Defence Engineering College Department of Civil and combat

Engineering

CHAPTER 2
Highway Functional Classification
The roads can be classified in many ways. The classification based on speed and accessibility is the
most generic one. Note that as the accessibility of road increases, the speed reduces the roads can be
classified as follows in the order of increased accessibility and reduced speeds. Classification of road
generally divided in two main categories::

(i) Urban Roads,

(ii) (ii) Non-Urban/Rural Roads.

1. Urban Roads:-Roads which are located within cities, towns and other inhabited areas and come
under the jurisdiction of municipalities, cantonment boards and Post trusts. -These roads are
further classified into the following classes:
Freeways: Freeways are access-controlled divided highways. Most freeways are four lanes, two
lanes each direction, but many freeways widen to incorporate more lanes as they enter urban areas.
Access is controlled through the use of interchanges, and the type of interchange depends upon the
kind of intersecting road way (rural roads, another freeway etc.)
Expressways: They are superior type of highways and are designed for high speeds (120 km/hr is
common), high traffic volume and safety. They are generally provided with grade separations at
intersections. Parking, loading and unloading of goods and pedestrian traffic is not allowed on
expressways.
Highways: They represent the superior type of roads in the country. Highways are of two types
rural Highways and urban highways. Rural highways are those passing through rural areas (villages)
and urban highways are those passing through large cities and towns, ie. Urban areas.
Arterials: It is a general term denoting a street primarily meant for through traffic usually on a
continuous route. They are generally divided highways with fully or partially controlled access.

1 Highway I (2016/17)
 Defence Engineering College Department of Civil and combat
Engineering
Parking, loading and unloading activities are usually restricted and regulated. Pedestrians are allowed
to cross only at intersections/designated pedestrian crossings.

Arterial roads generally provide the fastest method of travel and typically have low accessibility from
neighboring roads. They are usually designed with long-distance travel in mind and are not as common
as the other two functional classes of roads.

Arterial road, or arterial thoroughfare, is a high-capacity urban road. The primary function of an
arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector roads to freeways or expressways, and between urban
centres at the highest level of service possible. Though the design of arterial roads varies from country
to country, city to city, and even within cities, they share a number of common design characteristics.
For example, in many cities, arteries are arranged in concentric circles (commonly referred to as ring
roads) or in a grid..

Local streets: A local street is the one which is primarily intended for access to residence, business
or abutting property. It does not normally carry large volume of traffic and also it allows unrestricted
parking and pedestrian movements.

Local roads are the most common roads by far, but are also the slowest for travel. They are designed
specifically to have high accessibility and to connect to collector and arterial roads, and are typically
not used for through traffic.

Collector streets: These are streets intended for collecting and distributing traffic to and from local
streets and also for providing access to arterial streets. Normally full access is provided on these
streets. There are few parking restrictions during peak hours.Collector roads are the second most
common and are used as a connection between local roads and arterial roads. They provide a balance
between access and mobility. A collector road or distributor road is a low-to-moderate-capacity road
which serves to move traffic from local streets to arterial roads. Unlike arterials, collector roads are
designed to provide access to residential properties.

Collector roads can vary widely in appearance. Some urban collectors are wide boulevards entering
communities or connecting sections. Others are residential streets, which are typically wider than local
roads, although few are wider than four lanes. Small-scale commercial areas can be found on collector

2 Highway I (2016/17)
 Defence Engineering College Department of Civil and combat
Engineering
roads in residential areas. Key community functions such as schools, churches, and recreational
facilities can often be found on collector roads. The flow of a collector road usually consists of a
mixture of signaled intersections or traffic circles with arterial roads; signals, circles or stop signs
(often in the form of a four-way stop) with other collector roads, and unsignalized intersections with
local streets which favour traffic movement on the collector. Speed limits are typically 30-55 km/h on
collector roads in built-up areas, depending on the degree of development and frequency of local
access, intersections, and pedestrians, as well as the surrounding area (the speed tends to be lowest in a
school zone.

Fig Schematic illustrations of a portion of an urban street network

3 Highway I (2016/17)
 Defence Engineering College Department of Civil and combat
Engineering

Fig Schematic illustrations of a functionally classified rural highway network

4 Highway I (2016/17)
 Defence Engineering College Department of Civil and combat
Engineering

2. Non-Urban/Rural Roads:-Roads which are located in the non- urban areas and connect
cities and towns across the country. -Rural roads are further classified into five categories
i. National highways,
ii. State highways,
iii. Major district roads,
iv. Other district roads and
v. Village roads.
i. National highways
Road stretches which have heavy traffic intensity of more than 30,000 Passenger Car Units (PCUs)
connecting different state capitals, major ports, large industrial areas and tourist centers .
ii. State highways
Road stretches with heavy traffic intensity of more than 10,000 PCUs but less than 30,000 PCUs
which connects district headquarters, important towns and the National Highways in the State and
neighboring States are declared as State Highways.

iii. Major District Roads

Roads with traffic density less than 10,000 PCUs but more than 5,000 PCUs are designated as Major
District Roads. Major District Roads (MDR) provides linkage between production and marketing
centres within a district.

iv. Other district roads

Roads serving rural areas of production and providing them with outlet to market centers or other
important roads like MDR or SH.

v. Village roads

They are roads connecting villages or group of villages with each other or to the nearest road of a
higher category like ODR or MDR.

5 Highway I (2016/17)
 Defence Engineering College Department of Civil and combat
Engineering

Roads classifications based on some other criteria.

Apart from the classifications given by the different plans, roads were also classified based on some
other criteria.
a) Based on usage
This classification is based on whether the roads can be used during different seasons of the year.
All-weather roads: Those roads which are negotiable during all weathers, except at major river
crossings where interruption of traffic is permissible up to a certain extent are called all
weather roads.
Fair-weather roads: Roads which are negotiable only during fair weather are called fair
weather roads.
b) Based on carriage way
This classifications is based on the type of the carriage way or the road pavement.
Paved roads with hard surface: If they are provided with a hard pavement course such roads
are called paved roads.(eg: stones, Water bound macadam (WBM), Bituminous macadam
(BM), concrete roads)
Unpaved roads: Roads which are not provided with a hard course of at least a WBM layer
they is called unpaved roads. Thus earth and gravel roads come under this category
c) Based on pavement surface
Based on the type of pavement surfacing provided, they are classified as surfaced and unsurfaced
roads.
Surfaced roads (BM, concrete): Roads which are provided with a bituminous or cement
concreting surface are called surfaced roads.
Unsurfaced roads (soil/gravel): Roads which are not provided with a bituminous or cement
concreting surface are called unsurfaced roads.
d) Other criteria
Roads may also be classified based on the traffic volume in that road, load transported through that
road, or location and function of that road.
Traffic volume: Based on the traffic volume, they are classified as heavy, medium and light
traffic roads. These terms are relative and so the limits under each class may be expressed as
vehicles per day.

6 Highway I (2016/17)
 Defence Engineering College Department of Civil and combat
Engineering
Load transported: Based on the load carried by these roads, they can be classified as class I,
class II, etc. or class A, class B etc. and the limits may be expressed as tonnes per day.
Based on modified

Road Functional Classification and Numbering (Ethiopian standard)

The functional classification in Ethiopia includes five functional classes. The following are the
functional classes with their description.
1. Trunk Roads (Class I)
Centers of international importance and roads terminating at international boundaries are linked with
Addis Ababa by trunk roads (see Table A-1). They are numbered with an "A" prefix: an example is the
Addis-Gondar Road (A3). Trunk roads have a present AADT 1000, although they can have volumes
as low as 100 AADT (see Table 2-1).

2. Link Roads (Class II)

Centers of national or international importance, such as principal towns and urban centers, must be
linked between each other by link roads (see Table A-2). A typical link road has over 400 - 1000 first
year AADT, although values can range between 50-10,000 AADT. They are numbered with a "B"
prefix. An example of a typical link road is the Woldiya- Debre Tabor- Woreta Road (B22), which
links, for instance, Woldiya on Road A2 with Bahir Dar of Road A3.

3. Main Access Roads (Class III)

Centers of provincial importance must be linked between each other by main access roads
(see Table A-3). First year AADTs are between 30-1,000. They are numbered with a "C" prefix.

4. Collector Roads (Class IV)

Roads linking locally important centers to each other, to a more important center, or to higher class
roads must be linked by a collector road. First year AADTs are between 25-400. They are numbered
with a "D" prefix (see Table A-4).

V. Feeder Roads (Class V)

Any road link to a minor center such as market and local locations is served by a feeder road.

7 Highway I (2016/17)
 Defence Engineering College Department of Civil and combat
Engineering
First year AADTs are between 0-100. They are numbered with an "E" prefix and are presented in
Appendix A. Roads of the highest classes; trunk and link roads have, as their major function to provide
mobility, while the primary function of lower class roads is to provide access. The roads of
intermediate classes have, for all practical purposes, to provide both mobility and access.
The classification and description of all existing trunk, link and main access roads within the country,
including road name, distance, type of road and road numbering, are given in Appendix A

Road classify based on Terrain

The geometric design elements of a road depend on the transverse terrain through which the road
passes. Transverse terrain properties are categorized into four classes as follows:

FLAT: which offers few obstacles to the construction of a road, having continuously unrestricted
horizontal and vertical alignment (transverse terrain slope up to 5 percent).

ROLLING: Rolling, hilly or foothill country where the slopes generally rise and fall moderately
and where occasional steep slopes are encountered, resulting in some restrictions in alignment
(transverse terrain slope from 5 percent to 25 percent).

MOUNTAINOUS: Rugged, hilly and mountainous country and river gorges. This class of terrain
imposes definite restrictions on the standard of alignment obtainable and often involves long steep
grades and limited sight distance (transverse terrain slope from 25 percent to 50 percent).

ESCARPMENT: In addition to the terrain classes given above, a fourth class is added to cater to
those situations whereby the standards associated with each of the above terrain types cannot be
met. We refer to escarpment situations inclusive of switchback roadway sections, or side hill
transverse sections where earthwork quantities are considerable, with transverse terrain slope in
excess of 50 percent).

In general, construction costs will be greater as the terrain becomes more difficult and higher standards
will become less justifiable or achievable in such situations than for roads in either flat or rolling
terrain. Drivers accept lower standards in such conditions and therefore adjust their driving
accordingly, so minimizing accident risk. Design speed will therefore vary with transverse terrain.
It is often the case in Ethiopia that the roadway can be designed to a higher speed than is indicated by
the transverse terrain type. For instance, an alignment could be chosen through rolling terrain that

8 Highway I (2016/17)
 Defence Engineering College Department of Civil and combat
Engineering
gives essentially a flat highway configuration. Similarly, a narrow plateau should be chosen for an
alignment in otherwise mountainous terrain. The discrepancy arises from an ability to choose a
roadway longitudinal slope significantly superior to the transverse slope. Under such circumstances,
the Engineer should use his judgment in assigning a higher design speed to the roadway segment.
Photographic representations of various terrain configurations are shown in Figures

9 Highway I (2016/17)
 Defence Engineering College Department of Civil and combat
Engineering

Flat Terrain; Flat Roadway Alignment

Rolling Terrain; Flat Roadway Alignment

Rolling Terrain; Flat to Rolling Roadway Alignment Rolling Terrain; Rolling Roadway Alignment

10 Highway I (2016/17)
 Defence Engineering College Department of Civil and combat
Engineering

Mountainous Terrain; Mountainous Roadway Alignment

Mountainous Terrain; Flat Roadway Alignment

Escarpment Terrain; Escarpment Roadway Alignment

Escarpment Terrain; Mountainous Roadway Alignment

Design Vehicle Dimensions and Characteristics

11 Highway I (2016/17)
 Defence Engineering College Department of Civil and combat
Engineering
Table: Design Standards vs. Road Classification and AADT (ERA)

12 Highway I (2016/17)
 Defence Engineering College Department of Civil and combat
Engineering

Design Vehicle
Both the physical characteristics and turning capabilities of vehicles are controls in geometric design.
Vehicle characteristics and dimensions affecting design include power to weight ratio, minimum
turning radius and travel path during a turn, and vehicle height and width. The road elements affected
include the selection of maximum gradient, lane width, horizontal curve widening, and junction
design. The present vehicle fleet in Ethiopia includes a high number of four-wheel drive utility
vehicles and overloaded trucks. Until more detailed information becomes available regarding the
makeup of the vehicle fleet in Ethiopia, the four design vehicles indicated in Table should be used in
the control of geometric design:

13 Highway I (2016/17)
 Defence Engineering College Department of Civil and combat
Engineering

AASHTO page 15-41

14 Highway I (2016/17)