LESSON NO. 1 2.

Air Transportation – is the fastest

mode of transport for people and
IMPORTANCE OF TRANSPORTATION, MODES
high-value goods using aircrafts.
OF TRANSPORTATION, CHARACTERISTICS OF
a. Domestic – routes within the
ROAD TRANSPORT, SCOPE OF HIGHWAY
country
AND TRAFFIC ENGINEERING
b. International – routes within
LESSON 1.1: IMPORTANCE OF one country to another
TRANSPORTATION 3. Water Transportation - is the process
of transport that a watercraft, such as
Transportation - the means of detail
a barge, boat, ship or sailboat, makes
distribution between homes, shops,
over a body of water, such as a sea,
factories etc.
ocean, lake, canal or river.
Importance of transportation a. Inland – routes within lakes
and rivers (i.e. the Mississippi,
1. Necessary condition for economic
the Amazon, the Panama
growth, though not sufficient
Canal)
2. Social Benefits
b. Coastal – transport within
3. Interacts with land use determining
coast
location and character of cities and
c. Ocean – routes within
regions
oceans
4. National Security
4. Pipelines - an underground form of
LESSON 1.2: MODES OF TRANSPORTATION transportation. Pipeline routes are
practically unlimited as they can be
Modes of transportation - a term used to
laid on land or underwater. It sends
distinguish between different ways of
goods through a pipe, most
transportation or transporting people or
commonly liquid and gases. Short-
goods.
distance systems exist for sewage,
1. Land Transportation - is the transport slurry water and beer, while long-
or movement of people, animals or distance networks are used for
goods from one location to another petroleum and natural gas.
location on land. The two main forms a. Oil
of land transport can be considered b. Gas
to be rail transport and road or c. Water
highway transport. d. Other (sewage, slurry, etc.)
a. Highway or Road Transport -
LESSON 1.3: CHARACTERISTICS OF ROAD
the dominant mode in
TRANSPORT
passenger travel and one of
the principal freight modes. It should have these characteristics for
b. Rail transport - a means of efficient service:
conveyance of passengers
• Roads are used by various types of
and goods by way of wheeled
road vehicles like cars, buses, truck,
vehicles running on rail track,
two and three wheeled automobiles
known as a railway or railroad.
and bicycles.
 • It requires a relatively small
investment for the government.
BRIEF HISTORY
• It offers a complete freedom to road
users to transfer the vehicle from one • The first mode of transport was by
lane to another and from one road to foot. These human pathways would
another according to need and have been developed for specific
convenience. purposes leading to camp sites, food,
• Speed and movement is directly streams for drinking water etc. The
related with the severity of accident. next major mode of transport was the
• Road transport is the only means of use of animals/pack animals, crude
transport that offers itself to the whole sleds were developed for
community alike. transporting both men and materials.
• The invention of wheel in
LESSON 1.4: SCOPE OF HIGHWAY AND
Mesopotamian civilization led to the
TRAFFIC ENGINEERING
development of animal drawn
o Highway Engineering - deals with vehicles. Then it became necessary
various phase like development, that the road surface should be
planning, alignment, highway capable of carrying greater loads.
geometric design and location, • After the invention of wheel, animal
highway traffic operation and its drawn vehicles were developed and
control, materials, pavement design, the need for hard surface road
construction and maintenance, emerged. Traces of such hard roads
economic considerations, finance were obtained from various ancient
and administration. civilization dated as old as 3500 BC.
o Traffic Engineering - is that branch of The earliest authentic record of road
engineering which deals with the was found from Assyrian empire
improvement of traffic performance constructed about 1900 BC.
on road network and terminals • Another stone surface roads were
through systematic traffic studies, also found in the Mediterranean
scientific analysis and engineering island of Crete, similarly constructed
application. It also deals with the as those in the Western Hemisphere
application of scientific principle, by the Mayans, Aztecs and the Incas
tools, techniques and findings for safe of Central South America.
rapid, economical and efficient • The earliest large-scale road
movement of people and goods construction is attributed to Romans
who constructed an extensive system
LESSON NO. 2
of roads radiating in many directions
HIGHWAY DEVELOPMENT AND PLANNING: from Rome. Their roads were very
IMPORTANCE, CLASSIFICATION OF ROADS, durable, and some are still existing
ROAD PATTERNS, PLANNING SURVEYS; after more than 2000 years.
HIGHWAY ALIGNMENT AND SURVEYS. • The next major development in the
road construction occurred during
LESSON 1: HIGHWAY DEVELOPMENT
the regime of Napoleon. The
 significant contributions were given asserted that native soil alone would
by Jerome Tresaguet (1716-1796) the support the road and traffic upon
famous French engineer who that would protect the soil
introduce new methods of underneath from water and wear.
construction and maintenance of • The modern roads by and large
stone roads in 1764 and a typical follow Macadam’s construction
cross section of this road is given in method. Use of bituminous concrete
Figure 2:2. He developed a cheaper and cement concrete are the most
method of construction. He also important developments. Various
improved the crown, the drainage, advanced and cost-effective
and the grade of the road, including construction technologies are used.
the stone foundation by reducing the Development of new equipment
depth of broken stones to 25 mm. help in the faster construction of
• Thirty years later, a Scottish Engineer roads. Many easily and locally
born in Westminster Abbey, Thomas available materials are tested in the
Telford (1757-1834), president and laboratories and then implemented
founder of the Institute of Civil on roads for making economical and
Engineer, introduced some durable pavements.
improvements in the construction
HIGHWAY DEVELOPMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES
methods of Jerome Tresaguet. The
road foundation course of Telford • In the early part of 1900,
was made of stones having 3 inches transportations in the country
minimum thickness, 5 inches breadth depended largely on trails,
and 7 inches height. Smaller stones waterways, railroads, earth roads and
were driven by mauls on top voids partially graveled roads. Highways in
and trued the surfaces by breaking the Philippines at that time is nothing
the projecting points. Telford more than a dream to most Filipinos.
employed a flat sub-grade, providing • The American government initiated
slight crown using stones of varying the development of roadways in the
sizes. Philippines connecting towns, cities
• England followed the ongoing and provinces. The popular
highway development started by Macadam road types was
France. It was another Scottish introduced. It gained wide
engineer, John Loudon McAdam, acceptance because of the
who designed the first modern roads. abundant supply of stones and
He developed an inexpensive paving gravel.
material of soil and stone aggregate • After the Second World War, the new
(known as macadam). His road Independent Philippine government,
building method was simpler than continued the rehabilitation and
Telford's, yet more effective at construction of roads and bridges,
protecting roadways: he discovered through the reparations and war
that massive foundations of rock damages paid by the Japanese
upon rock were unnecessary, and government. Other financial grants
 and aids received from the U.S. population and economic growth,
government were used in the predicting the level of potential movement
construction and rehabilitation of within the area and describing both the
roads and bridges. physical nature and modal mix of the
• Fifty years later, major highways and system required to cope with the region’s
expressways were constructed transport needs, be they road, rail, cycling
through t he financial assistance and or pedestrian-based.
loans from foreign banks.
The transportation planner
• The year 1960 to early part of 1980
investigates the physical feasibility of a
was considered an automobile age.
project and makes comparisons between
Cars were no longer regarded as
various alternatives to determine which one
luxury item but a necessity in
will accomplish the task at the lowest cost—
transporting people and goods, a
consistent with other criteria and
necessity for survival. Government
constraints.
new concept of development is to
get the farmers out of the mud. It was The planning process involves collecting:
during this decade that road
a. travel data
construction becomes a matter of
b. highway planning strategies
priority of the government under the
c. transportation studies
slogan. "This Nation is on Wheels".
Travel Data
LESSON 2: HIGHWAY PLANNING
The planning process commences with
The process of transportation
the collection of historical traffic data
planning entails developing a
covering the geographical area of interest.
transportation plan for an urban region. It is
Growth levels in past years act as a strong
an ongoing process that seeks to address
indicator regarding the volumes one can
the transport needs of the inhabitants of the
expect over the chosen future time, be it 15,
area, and with the aid of a process of
20 or 30 years. If these figures indicate the
consultation with all relevant groups, strives
need for new/upgraded transportation
to identify and implement an appropriate
facilities, the process then begins of
plan to meet these needs. Transportation
considering what type of transportation
planning also deals with the selection of
scheme or suite of schemes is most
projects for design and construction.
appropriate, together with the scale and
The transportation planner begins by location of the scheme or group of schemes
defining the problem, gathering and in question. The demand for highway
analyzing data, and evaluating various schemes stems from the requirements of
alternative solutions. Also involved in the people to travel from one location to
process are forecasts of future traffic; another in order to perform the activities
estimates of the impact of the facility on that make up their everyday lives.
land use, the environment, and the
The level of this demand for travel depends
community; and determination of the
on a number of factors:
benefits and costs that will result if the
project is built. It also forecast future
 • The location of people’s work, to controlling the demand for transport. The
shopping and leisure facilities relative growing trend where many commuters live
to their homes in suburbs of a major conurbation or in small
• The type of transport available to satellite towns while working within or near
those making the journey the city center has resulted in many using
• The demographic and socio- their private car for their journey to work. This
economic characteristics of the has led to congestion on the roads and the
population in question need for both increased road space and
the introduction of major public transport
Characteristics such as population size
improvements. Land use strategies such as
and structure, number of cars owned per
the location of employment opportunities
household and income of the main
close to large residential areas and actively
economic earner within each household
limiting urban sprawl which tends to
tend to be the demographic/socio-
increase the dependency of commuters on
economic characteristics having the most
the private car, are all viable land use
direct effect on traffic demand. These act
control mechanisms.
together in a complex manner to influence
the demand for highway space. The demand management approach
HIGHWAY PLANNING STRATEGIES The demand management
approach entails planning for the future by
When the highway planning process
managing demand more effectively on the
takes place within a large urban area and
existing road network rather than
other transport options such as rail and
constructing new road links. Demand
cycling may be under consideration
management measures include the tolling
alongside car-based ones, the procedure
of heavily trafficked sections of highway,
can become quite complex and the
possibly at peak times only, and car-
workload involved in data collection can
pooling, where high occupancy rates within
become immense.
the cars of commuters is achieved
In such circumstances, before a voluntarily either by the commuters
comprehensive study can be undertaken, themselves, in order to save money, or by
one of a number of broad strategy options employers in order to meet some target
must be chosen: stipulated by the planning authority. Use of
car-pooling can be promoted by allowing
a. The land use transportation
private cars with multiple occupants to use
approach
bus-lanes during peak hour travel or by
b. The demand management
allowing them reduced parking charges at
approach
their destination.
c. The car-centered approach
d. The public transport-centered The car-centered approach
approach
The car-centered approach has
Land use transportation approach been favored by a number of large cities
within the US, most notably Los Angeles. It
Within this method, the management
seeks to cater for future increases in traffic
of land use planning is seen as the solution
demand through the construction of bigger output by reducing journey times and costs,
and better roads, be they inter-urban or making a region more attractive
intra-urban links. Such an approach usually economically. The actual construction
involves prioritizing the development of process will have the added effect of
road linkages both within and between the stimulating the construction market.
major urban centers. Measures such as in-
LESSON 3: CLASSIFICATION OF ROADS
car information for drivers regarding points
of congestion along their intended route The roads can be classified into functional
and the installation of state-of-the-art traffic and jurisdictional classification.
control technology at all junctions, help
• FUNCTIONAL CLASSIFICATION -
maximize usage along the available road
classification based on speed and
space.
accessibility
The public transport-centered approach • JURISDICTIONAL CLASSIFICATION -
road is classified with respect to the
In the public transport-centered
entity responsible
approach the strategy will emphasize the
• for their construction, maintenance,
importance of bus and rail-based
and operation.
improvements as the preferred way of
coping with increased transport demand.
Supporters of this approach point to the
environmental and social advantages of
such a strategy, reducing noise and air
pollution and increasing efficiency in the
use of fossil fuels while also making transport
available to those who cannot afford to run
a car. However, the success of such a
strategy depends on the ability of transport
planners to induce increasing numbers of
private car users to change their mode of
travel during peak hours to public transport. FUNCTIONAL CLASSIFICATION
This will minimize highway congestion as the
number of peak hour journeys increase over a) Freeways
the years. Such a result will only be A freeway is a divided highway
achieved if the public transport service with fully controlled access. Access to
provided is clean, comfortable, regular and a freeway is made without use of at-
affordable. grade intersections. Most freeways
are four lanes, two lanes each
LESSON 2: WHY ARE HIGHWAYS SO direction, but many freeways widen
IMPORTANT? to incorporate more lanes as they
Highways are vitally important to a enter urban areas. Access is
country’s economic development. The controlled through the use of
construction of a high- quality road network interchanges, and the type of
directly increases a nation’s economic interchange depends upon the kind
 of intersecting road way (rural roads, Normally full access is provided on
another freeway etc.) these streets. There are few parking
b) Expressways restrictions except during peak hours.
They are superior type of
highways and are desig ned for high
speeds (120 km/hr is common), high
traffic volume and safety. They are
generally provided with grade
separations at intersections. Parking,
loading and unloading of goods and
pedestrian traffic is not allowed on
expressways.
c) Arterials
Arterials are highways that
provide direct service to major
population centers. It is a general
term denoting a street primarily
meant for through traffic usually on a
continuous route. They are generally
JURISDICTIONAL CLASSIFICATION
divided highways with fully or partially
controlled access. Parking, loading By virtue of Executive Order No. 180, series
and unloading activities are usually of 1948 signed by then Philippine President
restricted and regulated. Pedestrians Elpidio Quirino road classification in the
are allowed to cross only at Philippines were the following:
intersections/designated pedestrian
a) National Highway
crossings.
Main traffic routes connecting
d) Local streets
provincial capitals with important
Local roads connect various
commercial centers, national
regions of a municipality and tie into
airports, national seaports, and
the system of collectors. A local street
national parks and roads of military
is the one which is primarily intended
importance, which may be so
for access to residence, business or
designated by the President, upon
abutting property. It does not
favorable recommendation of the
normally carry large volume of traffic
Secretary of Public Works and
and also it allows unrestricted parking
Communications.
and pedestrian movements.
Today national highway is
e) Collector streets
further classified into three types by
Collectors provide direct
the Department of Public Works and
service to towns and link up with
Highways under the Philippine
arterials. These are streets intended
Highway Act (Republic Act No. 917)
for collecting and distributing traffic
signed by President Elpidio Quirino on
to and from local streets and also for
June 20, 1953 and the series of
providing access to arterial streets.
memorandums issued by the
 Department between 2009 and 2014. major Municipal and City
They are the national primary roads, Infrastructure without traversing
national secondary and national Provincial Roads
tertiary road.
LESSON 4: ROAD PATTERNS
Roadway patterns are very essential
in the development of the settlements of a
city (Jamal, 2017). If it is not integrated in the
design and development of road networks
in the city it will cause to numerous roads
that are not interconnected. Therefore, it
will cause increased travel distance and
dependency on car for the people to do
their daily chores. On the other hand,
highway development that integrated road
b) Provincial Roads patterns make it easier for people to reach
• Connect Cities and their destination.
Municipalities without
traversing National Roads.
• Connect National Roads to
Barangays through rural areas.
TYPES OF ROAD PATTERNS
• All roads connecting one
municipality with another a) Rectangular
municipality the terminal to be This is also called grid or block
the public plazas; all roads pattern. In this pattern, the whole
extending from a municipality, area is divided into grids or blocks
or from a provincial or national running perpendicularly into each
road to a public wharf or other. An example of this is in Makati
railway station and any other City and other parts of Metro Manila.
road which may be so The advantage for this pattern is that
designated by the Secretary of this pattern is sufficiently easier to
Public Works and construct and maintain. This type of
Communications upon the street pattern has a good aesthetic
request of the Provincial Board view and the road geometry is easier
concerned and upon to understand. But this pattern in
favorable recommendation of terms of safety is not convenient
the Director of Public Works. because at the intersections, the
c) Municipal and City Roads vehicles face each other at opposite
• Roads within the Poblacion directions.
• Roads that connect to b) Radial
Provincial and National Roads Divides further into three
• Roads that provide inter- patterns known as:
Barangay connections to i. Star Block Pattern or
 ii. Star Circular Pattern and The probable alignment can be located on
iii. Star Grid Pattern. the map from the following details available
In this type of patterns, the area is on the map:
divided into network of roads in the
a) avoiding valleys, ponds or lake
form of a circle or ellipse and from the
b) avoiding bend of river
center, roads emanate forming like a
c) if road has to cross a row of hills,
star and other network roads may be
possibility of crossing through
planned concentrically, by grid or
mountain pass.
with rectangular block. An example
of this is the Elliptical Road Quezon in Reconnaissance Survey
Quezon City. The advantage of this
In this phase of study, several feasible
type is that it reduces the possibility of
routes may be identified and examine the
congestion at the roundabouts
general character of the area in the field to
because the traffic can effortlessly
deciding which is the most feasible routes
join.
for further detailed studies. Features
c) Hexagonal Pattern
indicated on the map will also be
The roads networks resemble or
confirmed.
forms a hexagon
d) Minimum Travel Pattern The following details should be collected
In this road pattern, city is from alternative routes during the survey:
contented by sector center,
• Valleys, ponds, lakes, marshy land,
suburban center and neighborhood
hill, permanent structure and other
center by the road which required
obstruction.
minimum to connect the city center
• Value of gradient, length of gradient
(Shakil, 2012).
and radius of curve.
LESSON 5: HIGHWAY PLANNING SURVEYS • Number and type of cross drainage
structures.
Before a highway alignment is
• High Flood Level (HFL).
finalized in highway project, the
• Soil Characteristics
engineering survey are to be carried out.
• Geological features.
The various stages of engineering surveys
• Source of construction materials –
are:
stone quarries, water sources.
a) Map study (Provisional alignment
Preliminary Location Survey
Identification)
b) Reconnaissance survey At this stage, the positions of the
c) Preliminary Location Survey feasible routes are set as closely as possible
d) Final location and detailed surveys by establishing all the control points and
determining preliminary vertical and
Map Study
horizontal alignments for each. Preliminary
Gives a rough guidance of the routes alignments are used to evaluate the
to be further surveyed in the field. economic and environmental feasibility of
the alternative routes (Garber & &Hoel,
2001).
Economic Evaluation • To survey the various alternative
alignments proposed after the
Economic evaluation of each
reconnaissance and to collect all the
alternative route is carried out to determine
necessary physical information and
the future effect of investing the resources
detail of topography, drainage and
necessary to construct the highway. Factors
soil.
usually taken into consideration include
• To compare the different proposals in
road user costs, construction costs,
view of the requirements of the good
maintenance costs, road user benefits, and
alignment.
any disbenefits, which may include adverse
• To estimate quantity of earthwork
impacts due to dislocation of families,
materials and other construction
businesses, and so forth. The results
aspect and to work out the cost of
obtained from the economic evaluation of
the alternate proposals.
the feasible routes provide valuable
information to the decision maker (Garber Final Location and Detailed Surveys
& Hoel, 2001).
A detailed layout of the selected
Environmental Evaluation route. The alignment finalized at the design
office after the preliminary survey is to be
Construction of a highway at any
laid out in the field by establishing the
location will have a significant impact on its
centerline. The horizontal and vertical
surroundings. A highway is therefore an
alignments are determined, and the
integral part of the local environment and
positions of structures and drainage
must be considered as such. This
channels are located.
environment includes plant, animal, and
human communities and
encompasses social, physical, natural, and
man-made variables. These variables are
Location Survey
interrelated in a manner that maintains
equilibrium and sustains the lifestyle of the In this survey the alignment is
different communities. The construction of a transferred on the ground using a surveying
highway at a given location may result in instrument like theodolite or a total station.
significant changes in one or more Major and minor control points (observed
variables, which in turn may offset the distance and direction i.e. bearings, angles,
equilibrium and result in significant adverse azimuths, and elevation) are established on
effects on the environment. This may lead to the ground and center pegs are driven,
a reduction of the quality of life of the checking the geometric design
animals and/or human communities. It is requirements. Centre lines tacks are driven
therefore essential that the environmental at suitable intervals, say 50m interval in
impact of any alignment selected be fully plane and rolling terrains and 20m in hilly
evaluated (Garber & Hoel, 2001). terrain.
The following should be the objective of the Detailed Survey
preliminary survey:
 • Temporary bench marks are fixed at
intervals of about 250m and at all
drainage and under pass structure.
• Earthwork calculations and drainage
details are to be workout from the
level books.
• Cross sectional levels are taken at
intervals of 50-100m in Plane terrain,
LESSON NO. 3
50-75m in Rolling terrain, 50 m in built-
up area, 20m in Hill terrain. DESIGN CRITERIA FOR HIGHWAYS AND
• Detail soil survey is to be carried out. RAILWAYS
• CBR value of the soils along the
The elements of design are influenced by a
alignment may be determined for
wide variety of design controls, engineering
design of pavement.
criteria, and project-specific objectives.
• The data during detailed survey
Such factors include the following:
should be elaborate and complete
for preparing detailed plans, design • functional classification of the
and estimates of project. roadway
• projected traffic volume and
LESSON 6: HIGHWAY ALIGNMENT
composition
Highway alignment is the position of the • required design speed
centerline of the highway on the ground in • topography of the surrounding land
a three-dimensional coordinate system. It • capital cost for construction
includes the horizontal and vertical • agency funding mechanism
alignment. • human sensory capacities of
roadway users
Vertical Alignment - specifies the elevation
• vehicle size and performance
of points along a roadway. The elevation of
characteristics
these roadway points is usually determined
• traffic safety considerations public
by the need to provide an acceptable level
involvement, review and comment
of driver safety, driver comfort, and proper
• environmental considerations
drainage (from rainfall runoff).
• right-of-way impacts and cost
Horizontal Alignment - specifies the
These considerations of course are not
direction of the highway in the x-z plane.
independent of one another. The functional
The critical aspect of horizontal alignment is
class of a proposed facility is largely
the horizontal curve, with focus on design of
determined by the volume and
the directional transition of the roadway in
composition of the traffic to be served. It is
a horizontal plane. The horizontal curve
also related to the type of service that a
provides the transition between two straight
highway will accommodate and the speed
(or tangent) sections of roadway.
that a vehicle will travel while being driven
along a highway. For a given class of
highway, the choice of design speed is
governed primarily by the surrounding
topography, regional importance within the useful for the design of minor and low
larger highway network, magnitude of volume roads.
related construction impacts and capital
DESIGN SPEED
cost associated in the construction of the
highway project. Once a design speed is The assumed design speed for a
chosen, many of the elements of design highway may be considered as “the
(e.g. horizontal and vertical alignment, maximum safe speed that can be
shoulder width, and side slope) may be maintained over a specified section of
established on the basis of fundamental highway when conditions are so favorable
human sensory capabilities, vehicle that the design features govern”. The
performance and other related operating choice of design speed will depend
characteristics. primarily on the surrounding terrain and the
functional class of the highway. Other
Of all the factors that are considered in
factors determining the selection of design
the design of a highway, the principal
speed include traffic volume and
design criteria are
composition, cost of right-of-way and
a) traffic volume construction, and aesthetic considerations.
b) design speed
Design speeds are engineered for
c) vehicle size
design speeds between 24 to 120 km/hr (15
d) vehicle mix
to 75 mph), and intermediate values are
TRAFFIC VOLUME chosen in increments of 10 km/hr; 40, 50, 60,
and so forth. A design speed of 70 mph
The amount of traffic that is expected
should be used for freeways, although
to use a roadway typically increases over
depending on specific conditions (such as
time. Forecasts of traffic volume usually
terrain, urban/rural conditions, etc.) actual
come from planning studies that take into
design speeds may range from 60 to 80
account future land use development;
mph. Most arterial roadways and streets are
improvements to the surrounding road
designed for between 30 and 60 mph. The
network; population demographics and
design speed of collector/distributor roads is
behavioral characteristics; and future
also in the lower area of this range and local
economic trends. The traffic volume
streets typically 30 mph and under. Where
measures that are most useful in road
feasible, a constant design speed should be
design include the future average daily
used in the design of a highway of
traffic (ADT) and the future design hourly
substantial length. Where changes in terrain
volume (DHV).
or other conditions dictate a change in
DHV is closely related to the thirtieth design speed, such change should be
highest hourly volume during the design made over sufficient distance to permit
year. This volume can also be used to assess drivers to change speed gradually. The
the anticipated operational characteristics changes in design speed should, of course,
of planned roadways using the theories and be indicated by appropriate traffic control
computational procedures contained in devices.
the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) (TRB
DESIGN VEHICLE SIZE
2000). ADT measures are typically more
 The dimension of the motor vehicles economy, ease of maintenance, and
that will utilize the proposed facility also constructability. The limits of trackwork are
influence the design of a roadway project. generally defined as between the
The width of the vehicle naturally affects the subgrade and the top of rail, commonly
width of the traffic lane. The vehicle length referred to as track structure.
has a bearing on roadway capacity and
Factors that affect the track system
affects the turning radius and the vehicle
such as safety, ride comfort, design speed,
height affects the clearance of the various
noise and vibration, and other factors, such
structures. The vehicle weight affects the
as constructability, maintainability, reliability
structural design of the roadway. The
and track component standardization
American Association of State Highway and
which have major impacts to capital and
Transportation Officials (AASHTO)
maintenance costs, must be recognized
recommends that 15 design vehicles be
and implemented in the early phase of
used for determining the control s for
planning and design.
geometric design of a highway. These
vehicles range in size from the passenger
car to a large semi-trailer-full trailer
combination. The usual basis for the design
is the largest vehicle that is expected to use
the highway in significant numbers on a
daily basis during the design year. The
dimension of these vehicles is given in table
in Table 1.

LESSON 3.2: DESIGN CRITERIA FOR

TRACKWORK
The criteria presented herein is the
criteria set forth by Caltrain a California
commuter rail line on the San Francisco
Peninsula and in the Santa Clara Valley. The
criteria and standards for the design,
materials, construction, and maintenance
of train trackwork and its interface with
other components of the rail system. The
primary considerations are safety,