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Structural Components
of a Road

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Highway and Traffic Engineering
Typical Road Structure
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Structural Components
• Subgrade
• Subbase
• Base
• Surfacing/Wearing Course
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Subgrade
• Subgrade consists of compacted
earthwork
• It is the soil foundation of the road
which receives traffic loads from
pavement and transfers to the natural
ground safely
• Entire road structure rests on
subgrade, therefore its failure affects
the performance of entire road
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Subgrade
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Subbase Course
• It is normally a layer of stone
aggregates
• Its main function is to improve the
quality of subgrade
• Where subgrade has poor drainage
properties or low bearing capacity,
subbase is used to distribute the load
over a greater area of subgrade
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Subbase Course
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Base Course
• It is a major structural component of
the road
• It is composed of stone aggregates or
stone metal and/or Asphaltic Conc.
• Its main function is to distribute the
traffic loads over the soil formation
(subgrade) sufficiently to prevent the
soil from being over-stressed
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Aggregate Base Course
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Asphalt Base Course
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Surfacing/Wearing Course
• Surfacing Layer provides smooth riding
surface
• It protects the base, subbase and
subgrade from adverse weather conditions
• It minimizes the abrasion of road due to
traffic
• Presence of bitumen also protects any
seepage from the surface to underlying
layers
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Surfacing/Wearing Course
Highway and Traffic Engineering

Types of Cross sections

 Cross section of Road in Fill
(Plain or Rural Area)
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Road in Fill
 Cross section of Road in
Cutting (Hilly Area)
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Road in Cutting
 Cross section of Road in
Urban Area
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 Cross section of a Divided
Dual Highway
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Highway and Traffic Engineering
Camber
• Camber is the convexity of road cross
section and is defined as the slope of
the line joining edge of the
carriageway with the crown.
• The middle highest point of the road
cross section is Crown.
• Transverse slope given to the road is
called Cross fall.
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Function of Camber
• Camber is provided for drainage of road
surface.
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Types of Cambers
Sloping Camber
• Generally used for concrete roads as
camber to be provided is small.

Sloping Camber
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Types of Cambers
Composite Camber
• It is a combination of straight slope
and curve

Curve
Slope Slope

Composite Camber
 Height of Camber depends
upon
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• Intensity and amount of Rainfall:

Camber should be just sufficient for
effective drainage
• Type of Road surface:
For permeable road surfacing camber
will be higher
• Normally camber is 2%
 Disadvantages of Providing
Excessive Camber
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• Edges of the road surface will wear out

faster than the central part because of
more load transfer on outer wheels
• Due to high velocity of drainage water
shoulder may get eroded easily
• Heavily loaded vehicles may topple
over
• Tendency of side slippage is increased
especially when road is wet
Highway and Traffic Engineering
Gradient
• It is the longitudinal slope of the road, or
the rate of rise and fall of the road surface
in a given length
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Factors Affecting Gradient
Nature of Topography
• Flat gradient in plain area and steep
gradient in mountainous area
Type of Traffic
• If traffic is light and fast (cars), steeper
gradients can be provided.
• Passenger cars speed is not much affected
by grades upto 6 or 7%, but trucks speed is
affected by even less grades
• As far as possible, easy gradient should be
provided.
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Types of Gradients
• Ruling Gradient
• Minimum Gradient
• Limiting Gradient
• Exceptional Gradient
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Types of Gradients
• Ruling Gradient
This is the maximum gradient
adopted under the normal site
conditions
In plain areas 1 in 30 (3.33%)
In hilly areas 1 in 20 (5%)
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Types of Gradients
• Minimum Gradient
Perfectly horizontal roads may give
rise to the problem of drainage. The
minimum gradient in plain areas is
recommended as:
1 in 250 for open earth drains
1 in 500 for side drains
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Types of Gradients
• Limiting Gradient
It is provided where lots of saving in
earthwork is to be done
1 in 20 in plain areas
1 in 15 in hilly areas
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Types of Gradients
• Exceptional Gradient
In unavoidable circumstances,
exceptional gradient is provided but
only for a maximum road length of 50
to 60 meters
1 in 15 in plain areas
1 in 12 in hilly areas