TRAN3001

Highway Engineering Lecture 1

Introduction
Terminology
Highway Location

Introduction
Purpose of Highways
Transport of people, goods and services.
Highway Engineering
Highway engineering is a branch of civil
engineering that deals with the design,
construction and maintenance of
different types of roads.

Terminology
Highway as defined in the local (T&T)
Highways Act (Chapter 48:01) means any
road, street, etc. maintainable at the
public expense and dedicated to the
public use.
Pavement - the paved (asphalt or portland
cement concrete) section of a highway.
Carriageway - the section of a highway
designed for use by vehicular traffic. Also
called the travelled or motor way.

Terminology (Contd)
Shoulders hard surfaces adjacent to
the carriageway, which may be either
paved or unpaved. They are intended
primarily for safety as they can
accommodate stopped vehicles and
emergency use and also provide lateral
support.
Sidewalk also called a footpath,
adjacent to a road or road drain, intended
for use only by pedestrian traffic.

Terminology (Contd)
Road Reserve an area within which
carriageways, shoulders, footpaths,
drainage, street lighting and associated
features may be constructed for public
travel.
A sufficiently wide road reserve will permit
the construction of gentle slopes which
result in greater safety for motorists and
enables easier and more economical
maintenance.

Terminology (Contd)
Median - longitudinal barrier used to separate
opposing directions of traffic on a divided
highway.
Culvert a structure (conduit) which carries
water under a road, i.e. the top of the culvert is
always beneath the carriageway.
Bridge a structure which carries a road across
a river, etc., i.e. the top of the bridge forms part
of the carriageway.

Highway Location
Particularly for major highways requiring a large
capital investment, selecting the route between
the two points (for example San Fernando to Point
Fortin) requires careful and detailed investigation
to arrive at the most economical solution.
Sources of information :
cadastral maps - these include land use and
property boundaries.
topographic maps - contour lines on these
maps show the different land elevations.

Highway Location (Contd)

Sources of information (Contd) :
geological and soil maps indicate type
of subsurface and soil conditions that may
be expected.
aerial photographs can provide the
most up to date information on land use,
etc.
hydrological data includes records of
rainfall, and streamflow (hydrograph) for
drainage design.

Highway Location (Contd)

Sources of information (Contd) :
reconnaissance survey literally
walking one or more possible routes to
gather physical information about the
areas under investigation.
local knowledge valuable information
on flooding, proposed construction and
other features of the proposed routes can
be obtained from residents and others
familiar with the areas.

Highway Location (Contd)

Guidelines for selecting the route :

as direct as possible.
away from highly developed expensive
property.
along the edges of properties rather than
through the middle to minimise interference
and land acquisition costs.
avoid destruction or removal of cemeteries,
places of worship and culture, schools and
hospitals.

Highway Location (Contd)

Guidelines for selecting the route

( Contd):
higher ground rather than valley areas
to reduce drainage concerns.
avoid locations where (expensive) rock
excavation is required.
avoid wetlands and other
environmentally sensitive areas
close to sources of pavement materials

Highway Location (Contd)

Guidelines for selecting the route ( Contd):
as far as possible on the route of an
existing highway to reduce costs.
avoid locations prone to landslides which
will result in increased costs with the
requirement for retaining walls.
avoid locations with poor soils which
require more expensive pavement
construction.

Highway Location (Contd)

Guidelines for selecting the route ( Contd):
avoid locations with extensive planned or
existing public utilities which would need to be
removed or relocated.
avoid locations at right angles to the (major)
natural drainage channels to reduce drainage
costs.
In practice the selected route is the best
compromise solution.

Highway Location (Contd)

Site Survey
One (or more) of the feasible routes is
surveyed to collect all the physical
information that can affect the highway, such
as the slope of the ground, position and invert
levels of the natural drainage, utilities, houses
and other property.
Both aerial and ground surveys are used,
separately or in combination, with the ground
survey generally being more economical.

Highway Location (Contd)

Site Survey (Contd)
The result of the survey along the proposed
centreline of the road is the horizontal
alignment, existing ground slopes/grades and
cross sections.
The preferred location would be the one that
minimises the cost of earthworks, which is the
case when the quantities resulting from
excavation (cut) match the quantities required
for embankment construction (fill), avoiding the
need for haulage and imported material.

Highway Location (Contd)

Subsurface Exploration
This is carried out to determine the
type, location and extent of soil and
rock to be encountered on the
proposed route as well as the depth
of the water table.