INTRODUCTION

1.1 Overview
From the beginning of history, human sensitivity has revealed an urge for mobility leading to a
measure of Society's progress. The history of this mobility or transport is the history of
civilization. For any country to develop with right momentum modern and efficient Transport as
a basic infrastructure is a must. Transport (British English) or transportation (American
English) is the movement of people and goods from one place to another. The term is derived
from the Latin trans ("across") and portare ("to carry").

1.2 Means of Transport

Fig.1.1 Means of Transport

1.3. Advantage and Disadvantage Different Modes of Transport

(A) Road Transport
Advantages Disadvantages
1. Less Capital Outlay 1. Seasonal Nature
2. Door to Door Service 2. Accidents and Breakdowns
3. Service in Rural Areas 3. Unsuitable for Long Distance and Bulky
4. Flexible Service Traffic
5. Suitable for Short Distance 4. Slow Speed
6. Lesser Risk of Damage in Transit 5. Lack of Organisation
7. Saving in Packing Cost
8. Rapid Speed
9. Less Cost
10. Private Owned Vehicles
11. Feeder to other Modes of Transport

(B) Railway Transport

Advantages Disadvantages
1. Dependable 1. Huge Capital Outlay
2. Better Organised 2. Lack of Flexibility
3. High Speed over Long Distances 3. Lack of Door to Door Service
4. Suitable for Bulky and Heavy Goods 4. Monopoly
5. Cheaper Transport 5. Unsuitable for Short Distance and Small
6. Safety Loads
7. Larger Capacity 6. Booking Formalities
8. Public Welfare 7. No Rural Service
9. Administrative Facilities of Government 8. Under-utilised Capacity
10. Employment Opportunities 9. Centralised Administration

(C) Air Transport

Advantages Disadvantages
1. High Speed 1. Very Costly
2. Comfortable and Quick Services 2. Small Carrying Capacity
3. No Investment in Construction of Track 3. Uncertain and Unreliable
4. No Physical Barriers 4. Breakdowns and Accidents
5. Easy Access 5. Large Investment
6. Emergency Services 6. Specialised Skill
7. Quick Clearance 7. Unsuitable for Cheap and Bulky Goods
8. Most Suitable for Carrying Light Goods of 8. Legal Restrictions
High Value
9. National Defence
10. Space Exploration

1.4. Elements of transport

The movement of goods or passenger traffic, through rail, sea, air or road transport requires
adequate infrastructure facilities for the free flow from the place of origin to the place of
destination. Irrespective of modes, every transport system has some common elements:

a) Vehicle or carrier to carry passenger or goods

b) Route or path for movement of carriers
c) Terminal facilities for loading and unloading of goods and passengers from carriers
d) Prime Mover
e) Transit time and cost
f) Cargo
These elements influence the effectiveness of different modes of transport and their utility to
users.

• Vehicles: The dimension of vehicles, its capacity and type are some of the factors, which
influence the selection of a transport system for movement of goods from one place to the other.

• Routes: Routes play an important role in movement of carriers from one point to another point.
It may be surface roads, navigable waterways and roadways. Availability of well-designed and
planned routes without any obstacle for movement of transport vehicles in specific routes, is a
vital necessity for smooth flow of traffic.

• Terminal Facilities: - The objective of transportation cant be fulfilled unless proper facilities
are available for loading and unloading of goods or entry and exit of passengers from carrier.
Terminal facilities are to be provided for loading and unloading of trucks, wagons etc on a
continuous basis.

• Prime Mover: - The power utilized for moving of vehicles for transportation of cargo from
one place to another is another important aspect of the total movement system.

• Transit time and cost: - Transportation involve time and cost. The time element is a valid
factor for determining the effectiveness of a particular mode of transport. The transit time of
available system of transportation largely determines production and consumption pattern of
perishable goods in an economy.

• Cargo: - Transportation basically involves movement of cargo from one place to another.
Hence, nature and size of cargo constitute the basis of any goods transport system.

1.4 Major disciplines of transportation

Transportation engineering can be broadly consisting of the four major parts:

1. Transportation Planning

2. Geometric Design

3. Pavement Design

4. Traffic Engineering
 Indian Road Congress (IRC)
 The origin of Indian Roads Congress (IRC) the apex body of road sector engineers and
professionals in the country can be traced back to the Road Development Committeeset up under
the Chairmanship of Shri M.R. Jayakkar in 1927 by the then Government of India, which
recommended for periodical holding of road conferences to discuss the issues related to road
construction, maintenance & development. The first such Road Conference was held in April, 1930.
Subsequently with the formalization of Road Fund, creation of a wider and permanent organization
in place of Periodical Road Conferences was felt and thus, the IRC came into being
 The inaugural meeting of IRC was held at the Town Hall, New Delhi on Monday the 10th
December 1934 under the chairmanship of Mr. D.G.Mitchell, Secretary to the then Govt. of India in
the department of Industries and Labour, Public Works Branch. This meeting was attended by 73
Engineers, from all parts of the then India.  This marked the birth of the Indian Roads Congress.
 When the activities of the IRC expanded, IRC was formally registered as a society on 24th
September 1937 under the Societies Registration Act of 1860. 
 Starting with a modest membership of 73 in 1934, the IRC has more than five million
associates (direct/indirect) and over 16,700 registered members comprising of engineers &
professionals of all Stakeholders of road sector from Central and State Governments, Public Sector,
Research Institutions, Local bodies, Private sector, Concessionaires, Contractors, Consultants,
Equipment manufacturers Machinery manufacturers, Material producers & suppliers, Industrial
Associations, Multilateral & Institutional organization like World Bank, ADB, JICA, JRA, IRF  etc.

Central Road Research Institute (CRRI)

Road and road transport infrastructure is essential for socio-economic and technological progress
of a nation. R&D efforts provide a key role in developing technologies for construction of better,
durable and safer roads and the resulting efficient traffic operation thereon. The Central Road
Research Institute, popularly known as CRRI, is the premier national research organization for
highways traffic and transport planning and all other allied aspects. It carries out R&D in the
areas of road and road transportation and provide highest level of professional consultancy.
CRRI was established in 1952 as a constituent laboratory of the Council of scientific and
industrial research (CSIR). The institute is prominently located on Delhi Mathura Road (NH-2)
at 5 kms. from Nizamudin Railway Station, in a huge and picturesque complex with a vast and
unique variety of infrastructural facilities to undertake research and consultancy activities related
to road and runways, traffic and transportation, bridges and geotechnical aspects.
The major R&D programmes of CRRI related to the entire spectrum of pavement design and
performance, road condition monitoring, pavement deterioration modeling, maintenance
planning and management, pavement management system, landslide management and hazard
mitigation, geotechnical investigations & ground improvement techniques, traffic engineering
and management and improved transportation planning technology for emerging urban needs.
Besides these, applied research in the area of planning and engineering aspects of rural roads,
material characterization, pavement evaluation, highway instrumentation, conditioning
monitoring and rehabilitation of bridges, design of high embankments & reinforced earth walls,
subways & underpass construction, transportation planning, traffic engineering, road safety and
environmental problems, form an integral part of the programme of the institute.
CRRI offers several refresher/ training and development programmes designed to suit the
requirement of different target groups. More than 25,000 in-service highway engineers have been
trained so far at CRRI.
The institute maintains an active liaison with various highway research organizations both in
India and abroad for exchange of information and technical expertise. CRRI is also well
represented globally at TRB (USA), ARRB (Australia), TRL (UK), World Road Association
(PIARC) etc.
The future R&D programmes of CRRI will focus on safe, speedy and efficient road
transportation system with minimal total transportation cost per unit of total transportation
infrastructure. A multifaceted approach has thus been adopted with an emphasis on system
development, characterization and improvement of materials, pavement evaluation, maintenance
monitoring, and upgradation of technology for ground improvement and slope stability
enhancement and intelligent transport system.

The task ahead is quite challenging with the increase in road traffic both in terms of volume and
axle load, new generation of roads, like expressway and heavy duty roads will be built in the
near future. This calls for improved methods of road construction, maintenance and
management. CRRI is well equipped to meet this new challenge and is all set for giving the
highest level of required R&D support to the road development plans in the country and to other
highway agencies in the SAARC and the Asia and the pacific region.