Short Notes for Transportation Engineering | Short Notes for Civil Engineering - Civil Engineering (CE) PDF Download

 Page 1


 ? Highway development and planning
 ? Highway alignment and engineering surveys
 ? Highway geometric design
 ? Geometric design of railway track
 ? Airport planning and design
CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS
Chapter 1
Transportation Engineering
Highway Development
and Planning
Introduction
Transportation is vital for the economic development of any 
region as it is used to transport people, products, etc. The 
main objective of good transportation system is to provide 
safe, economical and effi  cient system. This chapter explains 
the development of roads from romans to the present includ-
ing the developments during all kingdoms and British rule. 
The present scenario and all road development plans and 
their objectives are discussed.
In Latin, transportae = to cross across.
Modes of Transport
Highways—Most fl exible system (house to house 
connection)
Railway—Energy consumption less than highways
1
4
1
8
of highways -
?
?
?
?
Waterways—Economical but slow
Airways—Costliest of all
Historic Development
 1. Mesopotamia—3500 BC: Invention of wheel and 
necessity of hard surface for wheeled vehicles to 
move, paved the way for road building.
 2. Roman roads—312 BC:
 • Pioneers in road construction
 • 580 km (approximately)
 • No cross-slope or gradient
Broken stone 
in lime mortar
Large stones 
in lime mortar
Kerb stone
0.75 - 1.2m
 3. Pierre tresaguet (1716–1796) in France:
 • Father of modern highway engineering
 • Thickness of road can be only 30 cm
 • Cross-slope of 1 in 45 on top wearing course for 
surface drainage.
 • Shoulders also with cross-slope to drain surface 
water to side drain.
Part III_Unit 11_Chapter 01.indd   907 5/20/2017   7:22:10 PM
Page 2


 ? Highway development and planning
 ? Highway alignment and engineering surveys
 ? Highway geometric design
 ? Geometric design of railway track
 ? Airport planning and design
CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS
Chapter 1
Transportation Engineering
Highway Development
and Planning
Introduction
Transportation is vital for the economic development of any 
region as it is used to transport people, products, etc. The 
main objective of good transportation system is to provide 
safe, economical and effi  cient system. This chapter explains 
the development of roads from romans to the present includ-
ing the developments during all kingdoms and British rule. 
The present scenario and all road development plans and 
their objectives are discussed.
In Latin, transportae = to cross across.
Modes of Transport
Highways—Most fl exible system (house to house 
connection)
Railway—Energy consumption less than highways
1
4
1
8
of highways -
?
?
?
?
Waterways—Economical but slow
Airways—Costliest of all
Historic Development
 1. Mesopotamia—3500 BC: Invention of wheel and 
necessity of hard surface for wheeled vehicles to 
move, paved the way for road building.
 2. Roman roads—312 BC:
 • Pioneers in road construction
 • 580 km (approximately)
 • No cross-slope or gradient
Broken stone 
in lime mortar
Large stones 
in lime mortar
Kerb stone
0.75 - 1.2m
 3. Pierre tresaguet (1716–1796) in France:
 • Father of modern highway engineering
 • Thickness of road can be only 30 cm
 • Cross-slope of 1 in 45 on top wearing course for 
surface drainage.
 • Shoulders also with cross-slope to drain surface 
water to side drain.
Part III_Unit 11_Chapter 01.indd   907 5/20/2017   7:22:10 PM
3.908 | Part III 
¦
 Unit 11 
¦
 Transportation Engineering
Smaller stones
Cross slope (1 in 45)
Large 
submerged 
kerb stones
Broken stones
Shoulder (1 in 20)
30 cm
8 cm
5 cm
 4. Metcalf method (1717–1810) in England—similar 
to tresaguet:
 • Followed recommendations of Robert Phillips.
 • 290 km of road in northern region of England.
 • His work was not recorded as he was blind. 
 5. Thomas Telford (1757–1834):
 • Founder of Institution of Civil Engineers at 
London.
 • Provided cross–slope from foundation itself by 
varying thickness of foundation stones.
 • Provided cross-drains at intervals of about 90 m.
 • No kerb stones are used.
4 cm
5 cm
10 cm
22 cm
Large foundation 
stones
Angular 
broken 
stones
Cross slope (1 in 45)
Edges of broken 
stones in lime mortar
 6. John McAdams’ (1756–1836):
 • Gave scientific method of road construction.
 • Realised not to provide strong foundation at sub-
grade as wheel load of traffic gets dispersed and 
intensity decreases at lower layers.
 • Sub-grade is compacted and cross-slope of 1 in 36 
is provided from sub-grade itself.
 • Improvement of strength of top layers.
10 cm
10 cm
5 cm
Angular 
broken 
stones
Compacted subgrade 
(Cross slope (1 in 36))
Broken stones 
passing 50mm sieve
Surface course with 
stones passing 20 mm 
sieve (Cross slope 
1 iin 36)
Broken stones 
passing 
37.5 mm sieve
Water bound McAdams’ – used soil to bind stones.
Bituminous McAdams’ – used bitumen as binder.
Highway Development in India
 • Excavations of Mohenjodaro and Harappa have 
revealed the existence of roads in India during 23–35 
century BC.
 • Mauryan kings and Gupta rulers also built very good 
roads.
 • Mughal period—Roads were built from North–West to 
the Eastern areas through Gangetic plains, linking coastal 
and central parts.
British Rule—19th Century
 • Early British maintained only roads of military and 
administrative importance.
 • Prior to introduction of railways, a number of trunk roads 
were metalled and bridges were constructed.
 • Governor General Lord Dalhousie formed the Public 
Works Department in 1865. Grand Trunk Road was 
undertaken by this new department.
Development During 20th Century
 • During I World War increases in number of vehicles 
demanded better roads. So, lot of development took place.
1927—Jayakar Committee Formed to examine and submit 
a report on road development.
Recommendations: 
 1. Road development to be considered as national 
interest.
 2. Levy tax on petrol and diesel from road users to 
develop fund called ‘Central Road Fund.’
 3. Establishing research organisation to carry out 
research and development of roads and semi-official 
body to be formed to act as an advisory body on 
various aspects of roads.
1929 (1st March)—Central Road Fund
 • Present tax on petrol and diesel is ` 2/litre.
Part III_Unit 11_Chapter 01.indd   908 5/20/2017   7:22:11 PM
Page 3


 ? Highway development and planning
 ? Highway alignment and engineering surveys
 ? Highway geometric design
 ? Geometric design of railway track
 ? Airport planning and design
CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS
Chapter 1
Transportation Engineering
Highway Development
and Planning
Introduction
Transportation is vital for the economic development of any 
region as it is used to transport people, products, etc. The 
main objective of good transportation system is to provide 
safe, economical and effi  cient system. This chapter explains 
the development of roads from romans to the present includ-
ing the developments during all kingdoms and British rule. 
The present scenario and all road development plans and 
their objectives are discussed.
In Latin, transportae = to cross across.
Modes of Transport
Highways—Most fl exible system (house to house 
connection)
Railway—Energy consumption less than highways
1
4
1
8
of highways -
?
?
?
?
Waterways—Economical but slow
Airways—Costliest of all
Historic Development
 1. Mesopotamia—3500 BC: Invention of wheel and 
necessity of hard surface for wheeled vehicles to 
move, paved the way for road building.
 2. Roman roads—312 BC:
 • Pioneers in road construction
 • 580 km (approximately)
 • No cross-slope or gradient
Broken stone 
in lime mortar
Large stones 
in lime mortar
Kerb stone
0.75 - 1.2m
 3. Pierre tresaguet (1716–1796) in France:
 • Father of modern highway engineering
 • Thickness of road can be only 30 cm
 • Cross-slope of 1 in 45 on top wearing course for 
surface drainage.
 • Shoulders also with cross-slope to drain surface 
water to side drain.
Part III_Unit 11_Chapter 01.indd   907 5/20/2017   7:22:10 PM
3.908 | Part III 
¦
 Unit 11 
¦
 Transportation Engineering
Smaller stones
Cross slope (1 in 45)
Large 
submerged 
kerb stones
Broken stones
Shoulder (1 in 20)
30 cm
8 cm
5 cm
 4. Metcalf method (1717–1810) in England—similar 
to tresaguet:
 • Followed recommendations of Robert Phillips.
 • 290 km of road in northern region of England.
 • His work was not recorded as he was blind. 
 5. Thomas Telford (1757–1834):
 • Founder of Institution of Civil Engineers at 
London.
 • Provided cross–slope from foundation itself by 
varying thickness of foundation stones.
 • Provided cross-drains at intervals of about 90 m.
 • No kerb stones are used.
4 cm
5 cm
10 cm
22 cm
Large foundation 
stones
Angular 
broken 
stones
Cross slope (1 in 45)
Edges of broken 
stones in lime mortar
 6. John McAdams’ (1756–1836):
 • Gave scientific method of road construction.
 • Realised not to provide strong foundation at sub-
grade as wheel load of traffic gets dispersed and 
intensity decreases at lower layers.
 • Sub-grade is compacted and cross-slope of 1 in 36 
is provided from sub-grade itself.
 • Improvement of strength of top layers.
10 cm
10 cm
5 cm
Angular 
broken 
stones
Compacted subgrade 
(Cross slope (1 in 36))
Broken stones 
passing 50mm sieve
Surface course with 
stones passing 20 mm 
sieve (Cross slope 
1 iin 36)
Broken stones 
passing 
37.5 mm sieve
Water bound McAdams’ – used soil to bind stones.
Bituminous McAdams’ – used bitumen as binder.
Highway Development in India
 • Excavations of Mohenjodaro and Harappa have 
revealed the existence of roads in India during 23–35 
century BC.
 • Mauryan kings and Gupta rulers also built very good 
roads.
 • Mughal period—Roads were built from North–West to 
the Eastern areas through Gangetic plains, linking coastal 
and central parts.
British Rule—19th Century
 • Early British maintained only roads of military and 
administrative importance.
 • Prior to introduction of railways, a number of trunk roads 
were metalled and bridges were constructed.
 • Governor General Lord Dalhousie formed the Public 
Works Department in 1865. Grand Trunk Road was 
undertaken by this new department.
Development During 20th Century
 • During I World War increases in number of vehicles 
demanded better roads. So, lot of development took place.
1927—Jayakar Committee Formed to examine and submit 
a report on road development.
Recommendations: 
 1. Road development to be considered as national 
interest.
 2. Levy tax on petrol and diesel from road users to 
develop fund called ‘Central Road Fund.’
 3. Establishing research organisation to carry out 
research and development of roads and semi-official 
body to be formed to act as an advisory body on 
various aspects of roads.
1929 (1st March)—Central Road Fund
 • Present tax on petrol and diesel is ` 2/litre.
Part III_Unit 11_Chapter 01.indd   908 5/20/2017   7:22:11 PM
Chapter 1 
¦
 Transportation Engineering | 3.909
 • 20% of annual revenue to be retained as Central reserve 
and grants are to be given by the Central Government for 
research on road and bridge projects.
 • 80% of annual revenue is distributed to states (based on 
tax collected for petrol) for road development.
1934—Indian Roads Congress (Semi-official Technical 
Body)
 • It is an offshoot of Jayakar committee.
 • Controls specifications, standards and guidelines on mate-
rials, design and construction of roads and bridges and 
publishes journals and research publication on Highway 
Engineering.
 • Works with Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
1939—Motor V ehicle Act (Revised in 1988 and came into 
force in 1989)
 • If any vehicle has to occupy the road, tax has to be paid 
and instructions for road users were given.
 • This act is to regulate the road traffic in the form of traffic 
laws, ordinances and regulations. The three phases pri-
marily covered are:
(a) Control of the driver
(b) Vehicle ownership
(c) Vehicle operation on roads and in traffic stream 
1943–63—Nagpur Road Plan (I 20 year Road Develop-
ment Plan)
 • Target—16 km road/100 sq.km area of country.
 • Achieved target 2 years ahead in 1961. 
 • This plan assumed ‘Star and Grid Pattern’.
 • Divided roads into five categories
(a) National Highways (NH)
(b) State Highways (SH)
(c) Major District Roads (MDR)
(d) Other District Roads (ODR)
(e) Village Roads (VR)
 • Proposed a formula for calculating the road length of dif-
ferent categories of roads, considering geographical, agri-
cultural and population conditions.
1950—Central Road Research Institute (CPRI) It was 
started at New Delhi. It is engaged in carrying out applied 
research in various aspects of highway engineering.
1956—National Highway Act Development and mainte-
nance to be under Central Government.
1988—National Highway Authority of India (NHAI)  
(Revised form of National Highway Act)
 • Started opening in 1995.
1961–1981—Bombay Road Plan (II road development 
plan)
Target: 
 1. 32 km road /100 sq. km area of country (double of 
Nagpur plan).
 2. Expressways of 1600 km length.
1973—Highway Research Board (HRB) Coordination 
and promotion of highway researches.
1981–2001—Lucknow Road Plan (III road development 
plan)
 • Target 82 km/100 sq. km area and expressways 2000 km.
 • In 1991, changes were made to include private sector in 
road development.
Roads are classified into three classes:
1. Primary system
2. Secondary system
3. Tertiary system
Expressways
Village roads
National Highways
State Highways
Major district roads
Other district road
2000—National Highway Development Projects 
(NHDP) (Taken up by NHAI)
Planned road development in different phases to construct 
roads with uninterrupted flow of traffic.
Phase I—Golden Quadrilateral (5846 km)
Mumbai–Chennai–Kolkata–Delhi (All major metropolitan 
cities)
Phase II: 
 1. North–South corridor (Srinagar to Kanyakumari)
 2. East–West corridor (Silchar to Porbandar) Phase II 
has total length of 7300 km.
2000—Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Y ojana (PMGSY) To 
provide connectivity to all unconnected habitations with 
population 500 and above with all-weather roads.
Road Development Plan
Vision 2021
 • The fourth road development plan has not yet been 
approved. Instead Road Development plan vision: 2021 
has been formulated for the period 2001–2021.
 • This vision document has considered the need for overall 
development of road system in the country.
 • Special attention for road development in North–Easte 
and isolated areas.
 • Suggestions for development of urban road system and 
district and village roads
Target by 2020
 1. Primary highway system 
Expressways—15,766 km
National highways—80,000 km
Part III_Unit 11_Chapter 01.indd   909 5/20/2017   7:22:11 PM
Page 4


 ? Highway development and planning
 ? Highway alignment and engineering surveys
 ? Highway geometric design
 ? Geometric design of railway track
 ? Airport planning and design
CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS
Chapter 1
Transportation Engineering
Highway Development
and Planning
Introduction
Transportation is vital for the economic development of any 
region as it is used to transport people, products, etc. The 
main objective of good transportation system is to provide 
safe, economical and effi  cient system. This chapter explains 
the development of roads from romans to the present includ-
ing the developments during all kingdoms and British rule. 
The present scenario and all road development plans and 
their objectives are discussed.
In Latin, transportae = to cross across.
Modes of Transport
Highways—Most fl exible system (house to house 
connection)
Railway—Energy consumption less than highways
1
4
1
8
of highways -
?
?
?
?
Waterways—Economical but slow
Airways—Costliest of all
Historic Development
 1. Mesopotamia—3500 BC: Invention of wheel and 
necessity of hard surface for wheeled vehicles to 
move, paved the way for road building.
 2. Roman roads—312 BC:
 • Pioneers in road construction
 • 580 km (approximately)
 • No cross-slope or gradient
Broken stone 
in lime mortar
Large stones 
in lime mortar
Kerb stone
0.75 - 1.2m
 3. Pierre tresaguet (1716–1796) in France:
 • Father of modern highway engineering
 • Thickness of road can be only 30 cm
 • Cross-slope of 1 in 45 on top wearing course for 
surface drainage.
 • Shoulders also with cross-slope to drain surface 
water to side drain.
Part III_Unit 11_Chapter 01.indd   907 5/20/2017   7:22:10 PM
3.908 | Part III 
¦
 Unit 11 
¦
 Transportation Engineering
Smaller stones
Cross slope (1 in 45)
Large 
submerged 
kerb stones
Broken stones
Shoulder (1 in 20)
30 cm
8 cm
5 cm
 4. Metcalf method (1717–1810) in England—similar 
to tresaguet:
 • Followed recommendations of Robert Phillips.
 • 290 km of road in northern region of England.
 • His work was not recorded as he was blind. 
 5. Thomas Telford (1757–1834):
 • Founder of Institution of Civil Engineers at 
London.
 • Provided cross–slope from foundation itself by 
varying thickness of foundation stones.
 • Provided cross-drains at intervals of about 90 m.
 • No kerb stones are used.
4 cm
5 cm
10 cm
22 cm
Large foundation 
stones
Angular 
broken 
stones
Cross slope (1 in 45)
Edges of broken 
stones in lime mortar
 6. John McAdams’ (1756–1836):
 • Gave scientific method of road construction.
 • Realised not to provide strong foundation at sub-
grade as wheel load of traffic gets dispersed and 
intensity decreases at lower layers.
 • Sub-grade is compacted and cross-slope of 1 in 36 
is provided from sub-grade itself.
 • Improvement of strength of top layers.
10 cm
10 cm
5 cm
Angular 
broken 
stones
Compacted subgrade 
(Cross slope (1 in 36))
Broken stones 
passing 50mm sieve
Surface course with 
stones passing 20 mm 
sieve (Cross slope 
1 iin 36)
Broken stones 
passing 
37.5 mm sieve
Water bound McAdams’ – used soil to bind stones.
Bituminous McAdams’ – used bitumen as binder.
Highway Development in India
 • Excavations of Mohenjodaro and Harappa have 
revealed the existence of roads in India during 23–35 
century BC.
 • Mauryan kings and Gupta rulers also built very good 
roads.
 • Mughal period—Roads were built from North–West to 
the Eastern areas through Gangetic plains, linking coastal 
and central parts.
British Rule—19th Century
 • Early British maintained only roads of military and 
administrative importance.
 • Prior to introduction of railways, a number of trunk roads 
were metalled and bridges were constructed.
 • Governor General Lord Dalhousie formed the Public 
Works Department in 1865. Grand Trunk Road was 
undertaken by this new department.
Development During 20th Century
 • During I World War increases in number of vehicles 
demanded better roads. So, lot of development took place.
1927—Jayakar Committee Formed to examine and submit 
a report on road development.
Recommendations: 
 1. Road development to be considered as national 
interest.
 2. Levy tax on petrol and diesel from road users to 
develop fund called ‘Central Road Fund.’
 3. Establishing research organisation to carry out 
research and development of roads and semi-official 
body to be formed to act as an advisory body on 
various aspects of roads.
1929 (1st March)—Central Road Fund
 • Present tax on petrol and diesel is ` 2/litre.
Part III_Unit 11_Chapter 01.indd   908 5/20/2017   7:22:11 PM
Chapter 1 
¦
 Transportation Engineering | 3.909
 • 20% of annual revenue to be retained as Central reserve 
and grants are to be given by the Central Government for 
research on road and bridge projects.
 • 80% of annual revenue is distributed to states (based on 
tax collected for petrol) for road development.
1934—Indian Roads Congress (Semi-official Technical 
Body)
 • It is an offshoot of Jayakar committee.
 • Controls specifications, standards and guidelines on mate-
rials, design and construction of roads and bridges and 
publishes journals and research publication on Highway 
Engineering.
 • Works with Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
1939—Motor V ehicle Act (Revised in 1988 and came into 
force in 1989)
 • If any vehicle has to occupy the road, tax has to be paid 
and instructions for road users were given.
 • This act is to regulate the road traffic in the form of traffic 
laws, ordinances and regulations. The three phases pri-
marily covered are:
(a) Control of the driver
(b) Vehicle ownership
(c) Vehicle operation on roads and in traffic stream 
1943–63—Nagpur Road Plan (I 20 year Road Develop-
ment Plan)
 • Target—16 km road/100 sq.km area of country.
 • Achieved target 2 years ahead in 1961. 
 • This plan assumed ‘Star and Grid Pattern’.
 • Divided roads into five categories
(a) National Highways (NH)
(b) State Highways (SH)
(c) Major District Roads (MDR)
(d) Other District Roads (ODR)
(e) Village Roads (VR)
 • Proposed a formula for calculating the road length of dif-
ferent categories of roads, considering geographical, agri-
cultural and population conditions.
1950—Central Road Research Institute (CPRI) It was 
started at New Delhi. It is engaged in carrying out applied 
research in various aspects of highway engineering.
1956—National Highway Act Development and mainte-
nance to be under Central Government.
1988—National Highway Authority of India (NHAI)  
(Revised form of National Highway Act)
 • Started opening in 1995.
1961–1981—Bombay Road Plan (II road development 
plan)
Target: 
 1. 32 km road /100 sq. km area of country (double of 
Nagpur plan).
 2. Expressways of 1600 km length.
1973—Highway Research Board (HRB) Coordination 
and promotion of highway researches.
1981–2001—Lucknow Road Plan (III road development 
plan)
 • Target 82 km/100 sq. km area and expressways 2000 km.
 • In 1991, changes were made to include private sector in 
road development.
Roads are classified into three classes:
1. Primary system
2. Secondary system
3. Tertiary system
Expressways
Village roads
National Highways
State Highways
Major district roads
Other district road
2000—National Highway Development Projects 
(NHDP) (Taken up by NHAI)
Planned road development in different phases to construct 
roads with uninterrupted flow of traffic.
Phase I—Golden Quadrilateral (5846 km)
Mumbai–Chennai–Kolkata–Delhi (All major metropolitan 
cities)
Phase II: 
 1. North–South corridor (Srinagar to Kanyakumari)
 2. East–West corridor (Silchar to Porbandar) Phase II 
has total length of 7300 km.
2000—Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Y ojana (PMGSY) To 
provide connectivity to all unconnected habitations with 
population 500 and above with all-weather roads.
Road Development Plan
Vision 2021
 • The fourth road development plan has not yet been 
approved. Instead Road Development plan vision: 2021 
has been formulated for the period 2001–2021.
 • This vision document has considered the need for overall 
development of road system in the country.
 • Special attention for road development in North–Easte 
and isolated areas.
 • Suggestions for development of urban road system and 
district and village roads
Target by 2020
 1. Primary highway system 
Expressways—15,766 km
National highways—80,000 km
Part III_Unit 11_Chapter 01.indd   909 5/20/2017   7:22:11 PM
3.910 | Part III 
¦
 Unit 11 
¦
 Transportation Engineering
 2. Secondary road system 
State highways—1,60,000 km
Major district roads—3,20,000 km
Rural Road Development Plan
Vision 2025
 • Separate document for 20 year period 2005–2025 at the 
initiative of Ministry of Rural Development is prepared.
 • Document targets to provide connectivity to all uncon-
nected habitations in phased manner beyond the norms 
of PMGSY .
Phase I: Villages with Population > 1000—to be done 
by 2003.
Phase II: Population > 500—to be done by 2007.
Phase III: Population < 500 (in case of hill states, desert 
and tribal areas) by 2007.
Current Status of Roads
 • Expressways—1,208 km
 • National highways—92,851 km
 • State highways—1,55,716 km
 • Major and other district roads—2,577,396 km
 • Rural and other roads—1,463,577 km  
Total road network—4.3 million km
 •Smallest national highway is NH47—6 km 
(Thiruvananthapuram to Wellington Island)
 • Longest national highway is NH7 (Presently 44)—
Varanasi to kanyakumari (2,369 km)
Road Patterns
The choice of a pattern very much depends on the locality, 
the layout of different towns, villages, industrial and pro-
duction centres and on choice of planning engineer.
Rectangular or Block Pattern
Rectangular pattern
 • Used first in Chandigarh (planned city).
 • But this is not convenient from traffic operation point of 
view.
Radial or Star and Circular Pattern
 • Used at Connaught place in New Delhi.
 • Limitation of this method is congestion of traffic occurs.
Radial or Star and Grid Pattern
 • Used in Nagpur Road plan.
 • This method is the most followed one because of better 
inter communication between each of villages, towns, 
districts and state capitals.
Hexagonal Pattern
Part III_Unit 11_Chapter 01.indd   910 5/20/2017   7:22:11 PM
Page 5


 ? Highway development and planning
 ? Highway alignment and engineering surveys
 ? Highway geometric design
 ? Geometric design of railway track
 ? Airport planning and design
CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS
Chapter 1
Transportation Engineering
Highway Development
and Planning
Introduction
Transportation is vital for the economic development of any 
region as it is used to transport people, products, etc. The 
main objective of good transportation system is to provide 
safe, economical and effi  cient system. This chapter explains 
the development of roads from romans to the present includ-
ing the developments during all kingdoms and British rule. 
The present scenario and all road development plans and 
their objectives are discussed.
In Latin, transportae = to cross across.
Modes of Transport
Highways—Most fl exible system (house to house 
connection)
Railway—Energy consumption less than highways
1
4
1
8
of highways -
?
?
?
?
Waterways—Economical but slow
Airways—Costliest of all
Historic Development
 1. Mesopotamia—3500 BC: Invention of wheel and 
necessity of hard surface for wheeled vehicles to 
move, paved the way for road building.
 2. Roman roads—312 BC:
 • Pioneers in road construction
 • 580 km (approximately)
 • No cross-slope or gradient
Broken stone 
in lime mortar
Large stones 
in lime mortar
Kerb stone
0.75 - 1.2m
 3. Pierre tresaguet (1716–1796) in France:
 • Father of modern highway engineering
 • Thickness of road can be only 30 cm
 • Cross-slope of 1 in 45 on top wearing course for 
surface drainage.
 • Shoulders also with cross-slope to drain surface 
water to side drain.
Part III_Unit 11_Chapter 01.indd   907 5/20/2017   7:22:10 PM
3.908 | Part III 
¦
 Unit 11 
¦
 Transportation Engineering
Smaller stones
Cross slope (1 in 45)
Large 
submerged 
kerb stones
Broken stones
Shoulder (1 in 20)
30 cm
8 cm
5 cm
 4. Metcalf method (1717–1810) in England—similar 
to tresaguet:
 • Followed recommendations of Robert Phillips.
 • 290 km of road in northern region of England.
 • His work was not recorded as he was blind. 
 5. Thomas Telford (1757–1834):
 • Founder of Institution of Civil Engineers at 
London.
 • Provided cross–slope from foundation itself by 
varying thickness of foundation stones.
 • Provided cross-drains at intervals of about 90 m.
 • No kerb stones are used.
4 cm
5 cm
10 cm
22 cm
Large foundation 
stones
Angular 
broken 
stones
Cross slope (1 in 45)
Edges of broken 
stones in lime mortar
 6. John McAdams’ (1756–1836):
 • Gave scientific method of road construction.
 • Realised not to provide strong foundation at sub-
grade as wheel load of traffic gets dispersed and 
intensity decreases at lower layers.
 • Sub-grade is compacted and cross-slope of 1 in 36 
is provided from sub-grade itself.
 • Improvement of strength of top layers.
10 cm
10 cm
5 cm
Angular 
broken 
stones
Compacted subgrade 
(Cross slope (1 in 36))
Broken stones 
passing 50mm sieve
Surface course with 
stones passing 20 mm 
sieve (Cross slope 
1 iin 36)
Broken stones 
passing 
37.5 mm sieve
Water bound McAdams’ – used soil to bind stones.
Bituminous McAdams’ – used bitumen as binder.
Highway Development in India
 • Excavations of Mohenjodaro and Harappa have 
revealed the existence of roads in India during 23–35 
century BC.
 • Mauryan kings and Gupta rulers also built very good 
roads.
 • Mughal period—Roads were built from North–West to 
the Eastern areas through Gangetic plains, linking coastal 
and central parts.
British Rule—19th Century
 • Early British maintained only roads of military and 
administrative importance.
 • Prior to introduction of railways, a number of trunk roads 
were metalled and bridges were constructed.
 • Governor General Lord Dalhousie formed the Public 
Works Department in 1865. Grand Trunk Road was 
undertaken by this new department.
Development During 20th Century
 • During I World War increases in number of vehicles 
demanded better roads. So, lot of development took place.
1927—Jayakar Committee Formed to examine and submit 
a report on road development.
Recommendations: 
 1. Road development to be considered as national 
interest.
 2. Levy tax on petrol and diesel from road users to 
develop fund called ‘Central Road Fund.’
 3. Establishing research organisation to carry out 
research and development of roads and semi-official 
body to be formed to act as an advisory body on 
various aspects of roads.
1929 (1st March)—Central Road Fund
 • Present tax on petrol and diesel is ` 2/litre.
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 • 20% of annual revenue to be retained as Central reserve 
and grants are to be given by the Central Government for 
research on road and bridge projects.
 • 80% of annual revenue is distributed to states (based on 
tax collected for petrol) for road development.
1934—Indian Roads Congress (Semi-official Technical 
Body)
 • It is an offshoot of Jayakar committee.
 • Controls specifications, standards and guidelines on mate-
rials, design and construction of roads and bridges and 
publishes journals and research publication on Highway 
Engineering.
 • Works with Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
1939—Motor V ehicle Act (Revised in 1988 and came into 
force in 1989)
 • If any vehicle has to occupy the road, tax has to be paid 
and instructions for road users were given.
 • This act is to regulate the road traffic in the form of traffic 
laws, ordinances and regulations. The three phases pri-
marily covered are:
(a) Control of the driver
(b) Vehicle ownership
(c) Vehicle operation on roads and in traffic stream 
1943–63—Nagpur Road Plan (I 20 year Road Develop-
ment Plan)
 • Target—16 km road/100 sq.km area of country.
 • Achieved target 2 years ahead in 1961. 
 • This plan assumed ‘Star and Grid Pattern’.
 • Divided roads into five categories
(a) National Highways (NH)
(b) State Highways (SH)
(c) Major District Roads (MDR)
(d) Other District Roads (ODR)
(e) Village Roads (VR)
 • Proposed a formula for calculating the road length of dif-
ferent categories of roads, considering geographical, agri-
cultural and population conditions.
1950—Central Road Research Institute (CPRI) It was 
started at New Delhi. It is engaged in carrying out applied 
research in various aspects of highway engineering.
1956—National Highway Act Development and mainte-
nance to be under Central Government.
1988—National Highway Authority of India (NHAI)  
(Revised form of National Highway Act)
 • Started opening in 1995.
1961–1981—Bombay Road Plan (II road development 
plan)
Target: 
 1. 32 km road /100 sq. km area of country (double of 
Nagpur plan).
 2. Expressways of 1600 km length.
1973—Highway Research Board (HRB) Coordination 
and promotion of highway researches.
1981–2001—Lucknow Road Plan (III road development 
plan)
 • Target 82 km/100 sq. km area and expressways 2000 km.
 • In 1991, changes were made to include private sector in 
road development.
Roads are classified into three classes:
1. Primary system
2. Secondary system
3. Tertiary system
Expressways
Village roads
National Highways
State Highways
Major district roads
Other district road
2000—National Highway Development Projects 
(NHDP) (Taken up by NHAI)
Planned road development in different phases to construct 
roads with uninterrupted flow of traffic.
Phase I—Golden Quadrilateral (5846 km)
Mumbai–Chennai–Kolkata–Delhi (All major metropolitan 
cities)
Phase II: 
 1. North–South corridor (Srinagar to Kanyakumari)
 2. East–West corridor (Silchar to Porbandar) Phase II 
has total length of 7300 km.
2000—Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Y ojana (PMGSY) To 
provide connectivity to all unconnected habitations with 
population 500 and above with all-weather roads.
Road Development Plan
Vision 2021
 • The fourth road development plan has not yet been 
approved. Instead Road Development plan vision: 2021 
has been formulated for the period 2001–2021.
 • This vision document has considered the need for overall 
development of road system in the country.
 • Special attention for road development in North–Easte 
and isolated areas.
 • Suggestions for development of urban road system and 
district and village roads
Target by 2020
 1. Primary highway system 
Expressways—15,766 km
National highways—80,000 km
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 2. Secondary road system 
State highways—1,60,000 km
Major district roads—3,20,000 km
Rural Road Development Plan
Vision 2025
 • Separate document for 20 year period 2005–2025 at the 
initiative of Ministry of Rural Development is prepared.
 • Document targets to provide connectivity to all uncon-
nected habitations in phased manner beyond the norms 
of PMGSY .
Phase I: Villages with Population > 1000—to be done 
by 2003.
Phase II: Population > 500—to be done by 2007.
Phase III: Population < 500 (in case of hill states, desert 
and tribal areas) by 2007.
Current Status of Roads
 • Expressways—1,208 km
 • National highways—92,851 km
 • State highways—1,55,716 km
 • Major and other district roads—2,577,396 km
 • Rural and other roads—1,463,577 km  
Total road network—4.3 million km
 •Smallest national highway is NH47—6 km 
(Thiruvananthapuram to Wellington Island)
 • Longest national highway is NH7 (Presently 44)—
Varanasi to kanyakumari (2,369 km)
Road Patterns
The choice of a pattern very much depends on the locality, 
the layout of different towns, villages, industrial and pro-
duction centres and on choice of planning engineer.
Rectangular or Block Pattern
Rectangular pattern
 • Used first in Chandigarh (planned city).
 • But this is not convenient from traffic operation point of 
view.
Radial or Star and Circular Pattern
 • Used at Connaught place in New Delhi.
 • Limitation of this method is congestion of traffic occurs.
Radial or Star and Grid Pattern
 • Used in Nagpur Road plan.
 • This method is the most followed one because of better 
inter communication between each of villages, towns, 
districts and state capitals.
Hexagonal Pattern
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Radial or Star and Block Pattern
Priority of Road Development
 • Priority of different roads is calculated to plan out the 
construction project according to priority in phases.
 • Priority is calculated by saturation system or maximum 
utility system.
 • Factors taken into consideration are:
(a) Population served by road network.
(b) Productivity served by the network.
 (i) Agricultural products
(ii) Industrial products
Utility rate of a road 
=
?+ () Population units Production units
Road length
 • Villages and settlements may be grouped in population 
ranges and are assigned utility units.
 • Productivity served may be assigned appropriate values 
of utility units per unit weight.
SOLVED EXAMPLES
Example 1
Three new roads P, Q and R are to be completed in a dis-
trict during a five year plan period. Using the data given, 
work out the road with first priority by saturation system. 
Adopt utility unit of 1 for serving a population range of 
2000–5000, or for catering for 1000 tonnes of agricultural 
products or 100 tonnes of industrial products.
Road
Length 
(km)
Number of Villages 
Served Population
Productivity in  
Thousand (tonnes)
< 2000 2000–5000 > 5000 Agricultural Industrial
P 20 9 10 5 16 1.5
Q 10 12 2 1 10 0
R 18 20 15 3 21 0.9
Solution
Based on given utilities, the following utilities are taken 
(approximately)
Population Utility Unit
< 2000 0.5 Agricultural products (1000t ? 1 unit)
2000–5000 1 Industrial products (1000t ? 10 units)
> 5000 2
Road
Length 
(km)
Total Utility Units 
Served by Road
Utility per 
Unit Length Priority
P 20
(9 × 0.5) + (10 × 1) + (5 
× 2)  
+ (16 × 1) + (1.5 × 10) = 
55.5
555
20
2777
.
. =
 
II
Q 10
(12 × 0.5) + (2 × 1) + (1 
× 2)  
+ (10 × 1) + (0 × 10) = 20
20
10
2 = III
R 18
(20 × 0.5) + (15 × 1) + 
(3 × 2)  
+ (21 × 1) + (0.9 × 10) 
= 61
61
18
339 = . I
Express Ways
 • Y amuna Expressway—165 km in UP .
 • Outer Ring Road, Hyderabad—158 km in Telangana.
 • Guntur, Vijayawada Expressway—49 km in Andhra 
Pradesh
 • Ahmedabad Vadodara Expressway—95 km in Gujarat
 • Mumbai–Pune Expressway—93 km in Maharashtra
 • PV Narasimha Rao Express Flyover—11.46 km, Asia’s 
first express flyover in Hyderabad
 • Delhi—Noida (Greater Noida) Expressway—Two sepa-
rate expressways to provide high speed road network. The 
DND flyway was first expressway built in Delhi.
Highway Alignment 
and Engineering Surveys
Introduction
The position or the layout of the centre line of the highway 
on the ground is called the alignment. It includes both hori-
zontal and vertical alignments of the roadway.
Basic Requirements of an Ideal Alignment
 1. Short
 2. Easy
 3. Safe 
 4. Economical
The alignment should be such that it serves maximum pop-
ulation and products (maximum utility).
Factors Controlling Alignment
 1. Obligatory points:
(a) Points through which the alignment should pass
  Example: Mountain pass, suitable location of 
bridge to cross a river, presence of quarry or an 
intermediate town to be connected.
(b) Points through which the alignment should not 
pass.
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