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Horizontal Corridor Optimization of Highway Using GIS Considering

Retaining Wall Costs in Mountainous Areas

Article in Jordan Journal of Civil Engineering · January 2020

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Jordan Journal of Civil Engineering, Volume 14, No. 4, 2020

Horizontal Corridor Optimization of Highway Using GIS Considering

Retaining Wall Costs in Mountainous Areas

Naoras Khalil 1)*, Shafek Dawd 2), Muhammad Fawaz Masuti 3) and Mohannad Mhanna 4)
1)
PhD Student, Department of Transportation and Building Materials, Faculty of Civil Engineering,
Damascus University, Damascus, Syria. * Corresponding Author. E-Mail: [Link]@[Link]
2)
Professor, Department of Transportation and Building Materials, Faculty of Civil Engineering,
Damascus University, Damascus, Syria.
3)
Assistant Professor, Department of Transportation and Building Materials, Faculty of Civil Engineering,
Damascus University, Damascus, Syria.
4)
Assistant Professor, Department of Geotechnical Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering,
Tishreen University, Latakia, Syria.

ABSTRACT
Defining the optimal horizontal corridor of a highway through an area is one of the major decisions in road
design to minimize total cost. It is considered one of the most complicated spatial problems which can hardly
be solved without using Geographic Information Systems (GISs), because of its significant property of
controlling a large amount of spatial and non-spatial data, in addition to performing many types of analysis.
Some of the construction costs is related to the highway profile, such as the roadside retaining walls. The need
for retaining walls should be recognized during the preliminary design phase and should be shown on the
hearing plan (NHDOT, 2014).
This study aims to estimate the retaining wall effect in determining the optimal horizontal corridor of a highway
at the preliminary design phase. The locations and heights of predicted retaining walls are determined with the
application of GIS by using the Least-Cost Path Analysis (LCPA) method. On the other hand, the Circular
Failure Chart (CFC) method is incorporated to evaluate the safe height of the slope. A mathematical model for
finding the optimum corridor between two points is implemented, considering the impact of retaining wall
costs.

KEYWORDS: Optimum horizontal corridor, Construction costs, Road planning, Retaining walls,
Slope stability.

INTRODUCTION concluded that GIS provides a valued tool in the process

of planning highways. GIS tools help create, query,
Optimizing horizontal alignment models is more analyze and map cell-based raster data and perform
complex and usually needs more spatial and non-spatial integrated vector-raster analysis using feature- based
data compared to that required for profile optimization and grid-based layers. Embedding GIS and shortest path
(OECD, 1973). Costs related to horizontal alignment of algorithms in the early planning system is well-suited,
a highway are considerably affected by its profile. economical and time-saving for a sustainable corridor
However, cost reductions due to horizontal alignment location design. HIRPA (2014) showed that using GIS
optimization are considerably higher due to high land or other network optimization approaches makes finding
use cost, construction cost, social and environmental the optimal horizontal corridor essential before finding
costs (ASTM, 2013). the optimal horizontal alignment. This step usually helps
Effat, H. A. et al. (2013) and Obaidat et al. (2018) overcome many deficiencies; for example, the outputs
being not smooth or the LCPA approach in GIS being
Received on 16/9/2019. not suitable for continuous search in space.
Accepted for Publication on 30/6/2020. Studying the retaining wall effect needs an

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Jordan Journal of Civil Engineering, Volume 14, No. 4, 2020

alignment's profile data to have information regarding MATERIALS AND METHODS

the cut height and related soil layer types. In this Highway Cost Items
research, we suggest a method to predict the retaining Numerous studies have classified highway cost
wall locations and heights using the available data, like items (Winfrey, 1968; Moavenzadeh et al.,1973; OECD,
CBR, as well as geological and topographic maps. Thus, 1973; Watanatada et al., 1987; Wright, 1996; Jong,
we can estimate the preliminary retaining walls' costs 1998; Jha et al., 2001; Son et al., 2002). According to
and their effect on finding the optimal horizontal these studies, it is noticed that there is no consensus on
corridor without having the profile data. The study of the cost classification of highway alignment. Table (1)
corridor path between the cities of Latakia and Slunfeh shows the most used classification of highway cost
in Syria was adopted as an application for this research. items with their sensitivities in recent related papers.
The table also shows the high sensitivity of structure
costs according to (Son et al. (2002).

Table 1. Classification of highway costs

Main Sensitivity to
Sub-specification Cost items
specification alignment
Planning, consulting and
Administrative costs Low
supervision costs
Earthwork costs High
Right-of-way costs High
Construction costs Pavement costs High
Hydrology (drainage) costs Low
Guardrails and lighting costs Low
Supplier
Pavement re-gravel costs Low
costs
Roadside mowing costs Low
Maintenance costs
Guardrails and lighting
Low
maintenance costs
Intersections High
Bridges and tunnels High
Structure costs
Interchanges High
Overpass and underpass High
Travel time costs Vehicle miles traveled (VMT) High
Accident costs Estimated accident rates High
Vehicle operating Fuel, tire wear and
High
costs depreciation of vehicles
User costs
Noise costs Medium
Air pollution costs Medium
Environmental costs
Impacts of environmentally
High
and socially sensitive objects

According to Kang et al. (2012), structure and Study Area and Data Used
earthwork costs may dominate if a highway is The study area was selected in the Mediterranean
constructed in a mountainous area. As per the studies Sea region of Syria. The origin point is Latakia city (next
mentioned earlier, the construction cost of free-standing to the sea) and the destination point is Slunfeh town (in
retaining walls was not considered. the mountainous part), as shown in Figure (1). Route
length is approximately 70 km.

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Horizontal Corridor… Naoras Khalil, Shafek Dawd, Muhammad Fawaz Masuti and Mohannad Mhanna

Figure (1): Map of region of study in Latakia city

GIS maps used in corridor optimization contain the to the scale of the available data and required width of
most sensitive costs related to supplier costs only, as horizontal corridor. The cost was calculated for each
shown in Table (2). cell, according to Khalil (2010). It included the most
The studied area was divided into a group of cells sensitive costs from a similar highway project (Ariha-
with appropriate dimensions of (400x400) m according Latakia highway), located in the same study area.

Table 2. Data used in the optimization of highway horizontal corridor

Data layers Attributes Data source Scale

Elevation Slope General Organization of Remote Sensing 1/250000

Land use land use, irrigated lands General Organization of Remote Sensing 1/100000

Geology Soil types, CBR General Establishment of Geology & Mineral Resources 1/100000

Stream Name, flow Directorate of Technical Services in Latakia 1/100000

Road Name, type, class General Organization of Road Transport in Latakia 1/100000

The costs of roadside retaining walls are related to road projects. Due to lack of geotechnical design factors;
cut height and soil types. Slopes are classified as shown namely, cohesion, friction angle and dry density, it was
in Figure (2). It is assumed that the cut height will equal decided to extract them from the CBR data of Ariha-
zero if the slope of existing land is equal to the Latakia highway. Figure (3) shows the soil types
maximum allowable grade ±10%. according to the available geological soil map in the
California Bearing Ratio (CBR) is usually used in study area.

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Jordan Journal of Civil Engineering, Volume 14, No. 4, 2020

Figure (2): Slope classification

Figure (3): Soil types according to geological soil map

In mountainous areas, a flat horizontal area has to be hilly and mountainous terrain, made through a “cut” in
made to allow a flat road to be constructed as per a hill or a mountain, as shown in Figure (4). The case of
(AASHTO, 2003). To avoid too steep gradients, roads road cut will be discussed in this paper.
may have to be routed alternatively over a flatter, less

(a) (b)
Figures (4): Roadside retaining walls in a mountainous terrain:
(a) road cut and embankment; (b) road cuts

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Horizontal Corridor… Naoras Khalil, Shafek Dawd, Muhammad Fawaz Masuti and Mohannad Mhanna

Effect of Slope Stability and Related Necessity of groundwater conditions, but it is still constrained to the
Retaining Walls following assumptions:
According to the available CBR values, geotechnical o The material forming the slope is assumed to be
properties, such as cohesion (C), friction angle (φ) and homogeneous and fully drained;
density (γ), can be estimated for the slopes at road sides, o The shear strength of the material is characterized by
which play an important role in retaining wall design. a cohesion (C) and a friction angle (ϕ) which are
For this purpose, the following equations are used related by Equation (1):
according to the experimental studies carried out by τ = C + tan (ϕ); (1)
Yashas et al. (2016): o Failure is assumed to occur on a circular failure
surface, which passes through the slope’s toe;
γ = 1.288 *(CBR) 0.1324 o The factor of safety of the slope is defined as:
C = 0.052* (CBR) 0.675
ϕ= 39.956-0.204*(CBR) shear strength available to resist sliding
F
shear strength mobilized along failure surface
After estimating the soil properties, the circular
failure chart (CFC) method is incorporated to evaluate Rearranging this equation, we get Equation (2):
the safe height of a slope, consequently evaluating the τmb = C/F + *tan/F; (2)
requirements of supporting systems, such as a concrete where τmb is the shear stress mobilized along the
retaining wall. The (CFC) method facilitates a quick and failure surface.
easy way to calculate and understand the slope factor of Figure (5) shows the circular failure chart for dry
safety, according to Hoek and Bray (1981). It is worth condition used to deduct the safe height of the cut slope.
noting that this method can be used with varying

Figure (5): Circular failure chart according to Hoek and Bray (1981)

The CBR values are grouped into four main and slopes in the study area.
categories. Figure (6) shows the relation between CBR

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Jordan Journal of Civil Engineering, Volume 14, No. 4, 2020

Figure (6): The relation between CBR and slopes:

(a) slope for CBR <10; (b) slope for 10< CBR <20;
(c) slope for 20< CBR <40; (d) slope for 40< CBR <100

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION calculated according to CBR values and the resulting
safe height of a cut slope deduced from the circular
Table (3) summarizes the averaged soil properties failure chart.

Table 3. Averaged soil properties calculated according to CBR values

Friction angle Cohesion Density Safe height
CBR
Φ° C (kN/m2) γ (kN/m3) H (m)
>10 38.2 23 17.2 3
11 - 20 37.31 30.66 18.2 3.5
21 - 40 32.89 58.5 20.7 5
> 40 19.63 119 23.8 8.5

The safe height of a cut slope shown in Table (3) is time, average heights are calculated according to
then used as a criterion for evaluating the requirements highway width (20m) and slope angle, taking into
of a retaining wall. consideration the allowable vertical cut slope for each
Consequently, for each CBR category, we can category of CBR, as shown in Table (4). Reinforced
estimate the cost of the expected retaining wall in concrete retaining walls are adopted during cost
correlation with the natural slope angle. The assumed estimation and the costs are extracted according to prices
retaining wall length will equal a cell size. At the same in 2010 (1$ = 50 S.P.).

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Horizontal Corridor… Naoras Khalil, Shafek Dawd, Muhammad Fawaz Masuti and Mohannad Mhanna

Table 4. Expected average height of excavation with related costs

Slope angle Expected average height of Cost

CBR
(degree) excavation (m) in Syrian Pounds (S.P.)
0-10° ≤3 0
10°-15° 3.5 112 000 000.00
15°-25° 9 160 000 000.00
>10
25°-30° 11.5 272 000 000.00
30°-45° 20 320 000 000.00
≥45° no data no data
0-10° 0 0
10°-15° 0 0
15°-25° 9 160 000 000.00
11 to 20
25°-30° 11.5 272 000 000.00
30°-45° 20 320 000 000.00
≥45° no data no data
0-10° 0 0
10°-15° 0 0
15°-25° 0 0
21 to 40
25°-30° 11.5 272 000 000.00
30°-45° 20 320 000 000.00
≥45° no data no data
0-10° 0 0
10°-15° 0 0
15°-25° 0 0
40 to 100
25°-30° 0 0
30°-45° 20 320 000 000.00
≥45° no data no data

As per Figure (6), the maximum slope in the studied retaining walls, as shown in Figure (7).
area is 25°. Accordingly, there are only two classes of

Figure (7): Existing retaining wall cells with related costs (S.P.)

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Jordan Journal of Civil Engineering, Volume 14, No. 4, 2020

The final accumulative cost raster for all studied Figure (8).
factors, including the retaining walls, is shown in

Figure (8): Accumulative cost matrix (S.P.)

Figure (9) shows the impact of retaining wall costs deviation of the horizontal corridor due to retaining wall
on extracting the highway's horizontal corridor during costs in the cut area.
the preliminary design stage. Red points show the

Figure (9): Deviation of the horizontal corridor due to

retaining wall requirements in the cut area
The total cost of road construction at the preliminary similar study, other structure costs are about 15% of the
design stage after taking retaining wall costs into total cost.
account amounts to 1,164,267,621 S.P. (23,285,325 $), Figure (10) illustrates the different steps for
but the total cost without taking retaining wall costs into including the cost of supporting retaining walls in GIS
account is 1,143,640,371 S.P. (22,872,807 $). methodology for choosing the optimal horizontal
Accordingly, the cost difference is about 1%. In a corridors of highways.

Figure (10): Flowchart of using retaining wall costs in extracting

the horizontal road corridor using GIS

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Horizontal Corridor… Naoras Khalil, Shafek Dawd, Muhammad Fawaz Masuti and Mohannad Mhanna

CONCLUSIONS highway optimal horizontal corridor, especially at

the preliminary design stage.
Structure costs may dominate if a highway is 2. Free-standing retaining wall cost is about 6.7% of
constructed in a mountainous area. As per the studies of other structure costs.
cost classification of highway alignment, it is noticed 3. Free-standing retaining wall cost is about 1% of the
that the construction cost of free-standing retaining total cost. According to the adopted cost
walls was not considered. For that reason, the effect of classification in Table (1), retaining wall costs can
free-standing retaining walls was analyzed and a be classified as low.
procedure to include it as a cost parameter at the
preliminary design stage of horizontal highway Acknowledgments
corridors was proposed. The findings in this research led This research work has been carried out at Damascus
to the following conclusions: University. The authors would like to acknowledge that
1. GIS applications are powerful tools that help this project was supported by SyriaBIM Academy and
highway engineers and stakeholders in extracting the Damascus University.

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