TRANSPORT ENGINEERING II

COURSE OUTLINE

1. Road / runaway construction

- Setting out a construction site
i. Carriageway width
ii. Side slopes
iii. Side ditches
iv. Toe peg
v. Diversions
- Procedure of executing earthwork operation
i. Cut
ii. Infill
- Construction process of various pavement
i. Lanes
ii. Shoulders
iii. Central reserve / islands
iv. Cambers
v. Side ditches
- Installation of road / runway furniture
i. Kerbs
ii. Marker posts
iii. Safety fences
- Construction methods
i. Labour intensive
ii. Capital intensive (use of plant). Bush clearing plant, excavation plant, blasting
plant, hauling plant, spreading plant, mixing plant, grading plant and
compacting plant.
2. Materials for construction
- Selection of materials
i. Quality characteristics
 ii. Spoil of poor materials
- Stabilization of soils
i. Methods
ii. Plants
- Characteristics of bituminous binders
i. Types
ii. Surfacing materials
iii. Bituminous mix design
iv. Macadam asphalts
- Laboratory tests for materials
i. Soil tests
ii. Aggregate tests
iii. Binder tests
3. Railway track
- Types of rails
i. Bull head
ii. Flat bottom
- Sketches of railway components
i. Frog crossing
ii. Check rails
iii. Wing rails
iv. Switch rails
v. Sleepers
- Laying railway lines on formation level
4. Dredging
- Definition of terms
i. Dredging
ii. Reclamation
- Reasons for dredging
i. Lowering sea bed
ii. Material acquisition
 - Factors affecting dredging work
i. Site location
ii. Depth of dredging
iii. Disposal of materials
iv. Effect on water course
- Procedure of dredging
i. Dredging stock pit
ii. Construction of sea wall
iii. Dredging sea bed
iv. Disposal of spoil
v. Stabilization of surface
- Plants for dredging
i. Dredgers
ii. Barges
iii. Pumps
iv. Hauling plants
5. Maintenance of road
- Classes of maintenance
i. Routine
ii. Planned / periodic
iii. Unplanned / special
- Purpose of maintenance
i. Safety
ii. Increasing life of road
iii. Reduced cost of replacement
- Types of road failure
i. Cracking
ii. Potholes
iii. Waves and corrugations
iv. Shear failure
 - Remedies / maintenance on
i. Unpaved roads
ii. Paved roads
iii. Flexible pavement
iv. Rigid pavement
v. Repair of joints
- Costing of maintenance work
i. Material cost
ii. Labour cost
iii. Plant cost
6. Labour based construction
- Evolution of construction methods
i. Labour intensive (due to lack of machine capital intensive) after industrial
evolution
ii. Labour intensive (community work and job creation)
iii. Capital intensive
- Merits and demerits
i. Cost
ii. Time
iii. Quality
- Sourcing of funds / resources for labour based work
i. Budgeting
ii. Community mobilization
iii. Community development fund
 DREDGING AND RECLAMATION

Dredging

Dredging is sub-aqueous (below water surface) excavation carried out by a machine above water
level.

Reasons for carrying out dredging operation

1. To lower depth in order to allow passage of ships

2. To obtain materials for use in land reclamation
3. To obtain aggregates to be used in manufacture of concrete
4. To obtain materials for use in road construction and other engineering projects
5. To facilitate construction of civil engineering works

Planning of dredging operation

Before any dredging operation is done, the following investigations are carried out:

i. Site investigation – it is done to ensure that the void formed after dredging is not
filled up quickly by natural deposition in the case of an serially harbor or navigable
channel
ii. Hydrographic survey – it is carried out on the sea bed to find likely movement of
material that will be carried by tides currents after dredging has taken place

The following factors would determine the method of execution and choice of plant to be used in
dredging

a. Location of site
b. Type of material to be excavated
c. The depth to be dredged

Location of site – dredging of inland waterways such as rulers and canals would require small
easily controllable dredgers or small bucket dredgers. Dredging within harbors or near the shore
is best done by bucket, trailing sanction trailer or small sanction dredgers. Dredging in open sea
require well equipped trailing sanction dredgers with self-contained hoppers or serviced by fleet
of barges with necessary tugs

Dredging depth – depth to be dredged will depend on the purpose e.g. navigation requirements
may require depth varying from 2 – 3m inland waterways to 25m for very large crude oil carriers
apron channels or for underwater pipeline trench excavation may require depth within this range.
Dredge depth of 60m may be achieved using sanction dredgers

Type of material – mud, silt and sand are removed with bucket, sanction dredgers or crane
grabs. For harder materials like clay, bucket or cutter sanctions dredgers are used to break them
up before being removed, hard rocks are removed by rock bucket dredgers but are first broken up
using explosives

PLANT AND EQUIPMENTS

Dredging plants

a. Digging dredgers
i. Bucket dredger: it is a dump mobile craft with an endless chain of buckets or a
ladder and is similar in action to a trenching machine. It is easily controlled /
maneuvered by winches pulling on side, head and stern anchors and it is mainly
used in river, dock and harbor maintenance by dredging out any materials
deposited on the bed. It is also suitable for dredging of channels for underwater
cables and pipelines. It can work to a maximum depth of 30m.
Dragline dredger: it operates like land dragline. It is used in shallow inland waterways. The
material dredged from the bed may be dumped on the banks
ii. The grab dredger: it is a crane with a grab attachment mounted on a pontoon.
The grab is a crane shell type for mud and silt and craw type for picking up large
rock pieces and other debris. It is used in dredging of inland waterways harbors
and dock
 iii. back hoe dredger: it is mounted on a pontoon and is suitable for dredging of
channels for underwater cables and pipelines it deposits the dredged materials in
dump barges

Boom

Arm

Bucket
Pontoon

b. Suction dredger
i. Trailer sanction hopper dredger: it has a self-propelled hull containing a tank
or hopper which is filled with clay, sand or silt by one or two sanction pipes
which trail along the bed. When the hopper is full the ship head of unloading
point where the spoil is dumped. Discharge of dredged material from the hopper /
 tank is either by bottom dumping where the bottom of the hopper has a door or
valves which opens hydraulically or a series of pipes which discharge over the
side into barges where the vessel cannot reach the dumping ground

Cutter suction dredger: they are designed to breakup and remove firm and cohesive materials
including soft rock. The dredger has a central well which houses a rigid ladder carries a sanction
pipe and cut end. There is a revolving head with tip which bit into hard material and breaks it
into smaller pieces so that the material can be sucked through the suction pipe. The thrust on the
cutting head is increased by spuds or legs into the sea bed. The spuds are anchored legs which
can be raised and lowered by hydraulically enabling the dredger to walk ahead into the face of
the material being cut. Cutter sanction dredger may operate up to a minimum depth of 40m. the
material broken up is sucked up and discharged into barges or discharged through floating
pipeline

Ancillary dredging equipment

i. Barges
They are used to transport dredged materials to the dumping area when:
- The dredger has to be kept fulltime
- When the dredger has no hopper or drought of dredger is too great for it to reach
the dumping area
- When navigation channel between the dredger or spoil reclamation area mix the
use of floating pipe line impracticable

Barges are either dump and have to be maneuvered by tugs and toes in strings or oil
self-propelled. Bottom dump barges are self- discharching and have hydraulically or
chained operated door at the bottom which open when the barge is over the required
dumping area. Bottom dumping may also be achieved by split discharge barge which
has two hauls pivoted about hinge point at the top of super-structure. A hydraulic arm
 forces the two halts to open thus discharching through the bottom. Inverting barges
are designed in such a way that they are overturned by filling and emptying water
tanks in the hole thus dropping the load. Well barges are used for transporting
materials from sanction dredgers and bucket dredgers to be unloaded by reclamation
dredgers. Barges can also transport stones. Small stones up to 225mm in size are
discharged by conveyers and hydraulic shovels. Larger rock pieces are transported on
trucks which are lifted off body at unloading point.

ii. Boaster pumps and pipe works

Boaster pumps are used in delivering pipe line from reclamation dredger, sanction
dredger and cutter sanction dredger in order to provide more horse power needed for
the combination of pumping distance and material grain size at an economic rate
through a given size of pipeline. Boaster pumps may be mounted within dredger or
separate. Boaster station may be skid-mounted for use on land or is installed in self-
contained dump pontoons which coupled to a pipeline when required

RECLAMATION

This is the process of depositing material either in the sea or low lying swampy areas so that
useful areas are formed.

The type of material for reclamation depends on the use of the reclaimed land, the use ranges
from agricultural land and land for industrial uses which can be utilized materials of low bearing
capacities. Land for construction of docks and harbors installation and power station will require
quality incompressible materials

Factors considered when planning a reclamation operation

i. The location of site

For inland location site access is provided by road or rail and for coastal location
access is provided by sea
 ii. Type of material
On coastal sites sand is cheaply available while in inland site the material, rocks,
shale’s, pulverized fuel ash and house hold refuse
iii. Transport of material
Since large quantities of material are needed in a land reclamation project, proper
planning is done in order to determine the best combination of equipment. The
various operations which would require transportation and placing of material have to
be properly planned

Reclamation plant and equipment

Transporting plants

i. Road : dump tracks which can carry large quantities of materials (30m3) across rough
ground are suitable
ii. Rail: they are suitable for transporting large quantities of material where the distance
is low for ease of loading, the wagons are designed to be picked up and turned over
with a lifting plant. For stone of size up to 200mm hopper wagons with bottom side
discharge are used. Where large piece of stone are transported trails which can fit an
open wagon are used. The trails are lifted on and off the wagons quickly
iii. Sea: barges may be used (as described under dredging)

Placing plants

i. Belt conveyors
ii. Cable ways: they are used for transporting materials over an inaccessible ground and
for dumping heavy materials into water where the ground is unable to support heavy
vehicles or where room of maneuvering dump tracks is not available. Where the site
is not suitable for vehicles

Construction and material

A large scale land reclamation project will involve:

1. Site establishment and mobilization

 2. Dredging of a stock pit (or dump harbor)
3. Construction of sea walls or bounds
4. Pumping sand behind sea walls
5. Stabilization of the surface
1. Site establishment and mobilization

This involves the construction of access road and rail to the site, provision of all necessary
services like telephone, water, electricity, and construction of labour camp etc. and movement of
dredgers to site

2. Dredging of stock pit

A pit is dug centrally in the sea bed near the area to be reclaimed into which dredgers or barges
dump their load. A cutter sanction dredger sitting in the middle of the harbor sucks up previously
dumped sand and pumps it into its final position through floating pipeline

An alternative method is to load the dredger material into dump or self-propeller well barged
which travel to a reclamation dredger which then un-load the barges and damp the material
ashore

3. Construction of seawalls (dyke methods)

In coastal reclamation scheme the reclaimed area is protected by a seawall so as to prevent

erosion. The construction of the seawall is done in advance of reclamation

4. Pumping behind seawall

When a protecting arm of seawall has been constructed dredged material is pumped behind the
wall. The seawater pumped with the sand runs off thro temporally constructed services. The sand
forms a level surface which is trimmed by bulldozers and graders

5. Stabilization of the surface

The sand surface formed is stabilized to prevent loss of sand during sand storms. Weak bitumen
emulsion is placed on the surface so as to bid together the sand surfaces while special grass is
planted such as mar-ran to become established

Description of reclamation methods

i. Dyke method
Is the one that has been described above where a seawall is to be constructed to an
area to be reclaimed after which the dredge material is deposited behind the seawall
Dyke method is suitable in reclamation of land from sea
ii. Filling in above existing water level
This method is suitable in reclamation of land in swampy areas which are situated
inland. The materials are deposited in water until it fills the existing water level. The
reclaimed area is provided with drainage.

TERMINOLOGIES OF THE ROAD CROSS SECTION

Construction width

Road width

Carriageway

Original ground verge

C
 Traffic lane traffic lane

Side ditch berm side slope shoulder shoulder side ditch back slope berm cutoff ditch

Single carriageway rural road

Dual carriageway road

Road width

Carriageway central reserve carriageway

C C

Shoulder traffic lane traffic lane shoulder shoulder traffic lane traffic lane shoulder

Carriageway

This is the part of the road normally used by vehicular traffic. Auxiliary traffic lanes passing
places lay-bys and bus-bays are included in this term.

Travelled way

That part of the carriage way used as movement of vehicles, exclusive of auxiliary lane, bus-bays
etc.

Traffic lane

A strip of carriageway intended to accommodate a single line of moving vehicles

Left hand lane

On a dual carriageway, the traffic lane nearest verge or shoulder

Center lane

On a dual three lane road, the middle lane of the tree lanes in one direction

Right hand lane

On a dual carriageway, the traffic lane near the centre reserve

Auxiliary lane

The part of the carriageway adjoining the travelled way for temporary parking, speed change,
turning, storage of turning, weaving, truck climbing and for other purposes supplementary to
thorough traffic movement

Acceleration lane

An auxiliary lane provided to enable a vehicle to increase its speed so that it can move safely
merges with other traffic

Deceleration lane

An auxiliary lane provided to enable a vehicle leaving the through traffic stream to reduce speed
without interfering with other traffic

Right turn lane

An auxiliary lane to accommodate deceleration and storage of right turning vehicles at junctions

Climbing lane

An auxiliary lane in the upgrade direction for use by slow moving vehicles to maintain freedom
of operation on the travelled way
Central reserve

An area separating the two carriageways of a dual carriageway road

Verge

The part of the road outside the carriageway and generally at substantially the same level It may
contain foot paths, cycle truck or ditches

Shoulder

The part of the verge adjacent to carriage way designed for accommodation of stopped vehicles
for emergency used and lateral support for the road base and the surface courses

Kerb

A boarder of stone, concrete or other rigid material formed at the edge of the carriageway or
footways.

Flush kerb

A concrete structure, usually continuous with, and at the edges of the carriageway and/ or paved
shoulder, providing them with lateral support

Safety fence

A continuous barrier erected alongside a road to prevent traffic from accidentally leaving the
carriageway or verge or from crossing the central reserve

Cycle truck

A way or part of a road for use only by peddle cycles

Foot path

The portion of the road preserved exclusively for pedestrians

Passing places
The local widening of narrow carriageway to enable vehicles to pass each other

Lay by

A part of the road set aside for vehicles to draw out of the traffic lanes for short periods

Bus bay

A lay by reserved for public service vehicles

Service area

Land with access to and from a road allocated for the provision of certain amenities and services

Overpass

A grade separation where the subject road passes over an intersecting road or railway

Under pass

A grade separation where the subject road passes under an intersecting road or railway

Road width

A measurement to the right angles to the centerline incorporating travelled way, shoulder and
where applicable central reserve

Road reserve

A strip of land legally awarded to the highway authority in which the road is or will be situated
and where no other work or construction may take place without permission from the highway
authority. The width of the road reserve is measured at right angles to the centre line and varies
with the class of road

Road side

A general term denoting the area adjoining other edges of the shoulder
ROAD CLASSIFICATION

The roads in Kenya are divided in to five classes according to their major functions in the road
network.

Class A: international trunk roads

These are roads linking centres of international importance and crossing international boundaries
or terminating at international airports

Class B: national trunk roads

These are roads linking towns or centres of national importance. They can be considered as the
main interprovincial links.

Class C: primary roads

Primary roads link centres of importance with a Provence or originating from such a centre to
terminate on a higher class of road i.e. they can be termed as roads linking the districts within a
Provence

Class D: secondary roads

These are roads linking centres of local importance to each other, to more important centres or
to higher class of roads i.e. they connect rival centers.

Class E: minor roads

A minor road is a road linking minor centers e.g. market places

There are also other types of roads that may be classified as special purpose roads which are
named according to the purpose for which they are provided e.g.

Tea roads: provided to serve tea producing areas for transportation of the tea

Security roads: provided mainly as an access to areas of security importance.

The other types of roads are roads that are provided mainly to open up an area or to give access
to a remote area. They normally originate from such areas and lead to rural centers to connect to
roads of higher classification

Roads of higher class i.e. A and B have their major function to provide mobility while the
function of E roads and below is to provide access. The roads of classes C and D have, for all
practical purposes, to provide both mobility and access with emphasis on mobility for primary
roads and an access for secondary roads. These roads are generally the most difficult to design as
far as traffic safety and operations are concerned. This classification system is basically a system
for rural roads as far as function is concerned, although for administrative and financial purposes,
it is also carried through townships and municipalities. Within urban areas, the road network
should in addition be functionally classified according to other guidelines for urban
requirements.

Control of access

Uncontrolled access to roadside development along roads whose major functions is to provide
mobility will resolve in an increased accident hazards, reduce capacity, and early obsolescence
of the road. In order to preserve major roads as higher standard traffic facilities, it is necessary to
exercise access control whereby the right of owners or occupants of land to access is controlled
by the highway authority. Although control of access is one of the most important means of
preserving the efficiency and road safety of major roads, without access control roads are equally
essential as land service facilities. The following three levels of access control are applicable.

1. Full access control: this means that the authority to control access is exercised to give
prevalence to through traffic by providing access connections with selected public roads
only and by prohibiting direct private access connections.
2. Partial access control: in this case the authority to control access is exercised to give
prevalence to through traffic to a degree in that, in addition to access connections, with
selected public roads, there may be some private access connection.
3. Restricted access: this means that prevalence is given to local traffic with the road
serving the adjoining areas through direct access connections. However the detailed
 location and layout of access should be subjected to approval by the highway authority in
order to ensure adequate standard of visibility, surfacing, drainage e.t.c.

Road functions determine the level of access control needed. Motorways should always have
full control of access for all purpose roads. The following general guide lines are given for
the level of access control in relation to function of roads

Level Of Access Control

Functional Class Desirable Reduced
A Full Partial
B Full Partial
C Full Or Partial Unrestricted
E Partial Or Unrestricted Un-restricted

The reduced level of access control may have to be applied for some projects because of
practical and financial constraints.

Control of access is accomplished either by the careful location of accesses by grouping accesses
to reduce the number of separate connections to the through traffic lanes or by constructing
service roads which intercept the individual accesses and join thro’ lanes at a limited number of
properly located and designed junctions. In every case the location and layout of all accesses
service roads and junctions should be carefully considered at the design stage and included in the
final design for the project.

Road reserves

Road reserves are provided in order to accommodate future road connections or changes in
alignment road width or junction layout for existing roads and to enhance the safety, operation
and appearance of the road. The road reserve should be determined and shown in the final design
plans for road projects.

The following road reserve widths are applicable for the different road classes
 Road reserve width (m)
Functional Class Desirable Reduced
A 60 40
B 60 40
C 40 40
D 25 25
E 20 20

The reduced width should be adopted only when this is found necessary for economic, financial
or environmental reasons in order to preserve variable land resources or existing development or
when provision of the desirable width would incur unreasonably high costs because of physical
constrains.

For dual carriageway roads, it may be necessary to increase the road reserve width above the
given values. As a general rule, the road reserve boundary should be at a distance from the centre
line of the nearest carriageway equal to half the road reserve width for single carriageway roads.

HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE

Road maintenance is the activity or a set of activities carried out to retain the initial vertical and
horizontal alignment and drainage properties of the road.

The purposes for road maintenance are:

i. To prolong road life up to design period or beyond

ii. To reduce the cost of operating of vehicles on the road
iii. To ensure the safety and comfort of the road user

The life length of the road is directly an interest of the highway authority while the reduction
developer cost and provision of safety and comfort are directly an interest of the road user.

Even with design and construction of the road, the roads will still deteriorate with time. The
rate of deterioration will vary widely depending on:

i. Climatic conditions
ii. The underlying sub-grade of the pavement
iii. Traffic intensity

The deterioration of the road surface is mainly aggravated by rain water and temperature
changes. Heavy rainfall cause ruts and washout, and excessive water in the upper layers of
the pavement reduce the bearing capacity causing deformity.

In dry climates, evaporation of water reduces the bond in the structure which then
disintegrates under traffic so that the fine binding material is lost in the dust leaving only the
loose gravelly material

Rains may cause damage to shoulders; vegetation may overgrow shoulders and the road itself
which may then prevent the rain off and evaporation of water. Drains and culverts may be
blocked due to the reduced flow of water, traffic signs may be covered in mud thus needing
cleaning to bring them to order. Roads have therefore to be build to standards to satisfy the
climatic and the expected traffic conditions and maintained to that standard to prevent
deterioration.

Road maintenance consists of several small scale engineering operations which recurs at
varying intervals

These operations are normally classified according to the frequency at which they occur

Short term routine maintenance

This is largely manual, recurrent activity and consists of operations that need to be repeated
several times in one year e.g. vegetation control, drainage clearing, shoulder repairs e.t.c.
Long term maintenance (periodic maintenance)

This includes operations that are repeated after a number of years e.g. re-gravelling, resealing
e.t.c. and mainly involve the use of mechanical equipment. The two types of maintenance
operations will vary with the type of road being maintained

Maintenance of gravel roads

Routine maintenance

The major gravel defects that fall under this category are:

i. Corrugations
This is a common gravel road defect which causes unpleasant vibration and reducing
the speed of vehicles. In general fast moving vehicles on granular soils promote the
most rapid formation of corrugations
Efforts must be made to correct the profile of the road at intervals so as to prevent the
formation of corrugation. The activity may involve retrieving the materials removed
from the surface to the edges of the road and re-spreading the same over the surface.
Useful work can be done just by hand tools e.g. rakes, shovels and brushes but
outputs in this case are low. Better output is achieved by the use of a mechanical
grader.
ii. Potholes
When traffic splashes stagnant water from the road, the surface looses the fine
material together with water. The wet areas are also softened and give way under
traffic; small settlements gradually grow to potholes which may develop into large
water sports
Potholes should be filled with suitable material which should be thoroughly
compacted by hand ramming. Whenever possible the repair material should be similar
to that used in the main construction.
Where the porthole is fairly large and the hand ramming cannot be effectively carried
out, light pedestrian vibratory roller or the vibrating plate may be used.
iii. Rutting
 Longitudinal rutting is a result of traffic load and poor quality surface material. The
traffic removes loose surface material from the wheel tracks. This material
accumulates on the shoulders and on wider roads, part of the material move to the
centre of the road. Deep ruts are hazardous to traffic and reduce driving comfort.
Gradually the accumulated material prevent the flow of water which eventually result
in portholes
Ruts are normally best repaired by use of mechanical grader
iv. Surface softening
During the rainy season, water accumulates in the surface material which causes
reduced bearing capacity due to the saturation of the soil. Traffic loads speed up the
softening process with the formation of mud resulting in an impossible road.
The problem of softening is a combination of the quality of the surfacing material and
the maintenance activities. Coarse and well graded materials have good resistance
against water. However water should be led away from the surface in the shortest
possible time
v. Dust
However well an earth road or gravel road is maintained with regard to riding quality,
there often remains the problem of dust, (silting clay particles being blown away).
This is harmful to the road because it losses the binding material in the process, in
addition dust is a naissance to the road users and inhabitants of the adjacent area. It is
a great hazard to road users
Estimate of materials removed by traffic and other causes vary between 30 to 50 tons
per km of the road per year. The confined loss of material lowers the level of the road
with the adverse effect on the drainage
Dust formation can be reduced by using coarse and well graded surface material.
Chemical stabilization is also used to prevent dust formation. The chemicals used are
calcium chloride and road oil, however road oil is fairly expensive, a factor that
prohibits its extensive use.
Another recent introduction to chemical stabilization is the use of CONAID which is
an ion exchanger that changes the hydrophilic nature of clay minerals to hydrophobic
and there by rendering the material relatively permanently stable. This material is
 effective in reducing both the surface softening and dusting. It is a South African
product recently introduced to various part of the world still on trial basis.
An outline of the procedure of chemical stabilization is:
a. Shape up the road and carry out initial compaction, then allow for proper
drainage
b. Scarify the material
c. Add the stabilizing material in solution form, in the case of calcium chloride,
water is used to dissolve the material, for CONAID too, the material is
dissolved in water in the ratio 1 : 250
d. The material is then thoroughly mixed into the soil preferably using
pulverizing plant
e. The surface of the road is reshaped and compacted
f. If no further surface treatment is needed then the road is ready for traffic
vi. Roughness
The principal cause of surface roughness is the flow of traffic. If the roughness of the
road is not checked in time, it affects the flow characteristics on the surface which
leads to further deterioration that could render to the road impassable. Roughness can
be corrected in the earlier stages by light grading but if allowed to persist, the heavy
grading would be required

vii. Verge defects

Verges of the road include shoulders adjacent to the raining surface and the stretch of
the ground sloping down from the shoulder to the side drain
It is important that the flow of water from the road surface is quickly drained away.
Pounding of such water would result in rapid failures on the road. Debris should not
be allowed to accumulate at the road edges so that it becomes filled and the level of
the verge becomes higher than the road level. Hand maintenance of the verge can be
done at the same time as that of the carriageway. On grassed verges, the grass should
not be allowed to grow so as to obscure vision. Grass should be cut regularly either
by hand or by mechanical movers.
 ROAD FURNITURE

Road furniture is the grouping of all the elements of the road surface, all the roadside that is
intended to improve the functioning properties of the road. They the improvement may be
brought about by better perception and an understanding of the road by the driver improved
visibility will also improve on the functioning properties of a road.

Road furniture consists of quite a large number of items and whichever is used depends on the
location of the road, its importance and the availability of funds.

Some of the items of road furniture are:

 i. Traffic island
ii. Road kerbs
iii. Road marking
iv. Safety fences
v. Marker post
vi. Traffic signs
vii. Street lighting

Each of these items has a role to play as seen below.

Traffic islands

This is an area shaped and located so as to direct the movement of traffic. The islands are
generally used at road junctions. Islands may be raised ground delineated by barrier kerbs or just
flush pavement area suitably marked by paint or a combination of both. The combination i.e.
raising the ground and. Painting is used to give a distinct outstanding feature while at the same
time providing the drivers with a sense of security.

Provision of islands is included in the function design for the following purposes:

i. Separate conflicting traffic

ii. Control angle of conflict of traffic
iii. Reduce excessive pavement area.
iv. Regulate and direct traffic on junction use
v. Provide priority to favorite turning movements
vi. Protect pedestrians
vii. Protect and store turning and crossing vehicles
viii. Accommodate traffic signs and signals

Islands are either elongated or triangular in shape and are situated in areas not normally used
as vehicle paths. The dimensions depend upon the particular junction.

The layout of traffic islands is determined by:

i. Edges of through traffic lanes

ii. Turning vehicles
iii. Lateral clearance to the island sides.

Island kerbs should be set slightly off the edge of through traffic lanes ever if they are
mountable.

Kerbs

Kerbs may also be used as boundaries vehicle body work. The use reinforcing steel has
improved greatly on the flexibility of the concrete. The main problem is the repair of the
reinforced concrete. Concrete barrier are now limited in low speed high race traffic roads
where the high race associated with vehicle crossing the central reserve outweighs the
probable price in the cost of damage only accidents.

When used on high speed roads, then the purpose is to stop the vehicle from crossing over
whatever the consequences of the occupants.

Flexible wire rope barriers

These are cable wires which exist in various forms and are used to stop an out-of control
vehicle. They have not been in use for long. These cables are highly flexible a property
which enables them to slowly decelerate the vehicle and re-direct it in a direction parallel to
barrier.

Another advantage is that it is comparatively simple to fix the height of the different cables
so as to cater for the different vehicles in a day.

However care should be taken to ensure that it does not ride over the bonnet of a small car.
Their main disadvantage is that the cables will need road locations with wide safety clearance
particularly on high speed roads because of their potential for deflection under impact. Full
scale tests have given deflection of up to 4.5 metres. This disqualifies the use of cables on
central reservations on high speed roads.

An automatic tensioning device is used in cable barriers to allow for any movement. This
makes the cost of cable barriers high. These barriers are used for roads where the radius of
curvature is 850m or more.
Steel beam barriers

These are barriers based on corrugated steel beam and are the most commonly used in
Kenya. It is also very widely used worldwide. They are made of 10, 11 or 12 gauge steel and
are corrugated laterally to give a greater lateral strength with a thinner X- section. Apart from
increasing the strength, the corrugations which mostly occur a W- section which increases
the distance between the impacting vehicle and the supporting post

The main advantages of these barriers are that they present a wide surface thus being
effective with most vehicles. Their impact duration time has between that of concrete barriers
and wire rope barriers but vary from type to type. The constant time may be increased by the
strong beam- weak post system where the posts separate from the beam during impact. They
are most suitable for most sites and will cater for nearly all types of impact.

The end must be treated with particular attention as impact at this point, at this point can
result in very serious damage. To cater for this it is recommended that the barriers should be
continued beyond the sphere of influence of traffic.

Use of barrier fences

Barrier fences can be classified either as edge barriers or medium barriers. Edge barriers
prevent out of control vehicles from damage off the road width. Where there is an alternative
of providing an embankment slope of 1 vertical to 4 horizontal economically edge barriers
should be used. These fences should always be placed at a fixed distance from the edge of the
carriageway so as to avoid confusion of the allocation during bad weather. Edge barriers
should be highly visible for the effective application.

Medium barrier fences are used to prevent head on collision between an opposing vehicle
and a vehicle that has lost control in the opposite direction. It is mainly used where the width
of the central reserve in a dual carriageway is too small to allow regain of control or lost
stoppage to the vehicle i.e. < 15m wide. The other factor that determines the provision of a
medium barrier is whether the setting the number of collisions in opposite carriageway
justifies the likely increase in overall accident rate.

Traffic sign and road markings

These are improved features of the road that must be considered in the geometric layout of
the road. They supplement the physical layout of the road by informing, warning and
controlling traffic on the road. General road marking fall under the class of road signs since
traffic signs by B.S definition is “a sign, signal or other device, or a line or mark on the
carriageway for the purpose of regulating, warning, guiding or informing traffic”

During the geometric design, traffic signs should be coordinated with the horizontal and
vertical alignments junctions, site distinct abstractions, operating speeds and maneuvers. To
eliminate language problem in travelers from different world, the UN has internationally
standardized major traffic management devices. The best way of achieving this is by
communicating the message by graphic symbols where possible.

Principals of signing

The following principals of signing help mainly in obtaining the greatest efficiency in usage
of roadside signs although they also help in general traffic signing

i. The signs must be designed for the foreseeable traffic conditions and speeds on the
road on which they are to be used.
ii. They should be conspicuous so that they will attract attention of drivers at a sufficient
distance and easily recognizable as a traffic signs
iii. They should contain only essential information and their significances should be clear
at a glance so that the drivers attention is not distracted from the task of driving
iv. They should legible from sufficiently far away to be read without diverting the gaze
thro too great an angle
v. They are obscured as lately as possible by vehicle and other objects
vi. They should be designed and sited so that after reading the sign, the driver is left with
sufficient time to take any necessary action with safety.
vii. The signs should be effective both by day and by night

Types of road signs design

Road signs can be classified into three

a. Informatory signs
b. Warning signs
c. Signs giving definite instructions

Informatory signs

These can be further divided into

i. Advanced direction signs and direction signs

ii. Place and route identification signs
iii. Other informatory signs

They guide the road user along the established route, inform regarding intersecting highways,
direct to towns, villages and other important destinations, identify rivers, parks and historical
sites and generally help the road user along his way. Informatory signs do not lose
effectiveness by long time use.

Directional signs are normally rectangular in shape. The layout is chosen based on economic
and comprehensibility of the sign. The two basic layouts are the stack layout and map layout.
The stack layout is best suited for straight forward intersections but when the junction gets
complicated the mark layout is preferred.

For any given junction the stack layout will allow bigger letter prints than a mark layout on
an equal area of a board

Stack layout map layout

BOM MOB
MOB BOM OMB
OMB

Colour

Basically the coloring of signs is chosen mainly for contrast between the letters and the back
ground for ease of reading e.g. light colour on a dark background or vice versa. The
background used is also supposed to make the sign conspicuous. This is reflectorized and is
therefore more economical to make the letters lighter than the whole background. However
despite the cost, it is advisable to use light background in urban areas where large signs will
be out of scale with the surrounding.

In Kenya it is common to use white lettering an a dark green background, with yellow letters
for larger map layout signs on major roads and white letters on blue background for stack
layouts.

Another factor which plays an important part in effective sign use is the reflectorized of
signs. There are three types of reflectors according to the reflecting characteristic

i. Diffused reflectors: reflect the incidence light rays in all directions e.g. flat paint.
ii. Specula reflectors: act as a mirror reflecting the light so that the angle of incidence is
equal to the angle of reflection e.g. glossy paints.
iii. Directive reflectors: this show max brilliance when viewed from the light source
since they throw back the light towards the source. They are most suitable for traffic
signs. the efficiency of reflectorization is expressed as:
Relative intensity = reflected light intensity
Incident light intensity
At specified incident and reflective angles

Location of signs

Traffic signs should not be placed too close, splinted with mud to cause the ineffective use of
signs or to become a hazard to the road users. The limit of the inner edge normally is limited
to between 1.5 and 1.9. The lower edge of the sign should be about 1.05m so as to be close to
the eye of the driver. However when the sign are on shoulder used as side walk, they should
be at least 2m clear of the ground.

The stopping sight distance is an important factor in the locationing of signs i.e. in the case
seen earlier, the distance for reading the sign is slot 10º or 5.7s. if the sign is say 7m from the
inter-section, then the distance y + 5.7s = safe stopping site distance so as to allow the
vehicle to slow even to stop and commence the appropriate maneuver.
On high standard multi- lane roads, the signs are mounted directly over the carried to a height
not less than 5.5m above the traffic lines. This positioning has the following advantages:

i. There is a clear view of the message

ii. There is a greater mounting height giving greater visibility at curves and hills
iii. There is the possibility of using larger lettering i.e. not much space restriction.
iv. The driver does not need to turn his head away from the direction of the road.

However this mounting system has the following disadvantages:

i. They are very costly compared to side sings because of the lager support structure
needed. White letters on black background help make the sign.

Amenity

This is the stage of considering the reconciliation of the road-users need for the sign and the
aesthetic needs. Aesthetically, the sing should not be an obstruction while to the road user the
sign should be outstanding i.e. conspicuous. The sign artist would prefer a larger sign with
big letterings properly spaced, this in effect would be more costly.

These factors are reconciled by considering the minimum requirements that will meet the
road-user-needs and then produce the most economical design within these limitations. It is
important that the sign command the respect of the road users; therefore they should be used
only where necessary. Additionally signs should be maintained in good condition and
removed when no longer needed.

Warning signs and signs giving definite instructions

The most common and most important traffic signs are the warning and regulatory signs
combinations of shapes and colours help to distinguish between the various classes of the
group

Warning signs

These are given in an equilateral triangle with a red boarder and a white or yellow centre
with a black or dark blue symbol. Warning signs are used at:
- Approaches to intersection not previously indicted by advance direction signs
- Dangerous bends or hills
- Concealed or unguarded level crossings
- Near schools
- Pedestrian crossings
- Converging lanes

Mandatory sings

Most mandatory signs are circular with white or light colored symbols on a blue background.
The outstanding ones are STOP: which is usually octagonal in shape with a red background
and white or yellow boarder and STOP symbol. The other one is the (yield) YIELD sign
which is rectangular in shape.

These sings give definite positive instructions when necessary. The stop sign is used only at
intersection where the visibility is so bad that it is imperative for the motorist to stop on
every occasion. The giveaway sing is used at intersections where control is not exercised by
traffic signals, police or stop sign, but where there is need for drivers or minor roads to
precede so as not to cause inconvenience or danger to traffic on major roads.

Prohibitory signs

These signs give definite negative orders prohibiting the motorist from making particular
maneuvers e.g. “no- U- turn”, “No – entry”, “no – right turn” e.t.c. all prohibiting signs are
circular with a red or white centre. The symbols or descriptions are black or dark blue. The
only exceptions being the “no- entry” and the waiting restriction signs

Road markings

These are generally referred to as delimitations and apart from markings at junctions; the rest
is referred to as longitudinal markings. Markings supplement road signs or signals other
times they are used independently to obtain results obtained by other devices. The main
limitations of highway markings are:
i. They are obliterated by surface conditions i.e. dirt, snow e.t.c
ii. Obscured when the volume of traffic is heavy.
iii. Some are not visible on wet conditions
iv. Heavy traffic
v. They cannot be employed on un-surfaced carriageways

There three main functions of longitudinal highway markings:

1) To characterize the road

2) To provide route guidance
3) To act as tracking reference

To characterize means to provide the driver with information about the nature of the road
leading to expectations regarding the ease of driving task e.g. centre line marked in yellow
lines means two-way road while a white line is simply lane division on a one way
carriageway.

To give route guidance to the driver is to direct the motorist into one of the alternative routes
e.g. at a wyes junction with the two arms indistinct, highway markings will help the driver
choose the main arm from the minor arm.

To understand tracking reference we need to appreciate the fact that main controls under the
driver is the direction of the vehicle on the road. Speed control in the day is easily judged by
observing objects passing by in the night and particularly in the rural areas the judgment is
more difficult and appropriate highway marking would provide reference marks. Directional
guidance at night is mainly got from proper edge and centre markings.

Lack of edge marking will greatly increase the effect of glare from on-coming vehicles
because the driver cannot keep the eyes from the centre line which is in line with the
oncoming headlamps. Eventually the eyes become more-light adopted and he cannot see the
centerline and hence starts using the oncoming vehicle for directional guidance

Types of delineators

There are two main types of delineators

i. Markings
ii. Studs

Marking materials

Two materials are commonly used i.e.

- Conventional oil paints

- Hot applied thermoplastics (e.g. spray plastics)

Thermoplastics are more expensive in use but have the following advantages:

i. It has longer life

ii. Has the ability to fill the interstices of rough-textured roads, whereas permits soon
wears from the surface dressing peaks and the interstices fill with dirt
iii. A high temperature of application enables the material to fuse with a bituminous road
surface, sometimes even when the road is cold or slightly damp
iv. It is proud of the road surface, and this assists visibility on a wet night by facilitating
drainage of the water film
v. It contains 60% sand and a binder which ensures good skid resistance as it erodes
vi. The material has a rough surface when laid which aids immediate diffusion
vii. It sets almost immediately after being laid

Disadvantages

i. Has a greater initial cost compared to paint

ii. Rapid application on a large scale is more difficult because of the large bulk of
material which has to be melted down
iii. Cares needed to avoid an undue build-up of thickness by successive application as
this can be hazardous to motorists
iv. On dirty roads carrying light traffic, thermoplastic discolors more readily than paint
which is relatively smooth glossy

Reflectorization
The reflectorization of a paint or thermoplastic road marking is archived by the addition of
tiny spheres of glass (balloting) which are premixed and dispensed (dusted) on to the surface
of the line material as it is being laid. Premixing followed by dusting is the usual practice
with thermoplastic. Dusting is more common with paint, although reflectivity only exists as
long as the beads remain in place on the surface. An advantage of pre-mixing is that as the
binding material becomes worn by traffic, further beads are exposed to reflect the light from
the vehicles headlights back to the driver.

While the excellent reflectivity properties of lines containing balloting are well recognized in
dry weather, however there is doubt as to the effectiveness of the same in rainy and foggy
areas. Reflectivity reduces as the rainfalls because the water tends to reflect the light away
from the driver. In heavy rains, the lines become practically invisible.

Road studs

Road studs are used as means of improving on the visibility of lines even in wet conditions.

Studs have very little part to play in daytime driving and are not therefore used instead of
lines but are used in conjunction with lines.

One type of reflecting stud in common use is the cat’s-eyes. It consists of two parts

i. A metal base embedded in the road

ii. A separate rubber pad insert into each side of which two longitudinal biconvex
reflectors are fixed. For one way carriageway the reflectors are fixed only on one
side. As vehicle tyres pass over the rubber pad, its centre north is depressed so that
the faces of the reflectors are automatically wiped by the front part of the pad, thus
giving the stud a self-cleansing property

The rubber pad has to be replaced after some time depending on the speed on the road, the
density of traffic and the lateral location of the road stud on the highway.

Another type of road stud is the corner cube type. The reflectors in these studs are made of
three sides of a cube, and the headlight ray is reflected from all three sides before returning to
the eye of the motorist.
The reflectivity of the corner cube stud is much higher than that of the cat’s eye for relatively
long distances i.e. 100m or more. However at 30m or less there is too much difference. The
corner cube type suffers abrasion from tyres which cause scratches on their surfaces.
However they still remain brighter than the cat’s eye for long distances after the same period
of use.

Road marking purposes

Road marking is one of the most effective methods or traffic management. However they are
the most expensive form of road furniture in terms of recurrent cost i.e. repair and
replacement.

Centerlines are usually broken single lines that indicate division of the travelled way carrying
traffic in opposite directions. They are guide lines which the drivers can cross at their
discretion. The centre line may be provided even where one direction of traffic has more
lanes thus not appearing at the geometric centre of the road e.g. when climbing lanes are
provided. This marking is desirable on all surface roads.

Lane-lines are particularly useful in the organization of traffic into its proper channels, and in
increasing the efficiency of carriageway usage at congested locations. They should be used
on all roads with more than three lanes or with two lanes in the same direction where it is not
possible to provide them continuously, they should be provided

1. At approaches to all important intersections

2. Pedestrian crossing
3. On congested urban streets where the carriageway will accommodate more laws of
traffic than would be the case without the use of lane-lines

Lane-lines are usually indicated by broken lines, the marks being considerably shorter than
the gaps.

Where overtaking is prohibited e.g. on horizontal and vertical curves on two and three lane
highways, two parallel lines are instead of centerlines. When the prohibition is both direct,
both lines are continuous and may be replaced by just one continuous line. When the
prohibition is in one direction, one of the lines is broken and the other continuous. If the near
line is broken the driver may cross the double lines at his discretion. If the near side is
continuous, he should not cross at all

When the marking consists of a broken single line with the mark approximately twice as long
as the gap, it is known as a warping lane. These are used in locations where the alignment
just meets the minimum requirements. They indicate to the driver to exercise cause in
driving. They are also used as lane markings at approaches to intersections. These lines only
warn but do not prohibit any maneuver desired by the driver.

Edge lines are broken or solid longitudinal line which indicates to vehicles the location of the
edge of the carriageway on unlighted roads, lay-bys and intersections.

1. Drivers like edge lines. The lines introduce a sense of comfort, security and joy of driving
to the drivers.
2. Edge-lines do not cause increases in the number of severity of accidents it is felt without
much supporting statistics that they could be reducing accidents
3. They do little to the motorist during the day when contrast between the carriageway and
the side of the road in such as to made it readily distinguishable
4. Properly located edge-line can ensure that the motorist stays on the designated travel way
both by day and night even when the shoulder or verge is not in good contrast with the
carriageway
5. On a normal width, single carriageway round at night, on edge-line may result in
vehicles moving small distances in a lateral direction towards the centre-line. The amount
of movement is influenced by the location of the edge line relative to the edge of the
carriageway
6. Under normal dry weather circumstances by day or night, edge-lining has no practical
effect on speed. No data are available regarding either speed or placement under wet
weather conditions
7. Whether the edge-line is dashed or continuous has little or no effect on either vehicle
placement or speed. This assumes that the dashed lines gives the general appearance of a
near continuo’s line when the motorist is travelling “with the traffic” on the roadway
8. Edge-lining cannot but result in less road side maintenance being required
Edge-lining should help reduce pedestrian accidents in rural areas, by more clearly designing the
part of the roadway where the person on f