Chapter 1
Introduction to Highway Engineering
1.1 Overview
Road transport is one of the most common modes of transport. Roads in the form of track ways
human pathways etc were used even from the pre-historic times. Since then many experiments
were going on to make the riding safe and comfort. Thus road construction became an
inseparable part of many civilizations and empires. In this chapter we will see the different
generations of road and their characteristic features. Also we will discuss about the highway
planning in India.
1.2 History of highway engineering
The history of highway engineering gives us an idea about the roads of ancient times. Roads in
Rome were constructed in a large scale and it radiated in many directions helping them in
military operations. Thus they are considered to be pioneers in road construction. In this
section we will see in detail about Ancient roads, Roman roads, British roads, French roads etc.
1.2.1 Ancient Roads
The first mode of transport was by foot. These human pathways would have been developed
for special purposes leading to camp sites, food, streams for drinking water etc. The next major
mode of transport was the use of animals for transporting both men and materials. Since these
loaded animals required more horizontal and vertical clearances than the walking man, track
ways emerged. The invention of wheel in Mesopotamian civilization led to the development of
animal drawn vehicles. Then it became necessary that the road surface should be capable of
carrying greater loads. Thus roads with harder surfaces emerged. To provide adequate strength
to carry the wheels, the new ways tended to follow the sunny drier side of a path. These have
led to the development of foot-paths. After the invention of wheel, animal drawn vehicles were
developed and the need for hard surface road emerged. Traces of such hard roads were
obtained from various ancient civilization dated as old as 3500 BC. The earliest authentic record
of road was found from Assyrian empire constructed about 1900 BC.
1.2.2 Roman roads
The earliest large scale road construction is attributed to Romans who constructed an extensive system
of roads radiating in many directions from Rome. They were a remarkable achievement and provided
travel times across
Fig 1.1 (Roman roads)
Europe, Asia Minor, and North Africa. Romans recognized that the fundamentals of good road
construction were to provide good drainage, good material and good workmanship. Their roads
were very durable, and some still exist. Roman roads were always constructed on a firm -
formed sub grade strengthened where necessary with wooden piles. The roads were bordered
on both sides by longitudinal drains. The next step was the construction of the agger. This was a
raised formation up to a 1 meter high and 15 m wide and was constructed with materials
excavated during the side drain construction. This was then topped with a sand leveling course.
The agger contributed greatly to moisture control in the pavement. The pavement structure on
the top of the agger varied greatly. In the case of heavy trac, a surface course of large 250 mm
thick hexagonal ag stones were provided. The main features of the Roman roads are that they
were built straight regardless of gradient and used heavy foundation stones at the bottom.
They mixed lime and volcanic puzzolana to make mortar and they added gravel to this mortar
to make concrete. Thus concrete was a major Roman road making innovation.
1.2.3 French roads
The next major development in the road construction occurred during the regime of Napoleon.
The significant contributions were given by Tresaguet in 1764. He developed a cheaper method
of construction than the lavish and locally unsuccessful revival of Roman practice. The
pavement used 200 mm pieces of quarried stone of a more compact form and shaped such that
they had at least one at side which was placed on a compact formation. Smaller pieces of
broken stones were then compacted into the spaces between larger stones to provide a level
surface. Finally the running layer was made with a layer of 25 mm sized broken stone. All this
structure was placed in a trench in order to keep the running surface level with the surrounding
country side. This created major drainage problems which were counteracted by making the
surface as impervious as possible, cambering the surface and providing deep side ditches. He
gave much importance for drainage. He also enunciated the necessity for continuous organized
maintenance, instead of intermittent repairs if the roads were to be kept usable all times. For
this he divided the roads between villages into sections of such length that an entire road could
be covered by maintenance men living nearby.
Fig 1.2(French roads)
1.2.4 British roads
The British government also gave importance to road construction. The British engineer John
Macadam introduced what can be considered as the first scientific road construction method.
Stone size was an important element of Macadam recipe. By empirical observation of many
roads, he came to realize that 250 mm layers of well compacted broken angular stone would
provide the same strength and stiffness and a better running surface than an expensive
pavement founded on large stone blocks. Thus he introduced an economical method of road
construction.
The mechanical interlock between the individual stone pieces provided strength and stiffness to
the course .But the inter particle friction abraded the sharp interlocking faces and partly
destroy the effectiveness of the course. This effect was overcome by introducing good quality
interstitial finer material to produce a well-graded mix. Such mixes also proved less permeable
and easier to compact.
Fig 1.3 (British roads)
1.2.5 Modern roads
The modern roads by and large follow Macadam's construction method. Use of bituminous
concrete and cement concrete are the most important developments. Various advanced and
cost-effective construction technologies are used. Developments of new equipments help in the
faster construction of roads. Many easily and locally available materials are tested in the
laboratories and then implemented on roads for making economical and durable pavements.
Scope of transportation system has developed very largely. Population of the country is
increasing day by day. The life style of people began to change. The need for travel to various
places at faster speeds also increased .This increasing demand led to the emergence of other
modes of transportation like railways and travel by air .While the above development in public
transport sector was taking place, the development in private transport was at a much faster
rate mainly because of its advantages like accessibility, privacy, flexibility, convenience and
comfort. This led to the increase in vehicular traffic especially in private transport network.
Thus road space available was becoming insufficient to meet the growing demand of traffic and
congestion started. In addition, chances for accidents also increased. This has led to the
increased attention towards control of vehicles that the transport infrastructure was optimally
used. Various control measures like traffic signals, providing roundabouts and medians, limiting
the speed of vehicle at specific zones etc. were implemented.
With the advancement of better roads and efficient control, more and more investments were
made in the road sector especially after the World wars. These were large projects requiring
large investment. For optimal utilization of funds, one should know the travel pattern and travel
behavior. This has led to the emergence of transportation planning and demand management .
1.3.1 Modern developments
The First World War period and that immediately following it found a rapid growth in motor transport.
So need for better roads became a necessity. For that, the Government of India appointed a committee
called Road development Committee with Mr.M.R. Jayakar as the chairman. This committee came to be
known as Jayakar committee.
Jayakar Committee
In 1927 Jayakar committee for Indian road development was appointed. The major recommendations
and the resulting implementations were:
Committee found that the road development of the country has become beyond the
capacity of local governments and suggested that Central government should take the
proper charge considering it as a matter of national interest.
They gave more stress on long term planning program me, for a period of 20 years
(hence called twenty year plan) that is to formulate plans and implement those plans
within the next 20 years.
One of the recommendations was the holding of periodic road conferences to discuss
about road construction and development. This paved the way for the establishment of
a semi-official technical body called Indian Road Congress (IRC) in 1934.
The committee suggested imposition of additional taxation on motor transport which
includes duty on motor spirit, vehicle taxation, and license fees for vehicles plying for
hire. This led to the introduction of a development fund called Central road fund in
1929. This fund was intended for road development.
A dedicated research organization should be constituted to carry out research and
development work .This resulted in the formation of Central Road Research Institute
(CRRI) in 1950.
Nagpur road congress 1943
The Second World War saw a rapid growth in road traffic and this led to the deterioration in the
condition of roads. To discuss about improving the condition of roads, the government
convened a conference of chief engineers of provinces at Nagpur in 1943. The result of the
conference is famous as the Nagpur plan.
A twenty year development program me for the period (1943-1963) was finalized. It
was the first attempt to prepare a co-ordinate road development program me in a
planned manner.
The roads were divided into four classes:
o National highways which would pass through states, and places having national
importance for strategic, administrative and other purposes.
o State highways which would be the other main roads of a state.
o District roads which would take traffic from the main roads to the interior of the
district According to the importance, some are considered as major district
roads and the remaining as other district roads.
o Village roads which would link the villages to the road system.
The committee planned to construct 2 lakh kms of road across the country within 20
years.
They recommended the construction of star and grid pattern of roads throughout the
country.
One of the objective was that the road length should be increased so as to give a road
density of 16kms per 100 [Link]
Bombay road congress 1961
The length of roads envisaged under the Nagpur plan was achieved by the end of it, but the
road system was deficient in many respects. The changed economic, industrial and agricultural
conditions in the country warranted a review of the Nagpur plan. Accordingly a 20-year plan
was drafted by the Roads wing of Government of India, which is popularly known as the
Bombay plan. The highlights of the plan were:
It was the second 20 year road plan (1961-1981)
The total road length targeted to construct was about 10 laths.
Rural roads were given specific attention. Scientific methods of construction were
proposed for the rural Roads. The necessary technical advice to the Panchayaths should
be given by State PWD's.
They suggested that the length of the road should be increased so as to give a road
density of 32kms/[Link].
The construction of 1600 km of expressways was also then included in the plan.
Lucknow road congress 1984
This plan has been prepared keeping in view the growth pattern envisaged in various fields by
the turn of the century. Some of the salient features of this plan are as given below:
This was the third 20 year road plan (1981-2001). It is also called Lucknow road plan.
It aimed at constructing a road length of 12 lakh kilometers by the year 1981 resulting in
a road density of 82kms/100 [Link].
The plan has set the target length of NH to be completed by the end of seventh, eighth
and ninth five year plan periods.
It aims at improving the transportation facilities in villages, towns etc. such that no part
of country is farther than 50 km from NH.
One of the goals contained in the plan was that expressways should be constructed on
major traffic corridors to provide speedy travel.
Energy conservation, environmental quality of roads and road safety measures were
also given due importance in this plan.