Highway Engineering

A branch of civil engineering that includes planning, design, construction, operation,and

maintenance of roads, bridges, and related infrastructure to ensure effective movement of people and good (Traffic).
Highway planning involves the estimation of current and future traffic volumes on the road net
work. For purposes of design, traffic volumes
are needed for a representative period of traffic flow. The capacity is the maximum theoretical t
raffic flow rate that a highway section is
capable of accommodating under a given set of environmental, highway, and traffic conditions.
The capacity of a highway depends on factorssuch as the number of lanes, lane width, effectiv
eness of traffic control systems, frequency and duration of traffic incidents, and efficiency ofcoll
ection and dissemination of highway traffic information. Traffic conditions arising from the inter
play of volume and capacity are perceivedby road users in a way that is quantitatively termed l
evel of service.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SEATWORK for 10 minutes only (June 25, 2015)
Discuss the ff. (in at most 5 sentences):
1. Highway engineers are conscious of the need for roads and highways to be safe,
useful, and attractive. As engineers, how are we going to do these? 35%
Answer: As engineers, for the roads and highways to be safe, useful and
attractive, the standard specifications of the design must be strictly followed
during the planning and construction stages.
2. Comprehensive roads and highways development plans which are the results of
long and careful studies are flexed down and twisted. Why? 35%
Answer: Highway plans are flexed and twisted due to political influence.
3. Why financial is considered to be one of the difficulties encountered by the engineers in
the planning stage? 30%
Answer: Since the government is giving priorities to other projects/concerns that
need immediate solution considering the high value of the countrys debt from
the foreign banks.

THATS ALL!

Note: You may download the notes in highway engineering from the CE 41B group in
your FB.
PLANNING DIFFICULTIES (Delima)
1. Financial. The present economic condition and high foreign debt of the government is a
big problem in generating funds needed for road projects. Highway funds for projects
are sometimes shelved for lack of funds.
2. Political. Technical experts are twisted or flexed down by political influences to suit their
own political interest.
SW
Why planning is no longer an objective process based on technical l expertise?
Quiz next meeting topics discussed above!
3. Technical. Professional training are no longer objective nsince politics is the power that
control financing, appointments, and decisions.
Highway Programming
These are 3 separable sets of inputs in highway programming, namely:
1. Economic deals with the question of resources. (the source of funds)
2. Financial the question of who pays and who spends, how much and where.(the
implementing agency/contractor)
3. Political and Administration involves decision making.(to be bid)

Approaches of Highway Programming:

1. Financial Resources either short or long range by the agencies function such as
construction, operation, and maintenance.
2. Recognition of the legislative (law making body of the country) and administrative desire
and constraint.
3. Tentative priorities based on economic analysis, critical situations, present and future
expected level of traffic and claims based on political subdivisions.
4. Providing a continuity of route system and coordination with other transportation mode.
5. Selection of projects, availability of labor and materials and the climatic conditions.

6. Scheduling the project implementation in coordination with other agencies, acquiring

ROW and making final plan and specs.
7. Budgetary reserve to cover emergencies such as floods, and other natural calamities.

Highway facilities often cause adverse effects on the environment, such as noise pollution, air
pollution, water pollution, and ecologicalimpacts. Tire/pavement interaction, vehicle exhausts,
and engines cause traffic noise. Highway engineers strive to predict and mitigate allpossible im
pacts of highway systems.
Through highway design, the most appropriate location, alignment, and shape of the highway
are selected. Highway design involves theconsideration of three major factors (human, vehicul
ar, and roadway) and how these factors interact to provide a safe highway. Humanfactors inclu
de reaction time for braking and steering, visual acuity for traffic signs and signals, and carfollowing behavior. Vehicleconsiderations include vehicle size and dynamics that are essential
for determining lane width and maximum slopes, and for the selection ofdesign vehicles. Engin
eers design road geometry to ensure stability of vehicles when negotiating curves and grades
and to provide adequatesight distances for undertaking passing maneuvers along curves on tw
o-lane, two-way roads.
Location involves fitting the road efficiently onto the surrounding terrain and environment. Horiz
ontal alignment is represented by an aerialview of the highway. It consists of straight lines and
curves. Curves are fitted to provide a smooth transition between straight highwaysections.
Intersections and interchanges occur where two or more highways cross each other at the sam
e level. Since various vehicle maneuvers(turning, crossing, and through movements) all occur
within a limited area as the volumes of these movements increase, there is increasedlikelihood
of traffic conflicts and crashes. One way of reducing such danger is to use channelization to li
mit each stream to a unique path. Inhigh traffic volume areas, movement of streams can be se
parated in time using multiphased traffic signals. The vertical alignment of ahighway is represe
nted by its longitudinal profile, which gives the elevation of all points along the length of the hig
hway. The purpose ofvertical alignment design is to determine the level of the highway at each
point in order to ensure adequate safety and drainage.
Highway cross section refers to the profile of the road, perpendicular to the direction of travel a
nd extending to the limits of the right of waywithin which the facility is constructed. Highway cro
sssection elements may include driving lanes, bicycle/pedestrian lanes, shoulders,medians, barri
ers, cross slope for drainage, and superelevation.
Pavement design is the process of selecting pavement layer types and thicknesses in order to
withstand expected traffic loads in a cost-

effective manner. Each pavement layer usually consists of mineral aggregates such as natural
river or pit sand, natural gravel, and crushedrock. For rigid pavements, portland cement is mixe
d with water and aggregates to produce a viscous concrete mix that is poured intoprepared for
ms and vibrated. See Cement
There are generally three types of pavements specified for pavement design. Gravel pavement
is the simplest type of pavement and is oftendesigned for lightly traveled roads. Flexible pave
ment is a multilayered structure that includes a subbase, a base, and an asphaltic wearingcour
se. Rigid pavement consists of a plain or steelreinforced portland cement concrete slab laid on a prepared crushedstone base course.See Pavement, Precast concrete
Highway construction usually follows planning and design, and involves new or reconstructed f
acilities such as pavements, drainagestructures, and traffic control devices. Road construction
is often preceded by detailed stakeout surveys and preparation of the subgrade.See Construc
tion engineering, Construction equipment
Traffic signals are the most important traffic control devices. The typical traffic signal for an inte
rsection displays a sequence of green,amber, and red. One complete signal sequence is calle
d a cycle. Traffic signals are either pretimed or demand-actuated. Flowconcentrationcontrollers are capable of sensing detailed demand information and responding t
o it by revising the cycle length and phasing patterns of thesignal.
The performance of highway infrastructure is measured in terms of pavement and bridge condi
tion, level of service, and safety. Pavementcondition is monitored over a period of time using a
condition index or serviceability rating. Through the development and implementation ofbridge
management systems, many agencies have in place a decision support tool that supplies anal
yses and summaries of data, usesmathematical models to make predictions of bridge conditio
ns, and provides the means by which alternative policies and programs may beefficiently evalu
ated. Congestion management is maintained by implementing measures to mitigate the magnit
ude and duration of trafficcongestion. Safety management is a systematic process that has the
goal of reducing the number and severity of traffic crashes by ensuringthat all opportunities an
d identified, considered, implemented as appropriate, and evaluated in all phases of highway p
lanning design,construction, maintenance, and operation. See Bridge