural 6. Adding under drains
effectiveness of the pavement. 7. Improving shoulders
FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) defined rehabilitation as: 8. Removing and replacing deteriorated materials
“Resurfacing, restoration and rehabilitation work, restoring to the original
safe usable condition without addition to the original capacity.” Pavement Maintenance refers to actions that are corrective or preventive

AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Reconstruction refers to the removal of existing pavement and replacing
Officials) them with a new pavement and under-courses.

Overlays could be either by Portland Cement or Asphalt Concrete laid on

Primary Objectives of pavement rehabilitations of AASHTO an existing pavement.
A. Elements of Roads and Highways Recycling means the repeated use of existing pavement
1. To improve the smoothness of the road surface Pavement Recycling is categorized into:
2. To extend the pavement life 1. The type of materials to be used
3. To improve the skid resistance of the road 2. The procedure to be employed
4. To reconstruct the sections with poor foundations 3. The structural benefit to be gained
5. To improve the drainage facilities

B. The efficiency of the highway system could be rated by: The Recycling procedures could be as follows:

1. Sufficiency ratings 1. Surface Recycling

2. Accident data - consist of reworking about the top surface of asphalt pavement
3. Skid tests - applied for the treatment of ravelling, wheel truck rutting,
4. Maintenance report flushing and corrugations.
5. Public suggestions 2. In-Place Surface and Base Recycling
- involves pulverizing all the existing pavement followed by
Resurfacing is the addition of a pavement layer over the existing roadway reshaping and compacting
or bridge deck surface to provide layer over the existing roadway or bridge - this method is used in asphalt and Portland cement concrete
deck surface to provide additional capacity. It is also the additional re-surface pavement
pavement should not be less than 20 mm thickness. - it has the ability to increase the load carrying capacity of the
pavement without major changes in the grade.
Restoration and Rehabilitation

Restoration and rehabilitation work includes:

1. Replacement of defective joints
2. Repair of spalled joints
 3. Central Plant Recycling • Reflection cracking can be eliminated
- the removal of the material from the roadway, crushing them, • Frost susceptibility may be improved
mixing in the plant the laid and compacted with conventional • Improved riding quality
equipment.
Disadvantages:
Advantages and Disadvantages of Recycling Categories • Quality control not as good as central plant
A. Surface Recycling • Traffic disruption
• Pulverizing equipment repair requirement
Advantages:
• High cost
• It reduces reflection cracking
• Promotes bond between the old pavement and the thin
overlay
C. Central Plant Recycling
• Provides transition between the new overlay and the existing
gutter, bridge, pavement, etc., that is resistant to ravelling Advantages:
(eliminates feathering) • Significant structural improvement
• Reduces localized roughness • Good quality control
• Treats a variety of types of pavement distress such as ravelling, • Treats all types and degree of pavement distress
flushing, corrugations, rutting, oxidized pavement, faulting at a • Reflection cracking can be eliminated
reasonable cost • Improved skid resistance
• Improved skid resistance • Geometries can be more easily altered
• Minimum disruption • Better control if additional binder or aggregate is used
• Improved riding quality
Disadvantages:
• Limited structural improvement Disadvantages:
• The heater-scarifier and heater planning has limited • Increased traffic disruption
effectiveness on rough pavement without multiple passes of • May have air quality problems at plant site
equipment.
• Limited repair of severely flushed or unstable pavements Maintenance and Rehabilitation programs are based on different types of
• Some air quality problems collected data which includes:
• Vegetation closer to roadway may be damaged.
• Mixture with maximum size aggregate greater than 1 inch 1. Surface roughness – defined as the irregularities in the pavement
cannot be treated with some equipment surface which adversely affect the riding quality.

2. Surface distress – defined as any indication of unfavourable

B. In-Place Recycling pavement performance or signs of impending failure or any
Advantages: unsatisfactory performance of a pavement sort of failure.
• Significant structural improvements
• Treats all types and degrees of pavement distress
 Any type of distress that may be observed includes any one of the 2. The type and kind of maintenance or rehabilitation required is
following: specified.

a. Fracture which is associated with load and non-load cracking. 3. What strategy of maintenance or rehabilitation would be adopted
now and, in the future, to minimize life cycle costs or maximize the
b. Distortion which is permanent deformation of faulting.
net benefits?
c. Disintegration such as spalling, ravelling and other failure of the
pavement 9.5 Maintenance of Concrete Pavement
As mentioned earlier, maintenance of the roadway of any type is a routine
3. Surface deflection – measurement of the changes in pavement activity. Maintenance of good concrete road could be argued as follows:
surface level between the loaded and unloaded segment is the 1. Sealing cracks of transverse and longitudinal construction and
basis for rehabilitation design strategies. expansion joints is one recommendation where Maintenance
4. Surface friction or skid resistance – determined from gathered data Engineers could not agree on one question whether sealing the
identifying a pavement section having a low coefficient of friction. narrow cracks is effective or not. However, the practice is that wide
cracks or spalled joints are properly cleaned and applied with
9.4 Evaluation of the Pavement sealing material to prevent the intrusion of extraneous material and
to block the downward penetration of surface water.
Maintenance decisions are based on pavement condition data gathered
on project to project basis. From these gathered data, it is determined which 2. For small and scattered broken surface on a good concrete
project calls for maintenance or rehabilitation including the decisions required pavement, patching with concrete is economical. On an affected
to correct pavement deficiencies. Decisions however are made on a yearly portion, old concrete id removed by vertical straight line cut parallel
basis. and perpendicular to the roadway center line. For corner repair, the
angle from the roadway center line should be greater than 30˚ and
All road pavements are damaged by their overall operating environments. less than 60˚.
The greater the number of heavy vehicles, the greater the distress caused as
heavy vehicles play the most significant part in causing pavement distress. In 3. Sections that are removed should have a minimum area of 20
fact, the passage of one fully loaded semi-trailer can causes at least 30,000 square meters. If the subgrade appears to be weak and doubtful to
times more structural damage than the passage of a car. Therefore, the carry heavy axial load replace it with suitable materials and
condition of the pavement primarily depends on the number of accumulated compact properly. The new slab should be as thick as the original
heavy vehicles, their axle weights, tire pressures, travel speeds, turning pavement.
movements as well as temperature and moisture conditions. 4. Good practice demand that extra thickness adjoining the old
Considering the increasing length of the roadways, the management on concrete be provided and extending the patch under the old
the basis of field observations alone is becoming difficult, hence, an objective pavement to a width and depth of 10 centimeters.
method of evaluation was introduced such as: 5. Additional cement is necessary to produce high early strength
1. Those projects which need immediate maintenance or rehabilitation concrete or an accelerator such as calcium chloride is used for
are listed on the priority projects. patching if early use of the pavement is desired. The ideal time to
make repair of concrete pavement road is in the evening.
 6. Pavement surface with spall from freezing and thawing or salt action Roadside development was not included in the program. Shoulders and
are leveled with asphalt mixture or surface treatment. Another right of way are narrow or non-existent at all. Side slopes were too steep,
method is to patch with concrete bonded to the old concrete with drainage and ditches, channels and structures were designed to protect the
a cement-water or epoxy. roadbed without regard to erosion outside the roadway limit.

7. Spalled joint can be repaired with cement grout containing epoxy These crude practices in road building has brought unsightly conditions and
mixed with catalyst. high maintenance cost until such time that design standards have been
gradually modified and improved. The later development and improvement
Mud Jacking
of the roadway has incorporated the following aspects:
Mud jacking is a maintenance method adopted to restore the sub-
1. Pleasing views and surroundings were developed sacrificing a little
grade support under pumping pavement and to level uneven slabs. A liquid
cost or distances to enhance driving pleasure.
filler is injected under the slab through drilled holes. The mud or slurry fill all the
voids which if continuously injected applies hydraulic pressure forcing the slab 2. Long sweeping horizontal curves are acceptable than a short curve
upward. connected by long tangents.

Slurry for mud jacking consists of a mixture of fine grained aggregate, 3. Choppy or broken backed grade line are flattened and
Portland cement and water or an addition of a small amount of asphalt. A smoothened.
mixture of one-part cement and three to four parts of ground lime stone could
4. In rough areas, the depth of cuts and fill heights are smaller to
be used as slurry for mud jacking.
reduce scar and slope erosion to a minimum level.
The mixture must pass through the pump without gumming, it must flow
5. Retaining walls are sometimes helpful and improve that
readily under the pavement to the smallest voids. The mixture must harden
attractiveness of the roadway.
rapidly without excessive shrinkage and not becoming hard and brittle. Take
note that the spacing of the holes through the concrete should be planned 6. Modern highways now provide wide gutter and ditches, flat back
carefully when the slab is to be lifted by pumping slurry into several holes. slope and cuts and also flat side slope on fill.
Frequent movement of the nozzle is necessary so that the lifting will be in small
increment. 7. Top of cut banks and toes of fills are rounded to blend into the
original ground.
Under-sealing
These features of the roadway give a safer roadbed and a pleasing
Under-sealing is an alternative for mud-jacking. A heated asphalt approach. Erosion occurs more slowly or are prevented on flatter slopes. The
sometimes an air blown product is used as slurry substitute. The advantage of result is less expenditures for cleaning gutters and ditches. Mowing could be
under-sealing is the formation of the asphalt as seal against the penetration done using power equipment which substantially reduces maintenance cost.
of the surface water into the subgrade.
Wider right of way has become a necessity in road side development for
9.6 Highway and Its Environment the following reasons:
Early roads were patterned after the railroad of the same period. The a. It allows blending of the road into the natural landscape.
principle behind the construction of early road is to construct the cheapest
b. It provides space to plant screening in front of unsightly and
roadway that would serve traffic under all conditions of weather without
objectionable areas and other undesirable objects.
regards to its environment.
 c. It isolates the highway visually from its surroundings and free the Outdoor advertising
roadside of hazards.
The control and removal of outdoor advertising had long been
Roadside is the entire right of way except the traveled way. In planning controversial in the beautification of highways. A court ruling on these aspects
roadside development, planners must be conscious of the cost maintenance states that:
including the cost of mowing, trimming and cleaning. Roadside development “The concept of public welfare, for the purpose of which the legislative
is sometimes referred to as roadside beautification made after the road may exercise police power, is broad and exclusive, and the value it
construction is completed. Roadside development without question provides represents is spiritual and aesthetic as well as physical and monetary.
a more pleasing environment for travelers, less maintenance cost and safer
highways. The roadside development is under the care of the Highway 9.8 Environmental Laws
agency, although there are adjacent property home owners who sometimes
contribute to the beautification of their surroundings including the roadside 1. The government recognizes the impact of man’s activities in relation to
itself for an aesthetic consideration which they themselves enjoy. all components of the natural environment particularly:
a. The influence of population growth
9.7 Highway Beautification b. The high density urbanization
c. Industrial expansion
In the United States, highway beautification is the subject of the Highway d. Resource exploration
Beautification of 1965, which called for control of outdoor advertising, e. The expanding technological advances
including removal of certain types of signs, along the Nation's growing f. Restoration and maintenance of environmental quality to
Interstate System and the existing Federal-aid primary system. the welfare and development of man
It also required certain junkyards along Interstate or primary highways to be 2. The present generation must fulfil the responsibility as trustees of the
removed or screened and encouraged scenic enhancement and roadside environment for the succeeding generations.
development.
3. To assure all Filipino people a safe, healthful, productive and
Highway Beautification is a broad term which includes activities such as: aesthetically and culturally pleasing surroundings.
1. Landscaping and roadside development within the right of way.
4. To provide the widest beneficial use of the environment without
2. Improvement of strips and land adjacent to the highway for the degradation and risk to health or other undesirable consequences
restoration, preservation and enhancement of natural beauty.
5. To preserve some important historic, cultural and natural aspect of our
3. Acquisition and development of publicly owned and controlled rest natural heritage and whenever possible an environment which uphold
area, recreation and sanitary areas including other facilities. diversity and variety of individual choice
Factors that contribute to beautification 6. To maintain a balanced distribution of population and use of resources
• Good location that will give high standard of living and wide sharing of life’s amenities.
• Good design
• Construction 7. To impart that all person has the responsibility to contribute to the
• Maintenance preservation and enhancement of the environment
9.9 The Environmental Effects of Highways – Reducing the release of sulphur oxide by using low sulphur coal
as a substitute.
Roads can have both positive and negative influences on people and the • Lowering pollution from motor vehicles under the following
environment. categories:
- Reducing the output of pollutants
Some of the most damaging effects of road construction and - Limiting vehicles travel
management are the following: - Cutting fuel consumption and pollutant output
• Air & Noise Pollution - Set of standard to be met by new vehicles
• Traffic induced vibration
• Accidents Dust is an almost inevitable consequence of roadwork. It is from local
• Annoyances such as water pollution, dust, dirt and litter geological material should not be inherently environmentally harmful to the
local landscape whether it is deposited either naturally or by the next rain
Air Pollution Control shower. Dust incidences can be treated by either watering, alternative
material choices or using dust binders near houses.
Air pollution is the result from discharges into the air of non-reactive
pollutants including carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, sulfates, dust, smoke Noise and Its Control
and lead. Noise is defined as unwanted sound. It is measured in decibels with a
Dimensions of highway pollution problems: common unit of dBA.
a) Area wide effects of preliminary reactive pollutants. • In a quiet residential area at night, ambient noise is 32 – 43 dBA.
b) High concentration of non-reactive pollutants at points or corridors • Urban residential district at daytime, limit is about 41 – 53 dBA.
along or near highways.
• Industrial areas, the range is 48 – 66 dBA.*
Main contributors of pollutants are motor vehicles which is estimates at 70%
carbon dioxide, 50% hydrocarbon and 30% nitric oxide. • Downtown commercial areas with heavy traffic is 62 – 73 dBA.*

Temperature inversions trap pollutants near the ground surface when there *note that sound levels at 65 - 75 dBA at a distance of 1m, an ear has to
is little or no wind. Concentration becomes extremely high, it affects human life be plugged by a finger in order to hear a telephone conversation.
and even some kind of vegetation are killed, stunted or the foliage are burned.
The condition of roads also have an effect on noise level. For example
Various approaches to reduce area pollutants are employed/planned if a road is in poor condition and cars are traveling fast, this can cause more
such as: noise than if the road is in better condition.
• By Land Use Control
Vibrations
– Limitation and control of industrial and commercial
Vibrations disturb people close to roads but they may also cause damage
development.
to buildings and sensitive equipment. It can cause damage to geological and
• To lower the Emission
archaeological objects.
– Lowering the emission of pollutants from existing machineries.
• Modification off the fixed existing facilities If vibrations are likely to be caused by roadwork, greater consideration
should be given as to when the work should be done.
 Unnecessary high vibration sources, such as compaction with heavy The economic cost of waste is an important reason why waste should be
vibration rollers or bedrock blasting, should be avoided or minimized in built-up avoided. Poor waste management costs time and money.
areas. Heavy vibrations can cause damage to buildings and installations,
Examples are:
which can give rise to damage claims.
 Poor waste management at the start of the project. This can give
A general piece of advice that applies to vibrations (and this rule applies rise to high costs at a later stage. Such costs can be avoided if the
to noise also) is to use modern equipment wherever possible. waste is managed correctly right from the start.
 Costs of storage, transport and disposal of waste.
 Time (costs) for handling the waste.
Waste
 Increases in costs due to usable material being scrapped.
Waste may arise in different ways:
• Packaging material
These costs, when taken together, clearly demonstrates that it is beneficial
• Residual road structure material
to have a thoroughly thought-out strategy for waste management.
• Dangerous waste, oil from machines, etc.

Waste is also classified on how it can affect the environment:

 Inactive waste, i.e. material that will not be modified by any physical, 9.10 Construction in Relation to Roadside Development
chemical or biological reaction in a normal landfill site.
Where possible, removing soil or fills from along the right of way which is
 Active waste, i.e. the opposite of an inactive waste. This may be, for called side borrow should be avoided. Borrow fills out of sight of the roadway
example, oil residues and batteries. A special case is waste that is is preferable, Suitable top soil should be preserved during grading operations
dangerous to life, e.g. explosive or flammable waste. for future landscaping, likewise, suitable trees within a proper distance from the
Good handling of materials can enable most residual materials to be put travelled way should be protected from damages during construction.
to use in one way or another. If the quality of material is too poor to use in the Objects of interest such as rock outcrops in cut slopes or trees at toes of fill
road structure, it can usually be employed as landscaping material, e.g. to should be preserved to add variety, rugged slopes in borrow areas and along
level out steep slopes. roadside are dressed to encourage the return of native plants and shrubs.
Hazardous wastes are controlled by strict regulations (by European Union
and local authorities). It is classified as materials with following properties: 9.11 Vegetation and the Highways

• Flammable Ground cover is defined as low growing herbaceous or woody plants more
• Caustic than one meter at maturity. Both low shrubs and vines are included. Also, it is
• Oxidable an alternative to grass in controlling erosion by wind and water. It serves as
• Explosive insulation that reduces sloughing caused by freezing and thawing.
• Poisonous Other Vegetation Desirable for Roadside Protection
• Harmful and irritating
• Dangerous to environment 1. Bushy dense foliage plants, and those producing litter with great
The main sources of these dangerous goods are vehicles (both road users water folding capacity are considered good vegetation to protect
and maintenance). the roadside against erosion.
 2. The rapid growing species with inconspicuous flowers to prevent 9.12 Parking and Rest Area
distraction and vandalism are preferred.
Parking turnout to accommodate stopping off the travelled way is an
3. Fire resistant plants with the ability to sprout after burning is much important adjunct to major rural highways.
desirable. The cogon grass is one example.

4. Plants that are subject to disease and insect damage, poisonous or Wayside rest areas are necessary facilities of the highway wherein motorists
irritating to the skin or that may become agricultural pest should be stop, relaxes and use sanitary facilities.
rejected.
Wayside rest areas should be located on those with natural features that
Trees and shrubs makes the area:
1. More attractive
These are effective means of providing interest, variety and beauty to the 2. Accessible and safely located.
roadside. Those that are native to the areas are more preferred that the 3. Those with sufficient area and with existing shades.
imported variety. The following are important tips in planting:

1. For rural roads, the objective is to preserve or recreate a natural Locations closer to cities and towns are not advisable because they will be
foreground in harmony with a distant view. Existing well placed trees monopolized by the town people.
should be preserved while ugly and obstructing growth are
Highway rest areas are worthwhile, but highway officials and maintenance
removed.
personnel object to their establishment because motorists are untidy and are
2. Replanting should be considered only when irregular introduction of sometimes vandals making maintenance difficult and very expensive.
trees and shrubs serve to highlight the natural beauty or where it is
particularly desirable to screen unsightly objects.

3. Trees should be planted back a distance from the traveled way to

provide a recovery area of vehicles that run off the road. A minimum
distance of 9.00 meters from the lane edge is recommended.

4. Row planting along rural road is not considered a good taste as it

spoils distant view and is a monotonous design.

5. Group planting create an occasional point of interest or call of

attention to intersections, bridges or other point of hazard.

6. Continuous planting is appropriate to screen unsightly roadside

conditions or to insulate residential areas from the road.

7. Avoid monotomy over long stretches of the route. The solution is to

group flowering trees and vines at best and appropriate locations.