Summary: Transportation Engineering

Table of Contents
1. Highway Development & Planning
2. Modern Road Developments in India
3. First 20-Year Road Plan (Nagpur Road Plan) 1943-1963
4. Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) and National Highway Act
5. Second 20-Year Road Plan (Bombay Road Plan) 1961-1981
6. Third 20-Year Road Plan (Lucknow Road Plan) 1981-2001
7. Classification of Roads
8. Road Patterns
9. Planning Surveys
10. Engineering Surveys for Highway Location
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Highway Development & Planning

• Order of Road Development
  • Roman Roads - first large-scale roads (Appian Way ~580 km); straight alignment; total thickness 0.75-1.2 m; wearing course of dressed stone blocks in lime mortar; built after removing soft soil to hard stratum.
  • Tresaguet Construction - (Pierre Tresaguet) thickness ≈ 30 cm; considered subgrade moisture and surface drainage; wearing surface cross slope 1 in 45; shoulder slope ≈ 1 in 20.
  • Metcalf Construction - (John Metcalf) followed Robert Phillip's instructions (no further features listed).
  • Telford Construction - level subgrade width 9 m; binding (wearing) layer 4 cm with cross slope 1 in 45; foundation stone thickness 17 cm at edge to 22 cm at centre.
  • Macadam Construction - new scientific method: no heavy foundation stones; stones <5 mm="" to="" uniform="" thickness="" 10="" cm="" for="" lower="" layer;="" emphasis="" on="" subgrade="" drainage="" and="" compaction;="" cross="" slope="" 1="" in="" 36;="" broken="" stone="" chosen="" for="" stability="" under="" animal-drawn="" vehicles;="" uniform="" total="" thickness="" minimum="" 25="">
  • Water Bound Macadam (W.B.M.) - broken stones of base and surface are bound by stone dust in presence of moisture.

Modern Road Developments in India

• Jayakar Committee (1927) - recommended treating road development as national interest; levy extra petrol tax to form Central Road Fund; form semi-official technical advisory body; institute a research organization. Many recommendations were accepted.
• Key steps taken: Central Road Fund formed 1 March 1929; Indian Roads Congress (IRC) formed 1934; Motor Vehicle Act enacted 1939 (revised 1988); Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) started 1950; National Highway Act 1956; Highway Research Board set up 1973; National Transport Policy Committee 1978; IRC involved in 20-year plans.

First 20-Year Road Plan (Nagpur Road Plan) 1943-1963

• Nagpur Road Plan - classified all roads into five categories (NH, SH, MDR, ODR, VR); used "star and grid" pattern; targeted total road length 532,700 km and road density 16 km per 100 km² by 1963; railway length subtracted from metalled road length when computing net road length.
• Formulae provided for: metalled main roads (NH+SH+MDR) and for other district + village roads (ODR+VR) using village and town population groups and a 15% development allowance.
• Observed outcome: total achieved length exceeded target, but NH and SH lengths were less than planned.

Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) and National Highway Act

• CRRI (started 1950) - national lab under CSIR for applied highway research and technical advice to states.
• National Highway Act (1956) - central government takes responsibility for NH development and maintenance and can declare or omit highways as NH.

Second 20-Year Road Plan (Bombay Road Plan) 1961-1981

• Targets: road density 32 km per 100 km²; maximum distance to a metalled road 6.4 km in developed areas; connect towns above population thresholds by metalled roads; include 1,600 km expressways within NH targets; use 5% development allowance; treat railway length independent (not subtracted).
• Result: overall achievement > target, but NH and SH lengths remained below targets; development allowance reduced from 15% (Nagpur) to 5%.

Third 20-Year Road Plan (Lucknow Road Plan) 1981-2001

• Key features: classify roads into primary, secondary, tertiary systems; connect all villages with population >500 (1981 census) by all-weather roads; overall road density target 82 km per 100 km²; expand NH network into 100 km square grids so no place is more than 50 km from an NH; emphasize environmental quality and road safety.
• Primary road system - includes expressways (2,000 km) and NH grid concept (≈66,000 km total NH by grid concept).
• Secondary road system - State Highways (SH) and Major District Roads (MDR); formulae given to estimate lengths: SH ≈ 62.5 × number of towns in state minus NH length; MDR ≈ 90 × number of towns in state.
• Tertiary road system - Other District Roads (ODR) and Village Roads (VR).

Classification of Roads

• Rural roads - classified by traffic volume (heavy, medium, light), load-transport class (Class A, B, etc.), and location/function. Nagpur plan categories: NH, SH, MDR, ODR, VR. Third plan proposed modified classification into primary/secondary/tertiary systems.
• Urban roads - classified as arterial, sub-arterial, collector streets, and local streets (urban lengths not included in third plan targets).

Road Patterns

• Common patterns: rectangular/block (Chandigarh), radial/star & block, radial/star & circular (Connaught Place, Delhi), radial/star & grid (Nagpur plan), hexagonal, and minimum travel pattern.

Planning Surveys

• Studies required to assess road length needs: economic studies; financial studies (income sources); traffic or road-use studies; engineering studies.
• Saturation system - computes optimum road length by maximizing utility per unit road length. Factors: population served and productivity (agricultural, industrial). Utility units assigned by village population groups (e.g., <500 = 0.25; 501-1000 = 0.50; 1001-2000 = 1.00; 2001-5000 = 2.00). After optimum length is decided, phase the plan by prioritizing road links.

Engineering Surveys for Highway Location

• Stages of surveys before finalizing alignment:
  • Map study - use Survey of India topographic maps (15-30 m contours) to avoid valleys, ponds and plan bridge positions.
  • Reconnaissance - examine general area to decide feasible routes for detailed study.
  • Preliminary survey - collect physical information: primary traverse, topography, leveling, drainage and hydrology, soil survey, material survey, determine final centre line, traffic survey.
  • Final location and detailed survey - translate centre line on ground, fix temporary benchmarks, carry out detailed leveling for drainage and earthwork calculations.