TOPIC 1:

INTRODUCTION TO
HIGHWAY & TRAFFIC
BY: TUAN NOOR RAFIDAH BINTI TUAN HASSAN
TRAFFIC DEFINITION
TRAFFIC ENGINEERING is that phase of transportation engineering which deals with
planning, geometric design & traffic operations of roads, streets and highways, their
networks, terminals, abutting lands and relationship with other modes of
transportation.

CONSTRUCTION STRUCTURES USED IN TRANSPORTATION

 Bridges over water, highways and railroads (Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), Light Rail
Transit (LRT) monorail, etc…
 Pedestrian bridges
 Culverts
 Retaining walls including cantilever, counterfort, gravity, mechanically stabilized
earth, tied back, and post and panel
 Noise barriers, including ground and structure supported
 Sign structures including bridge, cantilever, butterfly and structure mounted
 High mast light poles
MRT Bridge over water

LRT Highway / Expressway

Pedestrian bridge Retaining Wall

Culvert Noise Barrier

 High mast light poles
Sign structures
 Acts Related with
Roads

Road Transport Act 1976

Environmental Quality Act 1974
Urban and Rural Planning Act 1976
Local Government Act 1976 and
Federal Territory Act 1973
 HISTORY of DEVELOPMENT of
ROADS
• Early Road (Laterite Road)
• Roman Road
• After Roman Road
– Pierre Tresaguet
– John Metcalf
– Thomas Telford
– John Macadam

• Modern Road
– Flexible Pavement
– Rigid Pavement
 Early Road (Laterite Road)
• After invention of wheel, animal
drawn bullock carts continued to
be the popular mode of transport
for quiet a long time.

• The first hard surface was

discovered in Mesopotamia at
about 3500 B.C.
 Roman Road
• Roman’s developed very elaborate
systems of roads mainly for the purpose
of military movement.
• The main characteristics of Roman roads
were as follows:
– They were very thick – 1.22 metres thick.
– They were straight.
– Usually made for military purposes.
– Roads were not built on soft soil formations but on
hard stratum reached after excavation.
Cross Section of Roman Road
 After Roman
Roads
 Pierre Tresaguet
 John Metcalf
 Thomas Telford
 John Macadam
 Pierre Tresaguet
 The main characteristics of Tresaguet’s
design were:
 Improved the drainage by the formation
convex.
 Thickness of road was about 30 cm.
 Wearing surface are camber.
 He also emphasised the need for continuous
maintenance of road to keep it in good
shape.
Cross Section of Pierre
Tresaguet
 John Metcalf
 The main characteristics of John
Metcalf’s design were:
 Drainage is important to maintain strength
of road.
 The strength of road depend to the stability
of foundation layer. Used large stone at
foundation layer.
Cross section of John Metcalf
 Thomas Telford
• Thomas Telford was Scottish road engineer and founder
of the institution of civil engineers.
• He used big size stones in foundation wearing from 17 –
22 cm to develop a firm base.
• He also provided cross drains under foundation layer to
keep the sub-grade in dry condition.
• He proposed provision of cross drains at intervals of about
90 m.
• Total thickness of road advocated by him was about 38
cm.
Cross section of Thomas Telford
 John Macadam
 Born in 1756, Macadam was the first true highway engineering specialist.
 He went to America, returning in 1783 to his native Scotland.
 Although interested in roads and their improvement, he did not take an active part in their
construction until 1816 when he became Surveyor to the Bristol Turnpike Trust. By 1826 he
had become Advisor to the Government on Road Construction.

The main characteristics of John Macadam roads were as follows:

 He introduced the usage of angular aggregates on well compacted subgrade for better
performance.
 The subgrade was sloped to improve drainage.
 The angular aggregate were placed in two layers for a total depth of 8 inches (maximum
aggregate size was 3 inches).
 On top of this wearing course was placed, about 2 inches thick (maximum aggregate size
was 1 inch).
 He did not use binder to hold the stones together because he realized that the broken
stones would eventually become bound together by fines generated by traffic.
Cross section of John Macadam
 Modern Road
 There have two types:-
 Flexible pavement
 Rigid pavenment
 Flexible pavement
 Flexible pavement structure are:
 Road surface
 Road base
 Sub-base
 Sub-grade
 Rigid Pavement
 Rigid pavement structure are:-
 Cement concrete
 Road base (optional)
 Sub-base course (optional)
 Sub-grade
Category of Highway in
Malaysia
a. Toll Highway
b. Federal Road
c. State Road
d. Council/City Road
e. Rural Road
 Toll Highway
• Supervised by Malaysia Highway Authority (LLM).
• Link/cities/towns/new developments in order to
increase mobility & reduce congestion on federal
highway
• For through traffic with full access control
• Involve grade-separated intersection
• Each carriageway consists of two to three traveling lanes
and an emergency lane
• Provide facilities such as rest & relax areas, shelters for
motorcyclists, emergency phone service, etc.
• e.g: PLUS, NKVE, ELITE, SPRINT, KESAS
 Federal Road
• Roads that are gazetted under the Federal Road Ordinance
• Roads linking state capitals, airports, railway stations and
ports
• Also includes roads within FELDA land schemes and those in
other regional land schemes constructed with federal funds
• Maintenance of these roads is responsibility of the federal
government
• Maintenance is carried out through the state JKR and funded
by the federal government
 State Road
• is to join towns, cities and districts in a state.
• Financial allocation is obtained from the State
Government or Federal Government.
• Construction and maintenance is the
responsibility of the State Public work
Department (JKR).
 Council/city Road
• is within the jurisdiction of local
authority.
• Constructed and maintained by the local
authority.
• Financial allocation to construct this road
is obtained from local authority and
subsidized by the Federal Government.
 Rural road
• This road is constructed and maintained
by the District Office.
• Financial allocation is obtained from the
State Government.
• Usually unpaved roads with no right of
way
Relationship Between Government Agencies That Involved For
Highway & Traffic
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
 The local government or local authority (Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan (PBT)) is
the lowest level in the system of government in Malaysia—after federal and
state.

 It has the power to collect taxes (in the form of assessment tax), to create
laws and rules (in the form of by-laws) and to grant licenses and permits for
any trade in its area of jurisdiction, in addition to provide basic amenities,
collecting and managing waste and garbage as well as planning and
developing the area under its jurisdiction.

 In Malaysia, local governments are endowed with the power given by the
Local Government Act 1976 to provide goods and services to local people.

 Local governments serve both obligatory (wajib) and discretionary (budi

bicara) functions to local people, where the latter function (fungsi kedua) is
more towards local development issues. Obligatory functions can be
generally categorized into five main sections: public amenities, enforcement
and license grant, public health and hygiene (cleaning and waste
management), social service and development, and environmental issues.
Types of local government in
Malaysia
Relationship Between Government Agencies That Involved For
Highway & Traffic