TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING

An overview of the course

 Transportation
Engineering

Transportation Transportation
Engineering- 1 Engineering- 2

Traffic Engineering
and
Highway Engineering Railway Engineering Airport Engineering
Transportation
Planning
Transportation Engineering – 1
1. HIGHWAY ENGINEERING: -
 Introduction: - Highway engineering, scope of highway engineering, highway classification, factors
controlling highway alignment, Engineering survey for highway location. (6 hrs)
 Highway Economics and Finance: -Methods of Economic Analysis- Motor vehicle operation cost,
Highway finance. (6 hrs)
 Geometric Design:- Elements of highway, factor effecting friction, Camber, types of camber, width
of formation, Sight distance-stopping and Overtaking, Horizontal curve, Extra widening, Super
elevation, Transition curve, Vertical curves-Summit and Valley Curves.(11 hrs)
 Pavements Design: - Types of pavements, Factors which influences design and selection of different
types of pavements, Brief study on pavement materials, Design of Flexible pavements - IRC
method, Design of Rigid pavements- IRC method. Types of failure in pavements, Types of joint in
Rigid pavements. (12 hrs)
 Highway Drainage System:-Types of drainage and design. (2hrs)

2. TRAFFIC ENGINEERING AND TRANSPORT PLANNING : -

 Traffic Engineering:- Traffic engineering, vehicular and road user characteristics, traffic studies,
Variation in speeds, speed and delay studies and problems, Origin and destination studies, traffic
density, Traffic volume study and traffic volume, Relation between speed, travel time and traffic
volume, Traffic density and passenger car units, Traffic signs and traffic signals, design
problems.(9hrs)
 Transportation Planning: - Transportation planning and stages in transport planning, Trip
generation, Trip distribution models, Trip assignment, and Modal split. (6hrs)
REFERENCES:
1. Khanna S.K and Justo C.E.G., (2001), “Highway Engineering”, 8th
Edition, Nemchand and Bros., Roorkee.
2. Kadiyali L.R., (2000), “Traffic Engineering and Transportation
Planning”, 6th Edition, Khanna Publisher, New Delhi.
3. R Srinivasa Kumar., “Text Book of Highway Engineering”, University
Press, 2011.
4. E.J. Yoder, “Principles of Pavement Design”, 2nd Edition, John Wiley
& Sons, Inc. New York, 1975.
5. Yang H. Huang, “Pavement Analysis and Design”, Prentice Hall,
2003.
6. Hutchinson, B.G., “Principles of Urban Transportation System
Planning”, McGraw-Hill, 1974
7. McShane W R & Roess R P, “Traffic Engineering”, Prentice-Hall, NJ,
2010.
8. Vukan R. Vuchic, “Urban Transit: Operations, Planning and
Economics”, Wiley, 2005.
9. Ceder A, “Public Transit Planning and Operation”, Elsevier, 2007.
10. Relevant Indian Road Congress Codes.
Highway Engineering

Chapter 1. Introduction
Objective:
The aim of this module is to brief the
importance of highways, scope of highway engineering
and engineers, classification of highways in India and
development of road networks in India. The factors
controlling the alignment of roads and the various
engineering surveys carried out in development of
road network are also dealt in this module.
After the successful completion of this
module, a graduate students should be able to classify
the various road networks, carry out the engineering
surveys for alignment of highway and suggest possible
best alignment of highway.
Highway Engineering:
Is the branch of transportation engineering which deals with
development, planning and locations of highway, design of geometrics of
highways, design of highway pavements, traffic performance and its control,
materials, construction and maintenance, economics, finance and
administration.
Scope of Highway Engineers:
A highway engineers have the following tasks assigned
1. To carry out the feasibility study of the existing road or proposed road
based on the information collected form various source.
2. To propose the best possible alignment.
3. To design the road network.
4. To design highway pavements.
5. To characterize the highway construction materials and to ascertain its
suitability for highway construction
6. To carry out research in order to establish various design standards.
Importance of well developed road network:
A well developed road network with world class features
will facilitates the following:
1. Savings in vehicle operating costs
2. Faster, comfortable journeys
3. Reduced fuel consumption
4. Safer travel
5. Benefits to trade especially in movement of perishable
maters
6. Reduced maintenance costs
7. All round development of areas
Road development in India
The Jayakar committee
Indian Roads and Transport Development Association (IRTDA),
in 1927 constituted a committee chaired by Dr M. R. Jayakar with an
intention to investigate the existing conditions of roads, examine the
increased intensity of vehicular traffic and to catalog the probable
needs of road development. The major recommendations made by the
committee were:
1. The development of roads in India should be regarded as national
interest and the national government should take major initiatives
to develop the roads.
2. Establishment of Central Road Fund and the funds for the road
development should be raised by extra tax levied on petrol from
the road users.
3. Setting up of a semi-official technical advisor body to look it to the
various aspects of road development.
4. Set up an organization to promote research in highway sector.
Implementation of Jayakar committee recommendations:
1. Central road Fund- 1/03/1929
The consumers were charged extra levy for Petrol/ Diesel and will be retained
as a central reserve. Of which 20% are retained by the Central government for
research, administration and to bridge the project of national importance and
balance 80% back to states based on the revenue collected.
2. Indian road congress formed in the year 1934 technical body to
recommend standard specification, recommendations on materials , design
and construction of roads and bridges, publish journals, research publications
under the Ministry of surface transport.
3. Motor vehicle act in 1939 to regulate road traffic laws, ordinance and
regulations. It is revised in the year 1988.
4.Central road research institute is formed in the year 1950.
20-year road development plan
The first 20-year road development plan: The Nagpur Road Plan (1943-1963)
1. A target road density of about 16km/100sq.km is to be achieved by the end
of the plan period
2. Deteriorated road should be maintained routinely on a short term basis
3. Roads are classified as National Highway (NH),State Highway (SH), Major
District Road (MDR) or Other District Road (ODR) and Village Road (VR)
4. Planning, construction, design and maintenance of NH by central
government.
5. The NH, SH and MDR should be constructed with well designed pavement
principles and all these category of roads should be all weather roads.
6. The ODR and VR should be constructed with gravelly soils.
7. Required width and length of NH, SH, ODR and VR are to be formulated
based on the coverage of agricultural areas, non- agricultural areas and no.
of habitations with in the area, existing length of railway tracks. An allowance
of 15% must be kept for future developments in the next 20-year period.
8. Star and Grid patter is followed.
The second 20-year road development plan: The Bombay Road
Plan (1961-1981)
1. A target road density of about 32km/100sq.km is to be
achieved by the end of the plan period
2. Due emphasis on rural road development
3. Roads used for military purposes are to be considered for
other strategic requirements too
4. Stage construction of roads to be considered in case of
limited financial resources
The third 20-year road development plan: The Lucknow Road Plan
(1981-2001)
1. A target road density of about 82km/100sq.km is to be achieved by the
end of the plan period
2. All villages with population of 500 and above should be connected by all
weather roads and all towns with population of 1500 and above should
be connected by MDR roads
3. All towns with population of 5000 and above should be connected by NH
and SH
4. Long-term master plan
5. Due encouragement should be given to less industrialized area by
suitably developing the road network
6. Construction of roads should generate employment and overall
development
7. Balanced road development should be made in rural and urban regions
8. More length of NH should be constructed to form a NH square-grid of
size 100km
9. On main traffic routes, expressways should be constructed (Mumbai
Pune Expressway, officially known as the Yashwantrao Chavan Mumbai
Pune Expressway-is India's first six-lane concrete, high-speed, access
controlled tolled expressway)
Estimation of road length for different classes of roads as per
Lucknow plan
Length of NH = area in sq.km/50
Length of SH = area of state in sq.km/25 or = (63 x no. of towns in
state) – LNH (km)
Length of MDR = area of state in sq.km/12.5 or = (100 x no. of towns in
state)
L total = 4.74 x total no. of villages and towns
Length of (ODR+VR) = L total - (LNH+LSH+LMDR)
Macadam Construction:
John Macadam made an attempt to improve road condition in 1815.
The construction steps:
1. Subgrade compacted and prepared with a cross slope of 1 in 36.
2. Hard Broken stones all passing through 5cm sieve were compacted
to thickness of 10cm.
3. The second layer of hard broken stones of size 3.75cm was
compacted to thickness of 10cm.
4. The top layer consists of stones of size less than 2cm compacted to
a thickness of 5cm and finished also at a slope of 1 in 36.
Write short notes on the following (Highway Engineering by
Srinivasa Kumar)
1. MORTH (Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways)
2. IRC (Indian Road Congress)
3. HRB (Highway Research Board)
4. NHAI (National Highway Authority of India)
5. NITHE (National Institute of Training for Highway Engineers)
6. BRO (Border Road Organization)
7. NHDP-Phase I,II,III,IV,V,VI and VII
8. MORD (Ministry of Rural Development)
9. PMGSY (Pradhana Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana)
10. NRRDA (National Rural Roads Development Agency)
Classification of roads
Based on Season
i. All-weather roads: all weather roads are usable during all weather
conditions and the interruption to the traffic is permissible only at
river crossings during worst case.
ii. Fair weather roads: the traffic on these types of roads may be
interrupted during monsoon season at causeways where the
streams may overflow across the road.
Based on road pavement
i. Paved: at least WBM layer
ii. Unpaved road: Earth roads or gravel roads
Based on pavement types
i. Surfaced roads: bituminous (black topping) or cement surface
ii. Un-surfaced roads: no bituminous or cement surface
Classification according to Nagpur plan
i. National Highway (NH):These are the major roads running through the
length and breadth of India connecting major ports, foreign highways,
capitals of large states and large industries and tourist centers including
strategic movements for defense of India.
Eg.:NH-1; Delhi-Ambala-Amritsar
NH-1-A; Jalandar to Srinaga and Uri
ii. State Highway (SH): Are the arterial roads of a state, connecting up with
the national highways of adjacent state, district head quarters and
important cities within the state. These are regarded as main arteries of
commerce by roads with in the state.
iii. Major District Roads (MDR): Important roads within the district serving
areas of productions and markets and connecting those with each other
or with the main highways of a district.
iv. Other Major District Roads (ODR): Roads serving rural areas of
production and providing them with outlet to markets centers, taluk
head quarters, and other main roads.
v. Village road (VR): Roads connecting villages or group of villages with
each other to the nearest road of a higher category.
 Current classification (According to Lucknow
plan, 1981-2001)
Priorities basis Urban roads (IRC:69-1977;IRC:86-1983)

I. Primary system: Arterial roads (>80kmph)

Expressways and NH Sub-arterial (>60kmph<80kmph)

II. Secondary system Collector roads (>50kmph<60kmph)

SH and MDR Local roads (30kmph)

III. Tertiary system

ODR and VR
 Indian Road Network
Indian road network of 33 lakh Km.is second largest in the world and consists of :
Length(In Km)
Expressways 200
National Highways 79,243
State Highways 1,31,899
Major District Roads 4,67,763
Rural and Other Roads 26,50,000
Total Length 33 Lakhs Kms(Approx)
Modal Shift

•About 65% of freight and 80% passenger traffic is carried by the roads.
•National Highways constitute only about 1.7% of the road network but carry about
40% of the total road traffic.
•Number of vehicles has been growing at an average pace of 10.16% per annum over
the last five years.

Source: NHAI web site: http://www.nhai.org/roadnetwork.htm

Write short notes on the following:
1. Rectangular or block pattern
2. Radial or star and block pattern
3. Radial or star and circular pattern
4. Radial or star and grid pattern
5. Hexagonal pattern
6. Minimum travel pattern
Roman civilization is with Block pattern
f)Minimum travel Pattern
Chandigarh-Block Pattern. Modern cities like Cannaught place is
with Radial and circular pattern
Nagpur road plan-Star and grid pattern
If X-village, Y-Town, Z- City,
Y1, Y2 ….are the focal points for connecting X1, X2 …..
Z1, Z2 …..are the focal points for connecting Y1, Y2 ……
Planning survey:
Planning of highways is done in two phase
I. Assessment of road length requirement for
an area (it may be a district, state or the
whole country)
II. Preparation of master plan showing the
phasing of plan in annual and or five year
plans.
 Planning Survey
Economic studies Data collected must Population, its distribution and classification. Trend
confirm to: of population growth; Listing of agricultural and
Adequacy, industrial development, their future trends
Accuracy, classification and listing of these details; other
Availability, activities viz. Income per capita, banking, post office
Accessibility etc.

Financial studies Source of income, Revenue from taxation on road

transport, Living standard, future trends-details like
vehicle registration, Court fees and Local taxes etc.
Traffic or road Traffic volume, traffic flow patterns- 0 and D
use studies studies, Mass transportation facilities, Accidents -
their costs, trends; Growth of vehicular traffic,
passenger trips and good movements.
Engineering Road location and alignment studies, Classification;
studies Types of roads in use; Maintenance problems - Soil
and topography studies; Road life studies.
 Preparation of Plans
Plan types Description
Plan I General area plan showing almost all existing details viz.
topography, existing road network and drainage structure,
rivers, canals, nallahs etc., towns and villages with the
population; commercial industrial or agricultural activities are
also shown in this map.

Plan II This plan includes the distribution of population groups in

accordance with the categories made in the appropriate plan.

Plan III This plan shows the locations of places with their respective
quantities of productivity.

Plan IV This plan shows the existing road network with traffic flows
and desire lines obtained from Origin and Destination studies
of traffic. Proposals received 'from different sources may also
be shown in this plan.
Interpretation of planning surveys
The various details collected from the planning surveys and presented in the form of
plans should be interpreted in a scientific way before arriving at the final road
development program.
The data collected could be interpreted and used for the following important
purposes:
• To arrive at the road net-work, out of the several alternate possible systems, which
has the maximum utility.
• To fix up priority of the construction projects, so as to phase the road development
plan of an area in different periods of time such as five year plans and annual
plans.
• To assess the actual road use by studying the traffic flow patterns. This data may
therefore show areas of congestion which need immediate relief.
• Based on the traffic type and intensity and the performance of existing types of
pavement and cross drainage structures, a new structure may be designed using
the data and the past experience.
• Comparison of the areas may be obtained on the basis of their economic activities.
This information may therefore suggest the areas of immediate need for road
network.
• On statistical basis, the data obtained in fact finding surveys may be analyzed for
the future trends in development of an area i.e., growth in productivity and
population which in turn generate higher traffic volume. This information may be
useful in the future planning.
Preparation of master plan and its phasing
Master plan is the final road development plan for the
area under study which may be a block, taluk, district, state or
the whole country.
Saturation system
In this system the optimum road length is calculated for
area, based on the concept of obtaining maximum utility per unit
length of road. Hence this system is called saturation system or
maximum utility system.
The factors which are taken for obtaining the utility per
unit length of road are :
I. Population served by the road network
II. Productivity served by the network
a) Agricultural products
b) Industrial products
Step (i) Population units:
Since the area under consideration may consist of villages and
towns with different populations, it is required to group these into
some convenient population ranges and to assign some reasonable
values of utility units to each range of populations served.
Population less than 500, utility unit = 0.25
50I to 1000, utility unit = 0.50
100I to 2000, utility unit = 1.00
2001 to 5000, utility unit = 2.00 etc..
From plan II of population prepared earlier, the number of
towns and villages with population ranges served by each road system
is found and then converted into the utility units served by each road.
Thus the total number of units based on population can be obtained
for each road system proposed.
Step (ii) Productivity units:
The total agricultural and industrial products served by each road
system should be worked out. The productivity served may be assigned
appropriate values of utility units per unit weight. For example one thousand
tonnes of agricultural products may be considered equivalent to one unit.
Similarly the industrial products may also be assigned some suitable utility
units per unit weight. However, coal, raw materials like ores etc. may be
assigned lower utility values than the industrial products. From plan III
showing the products in the area, the total productivity units served by each
road system may be estimated.

Step (iii) Utility:

The total utility units of each road system is found by adding the
population units and productivity units. The total units are divided by the
total road length of each system to obtain the utility rate per unit length.

Each road system having different layout and length would show
different values of utility per unit length. The proposal which gives maximum
utility per unit length may be chosen as the final layout with optimum road
length, based on maximum utility on the saturation system
Phasing of Road Program
The road network to be constructed and improved in the
plan period is decided while finalizing the master plan of the
road development project. The plan period maybe of a long
term, like that of the 20-year road plan or of shorter period like
five year plans.
But whatever be the plan period, it is necessary to phase
the road development program from financial considerations. In
other words, it is necessary to fix up the priorities for the
construction of each link of the road network development
program to decide which link should be taken up first and which
one the next and so on. The phasing may also be done for each
annual budget year by fixing up the priorities.
Here again the priority for each road link may be fixed
scientifically based on maximum utility. The utility per unit
length of road based on population and productivity for each
road is worked out. Then each link of the net work is listed in the
order of priority based on utility per unit length of the road.
Highway Alignment And Surveys
Highway alignment and surveys
Highway alignment:
The position or the layout of
the centre line of the highway on the
ground is called the alignment. The
horizontal alignment includes the
straight path, the horizontal deviations
and curves. Changes in gradient and
vertical curves are covered under
vertical alignment of roads.
A new road should be aligned
very carefully as improper alignment
would result in one or more of the
following disadvantages:
(a) increase in construction cost
(b) increase in maintenance cost
(c) increase in vehicle operation cost
(d) increase in accident rate.
Requirements
The basic requirements of an ideal alignment between two terminal stations are
that it should be:
Short: it is desirable to have a short or shortest alignment between two terminal
stations. A straight alignment would be the shortest, though there may be several
practical considerations which would cause deviations from the shortest path.
Easy: The alignment should be such that it is easy to construct and maintain the
road with minimum problems. Also the alignment should be easy for the
operation of vehicles with easy gradients and curves.
Safe: The alignment should be safe enough for construction and maintenance
from the view point of stability of natural hill slopes, embankment and cut slopes
and foundation of embankments. Also it should be safe for the traffic operation
with safe geometric features.
Economical: The road alignment could be considered economical only if the total
cost including initial cost, maintenance cost and vehicle operation cost is lowest.
All these factors should be given due consideration before working out the
economics of each alignment.
The alignment should be such that it would offer maximum utility by
serving maximum population and products. The utility of a road should be judged
from its utility value per unit length of road.
Change in alignment
Due to various practical difficulties the a straight alignment
which works out to be shortest route is deviated from its course.
The following are the few circumstances under which the
alignment is deviated:
1. Intermediate obstructions and topography.
2. A shortest route may have very steep gradients and hence
not easy for vehicle operation.
3. There may be construction and maintenance problems along
a route which may otherwise be short and easy.
4. Roads are often deviated from the shortest route in order to
cater for intermediate places of importance or obligatory
points.
Factors Controlling Alignment
The various factors which control the highway alignment
in general may be listed as:
(a) Obligatory points
(b) Traffic
(c) Geometric design
(d) Economics
(e) Other considerations
In hill roads additional care has to be given for:
 Stability
 Drainage
 Geometric standards of hill roads, and
 Resisting length: The resisting length of a road may be
calculated from the total work to be done to move the
loads along the route taking the horizontal length, the
actual difference in levels between the two stations and
the sum of ineffective rise and fall in excess of floating
gradient. Resisting length should be kept as low as possible
a) Obligatory Points: There are control points
governing the alignment of the highways. These
control points may be divided broadly into two
categories.
i. Obligatory points through which the road
alignment has to pass may cause the alignment to
often deviate from the shortest or easiest path. The
various examples of this category may be bridge
site, intermediate town, a mountain pass or a
quarry.
ii. Obligatory points through which the road
should not pass also may make it necessary
to deviate from the proposed shortest
alignment. The obligatory points which
should be avoided while aligning a road
include religious places, very costly
structures, unsuitable land etc.
b) Traffic: The alignment should suit traffic requirements. Origin and
Destination study should be carried out in the area and the desire
lines be drawn showing the trend of traffic flow. The new road to
be aligned should keep in view the desired lines, traffic flow
patterns and future trends.
c) Geometric Design: Geometric design factors such as gradient,
radius of curve and sight distance also would govern the final
alignment of the highway.
d) Economy: The alignment finalized based on the above factors
should also be economical. In working out the economics, the
initial cost the cost, of maintenance and vehicle operation should
be taken into account. The initial cost of construction can be
decreased if high embankments and deep cuttings are avoided
and the alignment is chosen in a manner to balance the cutting
and filling.
e) Other Considerations:
 drainage considerations,
 hydrological factors,
 political considerations and monotony.
Engineering Surveys for Highway Location
The stages of engineering surveys are:
1. Map Study
2. Reconnaissance
3. Preliminary surveys
4. Final location and detailed surveys.
1. Map Study (Topographic map with 15m to 30m
contour interval obtained for Survey of India)
The probable alignment can be located on
the map from the following details available on the
map.
a) Alignment avoiding valleys, ponds or lakes
b) When the road has to cross a row of hills, possibility
of crossing through a mountain pass
c) Approximate location of bridge site for crossing
rivers, avoiding bend of the river, if any.
d) Elevation difference between two points on the
mountain range (one on top of the hill other at foot
hill-gradient)
2. Reconnaissance
Some of the details to be collected during
reconnaissance are:
a) Valleys, ponds, lakes, marshy land, ridge, hills, permanent
structures and other obstructions along the route which are not
available in the map.
b) Approximate values of gradient, length of gradients and radius of
curves of alternate alignments.
c) Number and type of cross drainage structures, maximum flood
level and natural ground water level along the probable routes.
d) Sources of construction materials, water and location of stone
quarries.
e) Soil type and observe geological features along the route.
f) When the road passes through hilly or mountainous terrain,
additional data regarding the geological formation, type of rocks,
dip of strata, seepage flow etc. may be observed so as to decide
the stable and unstable sides of the hill for highway alignment.
3. Preliminary Survey
The main objectives of the preliminary survey are:
i. To survey the various alternate alignments proposed after
the reconnaissance and to collect all the necessary physical
information and details of topography, drainage and soil.
ii. To compare the different proposals In view of the
requirements of a good alignment.
iii. To estimate quantity of earth work materials and other
construction aspects and to workout the cost of alternate
proposals.
iv. To finalize the best alignment from all considerations.

The preliminary survey is carried out by conventional

methods or by modern rapid approach (aerial photography).
Stages in preliminary survey
i. Primary traverse: The first step in the preliminary survey is to
establish the primary traverse, following the line recommended in
the reconnaissance.
ii. Topographical features: After establishing the centre lines of
preliminary survey, the topographical features are recorded.
iii. Leveling work: Leveling work is also carried out side by side to
give the centre line profiles and typical cross sections.
iv. Drainage studies and Hydrological data
v. Soil survey : Soil survey is an essential part of the preliminary
survey as the suitability of the proposed location is to be finally
decided based on the soil survey data. The soil survey conducted
at this stage also helps in working out details of earth work,
slopes, suitability of materials, subsoil and surface drainage
requirements and pavement type and the approximate thickness
requirements.
vi. Material survey
vii. Traffic survey
viii. Determination of final centre line
4. Final Location
The centre line of the road finalized in the
drawings is to be translated on the ground
during the location survey. This is done using a
transit theodolite and by staking of the centre
line. The centre line stakes are driven at suitable
intervals, say at 50 metre intervals in plain and
rolling terrains and at 20 metre in hilly terrain
Detailed Survey
a) Temporary bench marks are fixed at intervals of about 250 metre
and at all drainage and under pass structures. Levels along the
final centre line should be taken at all staked points. The cross
section levels are taken up to the desired width, at intervals of 50
to 100 metre in plain terrain, 50 to 75 metre in rolling terrain, 50
metre in built-up areas and 20 metre in hilly terrain.
b) All topographical details are noted down and also plotted using
conventional signs.
c) Adequate hydrological details are also collected and recorded.
d) A detailed soil survey is carried out to enable drawing of the soil
profile. The depth up to which soil sampling is to be done may be
1.5 to 3.0 metre below the ground line or finished grade line of
the road whichever is lower. However in case of high
embankments, the depth should be up to twice the height of the
finished embankment. CBR value of soils along the alignment may
be determined for designing the pavement.

The data during the detailed survey should be

elaborate and complete for preparing detailed plans, design and
estimates of the project.
Drawings
Sl.No Title of the drawing Purpose/Salient features Prescribed
convenient scale
1 Locality map Location of the construction area 1:250000 (l cm =
with existing and proposed road 2.5km)
alignment along with important
towns and economically important
centre

2 Site map or index Special information at and around 1:50000

map the project road

3 Land acquisition Existing village map or similar 1:2000 to 1:8000

plans map is used for detailing the final
centre line of the alignment,
property boundaries with survey
numbers and related special
information along the alignment
4 Plan and Every 1 km length For plain and
longitudinal section of the alignment rolling errain:
should be shown 1:2500 horizontal
on a single sheet and 1:250 vertical
consisting of all scales.
geometric features For built-up areas
of the road with and
necessary drainage hilly terrain: 1:1000
details horizontal and 1:
100
vertical scale
5 Cross-section map Existing and 1: 100
proposed ground
levels; all cross-
section elements
of road; detailed
cross-sections
should be drawn at
salient locations
such as at curves,
cuts, fills
etc
6 Cross-drainage Standard designs of 1:50
structures culverts,
small bridges etc.

7 Road junction Junction details 1:500 to 1:600

showing existing
and proposed roads,
road markings, sign
boards etc.

8 Drawings for Relevant Suitable scale, large

retaining structures, information should enough to show the
roadway amenities, be required details
location of sign
boards and others
Re-alignment
Necessity of re-alignment:
1. Improvement of horizontal alignment design elements, such as radius, super-
elevation, transition curve, clearance on inner side of the curve of shifting the
curve to provide adequate sight distance, elimination of reverse curves and
undesirable zigzags, etc.
2. Improvement of vertical alignment design elements like steep gradients, changes
in summit curves to increase sight distance, correction of undesirable undulations
like humps and dips, etc.
3. Raising the level of a portion of a road which is subjected to flooding
submergence or water-logging during monsoons.
4. Re-construction of weak and narrow bridges and culverts and changes in water-
way at locations slightly away from the existing site.
5. construction of over-bridges or under-bridges at suitable locations across a railway
line in place of level crossing or across another road to provide grade separated
intersection.
6. Re-alignment required due to a portion of the road being's submerged under
water at the reservoir area on account of construction of a new dam.
7. Construction of a bypass to avoid the road running through a town or city.
8. Defense requirements.
Steps in the Re-alignment Project
1. Reconnaissance of the stretch of road to be re-aligned, study of the deficiencies
and the possible changes in alignment.
2. Survey of existing road recording the topographic features and all other existing
features including drainage conditions along a strip of land on either side of the
road. The width of the land to be surveyed depends on the amount of shifting
anticipated when the road is re-aligned. The field work may be carried out using
plane table and level or by tachometry.
3. Observations of spot levels along the centre line of the road and cross section
levels at suitable intervals to note the gradient, cross slope, super-elevation etc.
The cross section levels should be taken at closer intervals at horizontal and
vertical curves and at cross drainage works.
4. Soil survey along the stretches of land through which the re-aligned road may
possibly pass; preparation of typical soil profiles after testing the soil samples in
the laboratory.
5. Comparison of economics and construction or feasibility of alternative proposal of
re-alignment and special study of stretches which are difficult for the re-alignment.
6. Finalization of the design features of re-aligned road stretches.
7. Preparation of drawings .
Preparation of Drawings for Re-alignment Project
1. Plan showing existing road, proposed alignment,
contours and all other features of importance.
2. Longitudinal section showing natural ground
elevation, surface of the existing road and the grade
line for the re-construction.
3. Cross section showing the existing roadway and
new roadway drawn at 250 m intervals on straights, at
the beginning and end of transition curves and at the
middle of circular curves. Cross sections are drawn at
50 m interval where the new carriageway falls entirely
outside the existing one.
Reference:
1. Khanna S.K and Justo C.E.G., (2001),
“Highway Engineering”, 8th Edition,
Nemchand and Bros., Roorkee.
2. R Srinivasa Kumar., “Text Book of Highway
Engineering”, University Press, 2011.