Hands out of Highway Engineering-I DCE:III/I 2020

Unit-1 Introduction to Transportation System

Introduction:- Highway engineering is defined as one of the branch of civil engineering which deals with
the art, science and technique of planning, designing, construction and maintenance of roads & or
highway. It may also include aspects like road traffic operation, planning and design of facilities like
intersection, sign, and signal, traffic control system for safe and efficient movements of person and goods.
Highway financing economics, administration etc are other aspects of highway engineering.

1.1 Transportation system: - A transportation system may be defined as consisting of fixed facilities,
the flow entities and the control system that permits people and goods to overcome the friction of
geological space efficiently in order to participate in a timely manner in some desired activity. The
transportation system provides the connectivity that facilitates multiple functions like economic growth,
social- interaction and other aspects of development.
Fixed Facilities: - These are the physical component that are fixed in space and constitute (to establish)
the network of lines (e.g. Roadway, railway-track etc) and nodes (intersection, transits terminals, railway
station, air ports etc).
Flow Entities: These are the unit that traverses the fixed facilities. They include vehicles, ship, airplane
etc.
Control System: - It is the system that controls movement of flow entities along fixed facilities.
It consists of vehicular control and flow control.

1.2 Comparisons of different modes of transportation system and suitability of each mode in Nepal
All major transportation systems are broadly classified into primary and secondary modes as below:

1. Land transportation:
a) Highway or Roadway: - It includes modern highway system, City Street, feeder roads and village
roads. This mode maximizes service to one and all. It also has maximum flexibilities for travel with
reference to route direction, time and speed. It has possibility to provide door to door service. It has low
capital investment.
b) Railway: - It includes planning, designing, operation and maintenance of railway track, wagons,
locomotive etc. It provides facilities for mass transit. `

2. Air transportation: Transportation in remote areas where it is not feasible economically to provide
other transport system. Social service point of view where not feasible from business point of view and
provides international mobility. It is best modes for long distance but it is most expensive mode.
It has two systems:
a) Domestic air transportation
b) International air transportation

3. Water transportation: - Transportation by water is slowest among above modes but this mode needs
minimum energy to haul unit load through unit distance. This mode has slow speed but cheap and most
suitable for goods movement through sea. It has possibility to tourist promotion.

B secondary classification:
i. Ropeways (Cable based cabin): - Locally in steep terrain where road transport facility is not available.
Good to promote tourism and other economic activities eg. Manakamna cable car.
ii. Pipelines: - For water, gas petrol, sewer etc
iii. Canal: - For irrigation and drainage etc
iv. Belt conveyor: - For goods rest on belt & belt is move.

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1.3 Road transport and its advantages/ disadvantages

Road transportation is quite natural since road network forms the main national transportation system in
the country.
Advantages of road transport:
1. Wide geographical coverage.
2. Large influential areas.
3. Low capital investment.
4. Door to door service.
5. Personalized travel and service for short hand.
6. Quick and assureds deliveries.
7. High employment potential.
8. Low cost of packaging.
9. Flexibility.
10. Economy
11. Safety
Disadvantages of road transport:
1. Land coverage.
2. Environmental pollution.
3. Uneconomic for long haulage
4. Safety is poor
5. Energy consumption
6. Parking problem

1.4 History of Road development:

The historical development of road started from early human settlements, people desire to move for
fishing and hunting lead to development of footpath, later on they made wider trail for carts (horse driven
carts). The first hard surface was appeared in Mesopotamia about 3500 BC. The most outstanding works
towards the development of modern roads are as follows:
1 Roman Road Construction
2.Tresaguet Road Construction
3.Telford Road Construction
4. Macadam Road Construction

1 Roman Road Construction:

Road construction was extensively developed during the Roman Empire. During this period road were
constructed in a large scale. The roman road network built during seven centuries extended over a total
length of 90000 km, of which about 14000 km still exist to present day. Roman Empire exceeded
300000km including the road with gravel surface spreading across Europe. This is the record of road
construction achievement and history of modern roads is said to be started from this.

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The construction procedures of Roman road are as:

i. A trench of width equal to that of the carriage way was dug along a straight path by removing the
loose soil from the top. The trench was cut up to a depth until a hard stratum was reached.

ii. One or two layers of large foundation stones were laid in lime mortar at the bottom. The thickness
of this bottom layer ranged from 10-20 cm. vertical kerb stone were placed along the edge of the
pavement.

iii. A second layer of lime concrete with large size broken stones mixed in lime mortar was laid over
the bottom course up to a thickness of 25-40 cm.

iv. Another layer of lime concrete was laid over this with smaller broken stones mixed in lime mortar
to a thickness of 25-40cm or even more if necessary.

v. The wearing course consisting of dressed large stones blocks set in lime mortar was provided at
the top. The thickness of these blocks also varied from 10-15cm.

Advantages of Roman Road:

I. They were built straight regardless of gradient.
II. They were built after the soft soil was removed and a hard stratum was reached.
III. The total thickness of construction was as high as 0.75 to 1.2m at some places, even though the
magnitude of wheel loads of animal drawn vehicles was very low.

Disadvantages of roman Road

I. Roman roads were not built as per good engineering practice.
II. They were constructed much stronger than what was needed to cater the present day highest volume of
traffic.
III. It was very expensive, about 10 to 15 thousand cubic meters of stones per km were used which is 7 to
10 times more quantity required in same km modern road.

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2. Tresaguet Road Construction:

Piere Tresaguet (1716-1796) developed an improved method of construction in France by the year
1964A.D. Tresaguet was the Inspector General of Roads in France from 1775 to 1785 and so his method
of construction was implemented in that country in 1775. During the regime of Napoleon the major
development of road system in France took place.

The construction procedures of Tresaguet road are as:

i. The sub grade was prepared and a layer of large foundation stones were laid on edge by hand. At the
two edge of the pavement large stones were embedded edgewise to serve as submerged kerb stones

ii. The corner of these heavy foundation stones was hammered and then the interstices (gap) filled with
smaller stones. Broken stones were packed to a thickness of about 8 cm and compacted.

iii. The top wearing course was made of smaller stones and compacted to a thickness of about 5cm at the
edges and gradually increased towards the centre, giving a cross slope of 1 in 45 to surface, to provide
surface drainage.

iv. The shoulders were also provided cross slope to drain the surface water to the side drain.

Advantages:
I. It is a advanced method of modern road construction with total depth of 30cm only.
II. It was the first method to realize the importance of surface drainage and its methodical maintenance.
III. This method of construction is cheaper than Roman road.
IV. The shoulders ware also provided cross-slope to drain out surface water to side drain
Disadvantages:
I. It did not confirm the present theory of soil science.

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3. Telford Road Construction:

Thomas Telford in England (1757-1834) began his work in early 19th century. He was the founder of the
Institute of Civil Engineers at London. He started his work independently kept sub-grade horizontal and
sloping surface is achieved on the top by providing varying size of stones in foundation.

The construction procedures of Telford Road are as

i. A level surface was prepared to designed width of about 9 meter.

ii. Large foundation stones of thickness 17 to 22cm were laid with hand with their largest face down so as
to be laid in a suitable position. The stones of lesser thickness (17cm) were placed towards the edges and
stones of increasing thickness were laid towards the center. At the centre the largest stones of
approximate thickness 22cm were used such that these foundation stones of varying thickness provide
the cross slope designed by Telford

iii.The interstices (Gap) between foundation stones were filled with smaller stone and chipping and
properly beaten down

iv.The central portion is about 5.5m width was covered with two layers of angular broken stones to
compacted thickness of 10 to 15 cm. these layers were initially rammed and later allowed to be
compacted under the traffic and get consolidated by the rains

v. A certain width of pavement towards the edges was constructed by compacted broken stones, 15 cm
thick, sometimes in lime mortar instead of using the kerb stones so as to provide lateral stability

vi. A binding layer of wearing course 4 cm thick was constructed on the top using gravel. The finished
surface had a cross slope of about 1 in 45.
Advantages:
i. Sub-grade is kept horizontal hence it is easy to construct
ii. Sloping surface is achieved on top by using varying sizes of stones.
iii. For lateral confinement, a block is made of broken stone in lime mortar.
Disadvantages:
i. This construction did not consider the theory of soil science.

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4. Macadam Road Construction:

John macadam (1756-1836) is considered as the pioneer of the modern road construction. The first
attempt to improve the road construction was made by him in 1815.Macadam was the Surveyor General
of Roads in England and his new concept of road construction become known by the year 1827.

The construction procedures of Macadam road are as:

I-Sub grade is compacted and prepared with a cross slope of 1 in 36 up to a desired width (about 9m).

II- Broken stones of a strong variety, all passing through 5cm size sieve were compacted to a uniform
thickness of 10 cm.

III-The second layers of stone broken stones of size 3.75 cm was compacted to thickness of 10 cm.

IV-The top layer consisted of stones of size less than 2 cm compacted to a thickness of about 5 cm and
finished so that the cross slopes of pavement surface was also 1 in 36.

Advantages:
i. This construction realized the importance of sub grade drainage in addition to surface drainage.
ii. This construction also considers the theory of soil science.
iii. It also notes the baseless use of hard and strong stone in the base.
iv. It has total thickness of pavement is 25 cm only.
v. It is economical method of construction.
Disadvantages:
i. Difficult to design and construction as compared to above. Skilled person is required.

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5. Modern road construction techniques:

With the introduction of mechanically propelled vehicles and problem of deterioration (decay, wastage) a
road surface under the impact of fast moving vehicles have lead to the development of modern roads.
Stones particles bound by bitumen are used nowadays. Some examples of modern roads are as follows:

(i) Road with surface dressing, surface treatment with various granular bases below.
(ii) Bituminous bound macadam roads
(iii) Penetration Macadam roads Wearing Course
(iv) Asphalt Concrete roads
(v) Cement Concrete roads etc. Base course

Sub-base course

Sub-grade course

Comparison of Telford and Macadam construction

Telford Method Macadam Method

1.The sub- grade was kept horizontal and hence sub 1. The sub grade given a cross slope of 1 in 36 to
grade drainage was not proper. facilitates sub-grade drainage.
2. Heavy foundation stones of varying sizes about 2. The sub- base course consisted of broken stones
17 cm towards the edge and 22 cm towards the less than 5 cm size to uniform thickness equal to 10
centre were hand packed and prepare to serve as cm only.
sub-base course
3. Two layers of broken stones were compacted 3.Base and surface courses consisted of broken
over the foundation stones before lying the wearing stones smaller sizes to compacted thickness of 10
course 4cm thickness with across slope of 1 in 45 to 15cm respectively and top surface was given
across slope of 1in 36.
4. The total thickness of pavement construction 4.The total thickness of the pavement construction
varied from 35cm at the edge to 41cm at the centre. was kept uniform from edge to centre to a
minimum value of only 25cm.

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1.5 Road construction in Nepal

The development of road construction in Nepal started from Malla period when many wide trails with
hard surface have been developed basically intended for horse driven carts. This road consisted of hard
broken brick over which flag stone slab were laid over a base of lime concrete. In fact, road construction
practices in Nepal are mostly guided by the desire of the donor agencies and the interest of local political
leaders. This is partly attributable to the lack of uniform and mandatory national standards and guidelines.
Many stretches of road do not have any standard engineering structures and the roads are usually
constructed on side slopes requiring cut and fill. Locally available materials are used to protect the cut
slope, usually dry stone retaining walls or bioengineering are used for protecting slopes. Nin recent years,
district or rural road construction projects have already grown by 11% annually. A related fact is that
more than 50% of the VDCs from all over Nepal have a User Committee for rural road construction.
Nowadays, many slopes in mid-hills are dissected (intersect, cut, reap, obliterate) by earthen road and,
due to the lack of engineering standards, these roads are almost unusable for vehicle movement. As a
result, low cost roads are prone to shallow and deep seated landslides during the monsoon. The poor
engineering condition of the roads hampers the delivery of social services in the remote hill and
mountainous districts and directly or indirectly affects the country's economic development. Lack of
connectivity in presence of low cost road projects are major impediments to the development of Nepal. In
Nepal, about 1/3rd of the total road length is earthen roads (33%), with the remainder of the network
comprising gravel roads (22%) and bitumen sealed roads (45%).

Historically, the development of roads in Nepal is by following agency:

• Naya Bato kaj Goswara (Established in 1948)- For construction of new roads

• Purano Bato Kaj Goswara: (Established in 1948)-For maintenance of old roads

• Public Work Development (Established in 1950) - Merging Naya and Purano Bato kaj Goswara.

• Department of Road, DOR (Established in 1970) -After splitting public work development(PWD)

• Modern road development progressed by mid 1970's with the completion of Eastern section of East-
West highway and links to Pokhara from both south and from Kathmandu.

• Then up to 1985 East-West highway East of Nepalgung was complete together with significant
section of North-South routes penetrating the hills and connecting with the East-West highway.

• During 1985-1995 remaining (Western) part of East-West highway was continued the further
development of North-South roads into hills.

• After 1995, road construction is going too rapidly with some major achievement like tracks opening
of Surkhet-Jumla route, Chhirchu-Jajarkot earthen roads etc. Black-topped roads are also being
constructed very rapidly.

• Most of the existing roads network has been developed after 1970's ,.E-W highway which is linking all
the seven development regions.

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1.6 Road Classification as per Nepal Road standard (NRS)

Nepal Road standard (NRS), broadly classified the road into two categories:
A. Administrative Classification or Classification by service:
Administrative Classification of roads is intended for assigning national importance and level of
government responsible for overall management and methods of financing. According to this
classification roads are classified into:

1. National highway (NH): National highways are main highways connecting East to West and North to
South of the Nation. The roads connecting national highway to regional head quarters shall also be
classified as national highways. These serve directly the greater portion of the longer distance travel
provides consistently higher level of service in terms of travel speeds, and bear the inter-community
mobility (regional interest).These roads shall be main arterials routes passing through the length and
breadth of the country as a whole. They are designated by letter H followed by two-digit number. At
present there are twenty one (21) national highways in Nepal.

2 Feeder Roads (FR): Feeder roads are important roads of localized nature. These serve the community's
wide interest and connect District Headquarters, Major economic centers, Tourism centers to National
Highways or other feeder roads. They are designated by letter F followed by three-digit number. At
present there are two hundred eight (208) feeders' roads in Nepal.

Town

FR

Highway

Fig. Feeder Road FR

Zonal Headquarter

3. District Roads (DR): District Roads are important roads within a district serving areas of production
and markets, and connecting with each other or with the main highways. This class of roads consisting of
all roads not defined as National Highways or Feeder Roads and City Roads, serves primarily by
providing access between a district's headquarters and its trade centers. Moderate travel speeds are typical
on such roads. Market DR Village

Village DR

DR DR

NH

DR FR

Village

Zonal headquarter

4. Urban or City Roads: Urban or city Roads are the roads within the urban municipalities. Urban roads
within the urban limit of municipality boundary, except for the above classes, passing through the city.
These roads provide access to abutting residential, business and industrial places within municipalities.

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In Nepal overall management of National Highway and Feeder Roads comes within the responsibility of
the Department of Roads (DOR). These roads are collectively called Strategic Roads Network (SRN)
roads. District Roads and Urban Roads are managed by Department of Local Infrastructure Development
and Agriculture Roads (DOLIDAR). These roads are collectively called Local Roads Network (LRN)
roads.

B. Technical / Functional classifications:

For assigning various geometric and technical parameters for design, roads are categorized into classes as
follows:
Class-I: Class -I roads are the highest road standards with divided carriageway access control
(Expressway) with ADT of 20000 PCU or more in 20 years perspective period (forward period). Design
speed adopted for design of this class of roads in plain terrain is 120 km/hr.

Class-II: Class-II roads are those with ADT of 5000-20000 PCU in 20 years perspective period. Design
speed adopted for design of this class of roads in plain terrain is 100 km/hr.

Class-III: Class-III roads are those with ADT of 2000-5000 PCU in 20 years perspective period. Design
speed adopted for design of this class of roads in plain terrain is 80 km/hr.

Class-IV: Class-IV roads are those with ADT of less than 20000 PCU in 20 years perspective period.
Design speed adopted for design of this class of roads in plain terrain is 60 km/hr.

Classifications of Roads According to Nepal Rural Road Standard (2055)

According to Nepal Rural Road Standard (2055), rural roads are classified in five types:
1.Rural Road class 'A' (RRA) - District Road (market, tourism).
2.Rural Road class 'B' (RRB)- Village Road (park, market, tourism).
3.Rural Road class 'C' (RRC)- Main trail ((Major non-motorable foot/mule trail)
4.Rural Road class 'D' (RRD)- Village Trail (Minor non-motorable foot/mule trail).
5.Rural Road class 'E' (RRE)- Rope way.

Classification of Roads Based on uses in different weather

1 All weather road
2 Fair weather road
Classification of Roads Based on pavements/carriageway
1. Paved road- Water Bound Macadam (WBM), Bituminous, concrete road
2 Unpaved road- Earthen road, Gravel road
Classification of Roads Based on the types of pavements surfacing
1. Surfaced Road- The roads which are provided with bituminous or cement concrete surfacing
2. Unsurfaced Road- The roads which are not provided with bituminous or cement concrete surfacing.
Classification of Urban Roads
1 Arterial Road
2.Sub-arterial road
3.Collector Street
4.Local Street

National Road Network of Nepal

According to functional importance of the roads as classified in four classes are defined below:
1.The Strategic road network
2.The district road network
3.The urban road network
4.The village road network

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1.7 Urban Road patterns

The road system within urban areas are called road pattern. The various types of urban road pattern are as
follow:
1. Grid iron pattern: It is also called rectangular or block pattern. It is the pattern in which roads are
built in a series of rectangular block with central business area at mid of town.
Advantages:
i. Easy to design
ii. Less traffic jams
iii.Well defined plots
Disadvantages:
i. More distance to travel
ii. Monotonous since all blocks are identical.

Radial road Main Road

Built up area

Central business area Central business area

Fig Radial or star and block pattern Fig Grid iron or Rectangular or Block pattern

2. Radial pattern: It is also called Radial or star and block pattern. In this pattern the problem of long
distance travel is solved by stars (radial roads into block) pattern.
Advantages:
i. Less distance to travel.
ii. New approach to new city
Disadvantages:
i. More traffic jams at central areas.
ii problem of setting clearly identical plots .

The choices of pattern depends upon:

I. Locality
II. Layout of town
III. Industrial area
IV Choice of planning Engineer

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