Transportation Engg I ch1 2013

Introduction to Transportation Engineering

Mobility is a basic human need. From the times immemorial, everyone travels either for food or leisure. A
closely associated need is the transport of raw materials to a manufacturing unit or finished goods for
consumption. Transportation fulfills these basic needs of humanity. There is a strong correlation between
the quality of transport facilities and standard of living, because of which society places a great expectation
from transportation facilities. The transportation solution should be safe, rapid, comfortable, convenient,
economical, and eco-friendly for both men and material.

Transportation system

In the last couple of decades transportation systems analysis has emerged as a recognized profession. More
and more government organizations, universities, researchers, consultants, and private industrial groups
around the world are becoming truly multi-modal in their orientation and are opting a systematic approach
to transportation problems.

Characteristics of the system

The characteristics of transportation system that makes it diverse and complex are listed below:

1. Multi-modal: Covering all modes of transport; air, land, and sea for both passenger and freight.

2. Multi-sector: Encompassing the problems and viewpoints of government, private industry, and public.

3. Multi-problem: Ranging across a spectrum of issues that includes national and international policy,
planning of regional system, the location and design of specific facilities, carrier management issues,
regulatory, institutional and financial policies.

4. Multi-objective: Aiming at national and regional economic development, urban development,

environment quality, and social quality, as well as service to users and financial and economic feasibility.

5. Multi-disciplinary: Drawing on the theories and methods of engineering, economics, operations

research, political science, psychology, other natural, and social sciences, management and law.

Role of transportation engineer

In spite of the diversity of problem types, institutional contexts and technical perspectives there is an
underlying unity: a body of theory and set of basic principles to be utilized in every analysis of
transportation systems. The core of this is the transportation system analysis approach. The focus of this is
the interaction between the transportation and activity systems of region. This approach is to intervene,
delicately and deliberately in the complex fabric of society to use transport effectively in coordination with
other public and private actions to achieve the goals of that society. The analyst must have substantial
understanding of the transportation systems and their interaction with activity systems; which requires
understanding of the basic theoretical concepts and available empirical knowledge.

1 Prem N. Bastola
Transportation Engg I ch1 2013

Major disciplines of transportation

Transportation engineering can be broadly consisting of the four major parts:

1. Transportation Planning

2. Geometric Design

3. Pavement Design—transportation II- in detail

4. Traffic Engineering.—transportation II in depth

Transportation planning: you study this in detail in Elective I

Transportation planning essentially involves the development of a transport model which will accurately
represent both the current as well as future transportation system.

Geometric design: refer ch 3

Geometric design deals with physical proportioning of other transportation facilities, in contrast with the
structural design of the facilities. The topics include the cross-sectional features, horizontal alignment,
vertical alignment and intersections. Although there are several modes of travel like road, rail, air, etc.. the
underlying principles are common to a great extent. Therefore emphasis will be normally given for the
geometric design of roads.

Other important disciplines

Public transportation: Public transportation or mass transportation deals with study of the transportation
system that meets the travel need of several people by sharing a vehicle. Generally this focuses on the
urban travel by bus and rail transit. The major topics include characteristics of various modes; planning,
management and operations; and policies for promoting public transportation.

Financial and economic analysis Transportation facilities require large capital investments. There-fore it is
imperative that whoever invests money should get the returns. When government invests in transportation,
its objective is not often monetary returns; but social benefits. The economic analysis of transportation
project tries to quantify the economic benefit which includes saving in travel time, fuel consumption, etc.
This will help the planner in evaluating various projects and to optimally allocate funds. On the contrary,
private sector investments require monetary profits from the projects. Financial evaluation tries to quantify
the return from a project.

Environmental impact assessment The depletion of fossil fuels and the degradation of the environment has
been a severe concern of the planners in the past few decades. Transportation; in spite of its benefits to the
society is a major contributor to the above concern. The environmental impact assessment attempts in
quantifying the environmental impacts and tries to evolve strategies for the mitigation and reduction of the

2 Prem N. Bastola
Transportation Engg I ch1 2013

impact due to both construction and operation. The primary impacts are fuel consumption, air pollution,
and noise pollution.

Accident analysis and reduction: One of the silent killers of humanity is transportation. Several statistics
evaluates that more people are killed due to transportation than great wars and natural disasters. This
discipline of transportation looks at the causes of accidents, from the perspective of human, road, and
vehicle and formulate plans for the reduction.

Intelligent transport system

With advent to computers, communication, and vehicle technology, it is possible in these days to operate
transportation system much effectively with significant reduction in the adverse impacts of transportation.
Intelligent transportation system offers better mobility, efficiency, and safety with the help of the state-of-
the-art-technology.

Transportation Defined:

Transportation in simple terms is travelling from point A to point B via suitable modes- simply transfer of
people and goods from one place to another.

Transportation system consists of fixed facilities, flow entities and control system. [Papacostas]
 Fixed facilities- physical component, road network, link, roadway signal, railway track,
pipes, nodes [intersection], airport etc.
 Design of such components such as foundation, structural units and drainage system.
 Flow entities- vehicles, containers, bicycle etc.. as per AASHTO [American association of
state highway and transportation officials]
 Control system – vehicle control mainly the driver, flow control by traffic signal sign and
road marking etc.

Transportation system classification:

Passenger transport: Regional passenger transportation, dealing with inter-city passenger transport by air,
rail, and highway and possible with new modes.

Freight transport: Routing and management, choice of different modes of rail and truck.

Primary modes-
We deal with this topic
Land transportation- highway and railway in this semester

Air transportation- domestic and international

Water transportation- inland [river and lake] coastal and ocean

Secondary modes-
3 Prem N. Bastola
Transportation Engg I ch1 2013

Ropeways

Pipelines – water, gas, sewer

Introduction to Highway Engineering

Ancient Roads

The first mode of transport was by foot. These human pathways would have been developed for specific
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.

Roman roads- features

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 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 are still existing.

Roman roads were always constructed on a firm - formed subgrade strengthened where necessary with
wooden piles.

The roads were bordered on both sides by longitudinal drains.

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.

In the case of heavy traffic, a surface course of large 250 mm thick hexagonal flag stones were provided.

4 Prem N. Bastola
Transportation Engg I ch1 2013

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.

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

5 Prem N. Bastola
Transportation Engg I ch1 2013

the roads were to be kept usable all times.

British roads

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. A typical cross section of British roads is given below

6 Prem N. Bastola
Transportation Engg I ch1 2013

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. Development of new equipments helps 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.

Advantage and Disadvantage of Road transport [ Discuss the points below]

Wide geographical coverage-excess to village High land coverage

Large influential area Pollution
Low capital investment Safety
Door to door service Economy
Flexibility –not fixed schedule Energy consumption
Quick Parking problems
Employment
Low cost of handling
Personalized travel
economical
safety

Road classification

The roads can be classified in many ways. The classification based on speed and accessibility is the most
generic one. The roads can be classified as follows in the order of increased accessibility and reduced
speeds.

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.

7 Prem N. Bastola
Transportation Engg I ch1 2013

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. Parking, loading and
unloading activities are usually restricted and regulated. Pedestrians are allowed to cross only at
intersections/designated pedestrian crossings.

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.

Collectors 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 except during peak hours.

Roads classification criteria

Apart from the classification given by the different plans, roads were also classified based on some other
criteria.

Based on usage

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.

Based on carriage way

This classiffication 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 atleast a WBM layer they is called
unpaved roads. Thus earth and gravel roads come under this category.

8 Prem N. Bastola
Transportation Engg I ch1 2013

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.

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.

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.

Location and function: The classification based on location and function should be a more acceptable
classification since they may be defined clearly.

Discuss the classification of roads as per NRS 2027

Planning

Planning may be defined as the activity or process that examines the potential of future actions to guide a
situation or a system towards a desired direction, for example, towards the attainment of positive goals, the
avoidance of problems or both.

Transportation Planning

is a field involved with the evaluation, assessment, design, and building of transportation facilities such as
streets, highway, bikeway, etc…

Important

Demands need planning

 Oriented to the future
 Onetime event

The transportation problem is unique than other common development issues Generally, many
development activities such as sanitation, health etc developed with the economic growth however,
transportation system get worse
9 Prem N. Bastola
Transportation Engg I ch1 2013

The process of transportation planning entails developing a transportation plan for an urban region. It is an
ongoing process that seeks to address the transport needs of the inhabitants of the area, and with the aid of
a process of consultation with all relevant groups, strives to identify and implement an appropriate plan to
meet these needs.
The process takes place at a number of levels. At an administrative/political level, a transportation policy is
formulated and politicians must decide on the general location of the transport corridors/networks to be
prioritized for development, on the level of funding to be allocated to the different schemes and on the
mode or modes of transport to be used within them.

Planning phase

 Conceptualization
 Planning
 Construction
 Operation/ maintenance
 Decommissioning

Types of planning

 Short and medium

 Long term planning

Short term planning is less complex, requires less fund and main objective is to obtain maximum
efficiency from existing facilities

Long term planning are complex in nature, require huge financial expenditure and involve large
construction. Policy making, government role, administration, and forecasting are crucial.

Major Stakeholders Involvement in Planning

 Elected Officials,
 Private agencies
 Officially appointed citizen advisory commission
 Public and private transportation system operators
 Voluntary citizen and professional organizations
 Other interested individuals and organizations .

Planning models:

 Population model
 Econometric model

10 Prem N. Bastola
Transportation Engg I ch1 2013

 Land use transportation model

 4 step model- trip generation, distribution, modal split and assignment [ in depth study in
elective I]

Land use transportation cycle:

Changed
Land-use

Increased Increased
land value trip generation

Increased Greater traffic

Accessibility needs

Added Transport
facilities

Fig. 1.1 Land-use Transport Cycle

Source: Khristy and Lal

The movement of people and goods in a city is the joint consequence of land activity [demand] and the
capability of the transportation system to handle the traffic flow [supply]. Naturally there is a direct
interaction between the type and intensity of land use and the supply of transportation facilities provided
.The primary objectives of planning any land-use and transportation system is to ensure that there is an
efficient balance between land-use activity and transportation capability.

The relation between land use and transportation can be viewed in three different contexts

 Physical relationships at the macro-scale, which are of long term significance and generally
considered as part of the planning process.
 Physical relationships at the micro-scale, which are both of short term and long term significance
and generally considered as urban design issue
 Process relationships, which deals with legal, administrative, financial and institutional aspects of
coordinating land and transportation development.

In the general sense, land use means the spatial distribution or geographical pattern of the city such as
residential areas, industry, commercial areas, and the space set aside for governmental, institutional and
recreational purposes. If the land uses by area for a city are known, it is possible to estimate the traffic
generated. Trip generation provides the linkage between land use and travel as depicted in the above
cycle..

Urban Road Patterns: [ for figure refer Khanna & Justo ch 2 p 25]
Road network can be laid in various patterns. These patterns in which the road network is laid could be

11 Prem N. Bastola
 Transportation Engg I ch1 2013

1) Rectangular or Block pattern:

In this pattern, the whole area is divided into rectangular blocks of plots, with streets intersecting at right
angles. The main road which passes through the center of the area should be sufficiently wide and other
branch roads may be comparatively narrow. The main road is provided a direct approach to outside the
city.
Advantages:
1) The rectangular plots may be further divided into small rectangular blocks for construction of buildings
placed back to back, having roads on their front.
2) In this pattern has been adopted for the city roads.
3) The construction and maintenance of roads of this pattern is comparatively easier.
Limitations:
1) This pattern is not very much convenient because at the intersections, the vehicles face each other.

2) Radial or Star and block Pattern:

In this pattern, the entire area is divided into a network of roads radiating from the business outwardly. In
between radiating main roads, the built-up area may be planned with rectangular block.
Advantage:
1) Reduces level of congestion at the primary bottleneck location.
2) Prevents traffic from accessing local flow routes in the direction of the event venue that operate in favor of
egress traffic flow.
3) If one is block then other side traffic can move.
4) Vehicles face each other less than block pattern.
Limitations:
1) Proves particularly effective if two-lane ramp traffic does not have to merge at downstream end of ramp.
2) Safety appurtenances such as guide rail transitions, crash attenuators, and post support bases have not been
designed to provide adequate protection at hazardous locations from the opposite direction of travel.
3) Radial or Star and Circular Pattern:
In this system, the main radial roads radiating from central business area are connected together with
concentric roads. In these areas, boundary by adjacent radial roads and corresponding circular roads, the
built-up area is planned with a curved block system.
Advantages:
1) At traditional intersections with stop signs or traffic signals, some of the most common types of crashes are
right-angle, left-turn, and head-on collisions. These types of collisions can be severe because vehicles may
be traveling through the intersection at high speeds. With circular pattern, these types of potentially serious
crashes essentially are eliminated because vehicles travel in the same direction.
2) Installing circular pattern in place of traffic signals can also reduce the likelihood of rear-end crashes.

12 Prem N. Bastola
 Transportation Engg I ch1 2013

3) Removing the reason for drivers to speed up as they approach green lights and by reducing abrupt stops at
red lights.
4) Because roundabouts improve the efficiency of traffic flow, they also reduce vehicle emissions and fuel
consumption.
Limitations:
1) Center lines of roads leading to circular pattern should be properly aligned with the central island.
2) Approach roads should be sufficiently curved, far enough in advance of circular pattern, to reduce vehicle
speeds of entering drivers.
3) Islands separating the approach and exit lanes, known as splitter islands, should extend far enough to
provide pedestrian refuge and to delineate the roundabout.
4) Traffic signs, pavement markings, and lighting should be adequate so that drivers are aware that they are
approaching a roundabout and that they should reduce their travel speed.
5) For older drivers declines in vision, hearing, and cognitive functions, as well as physical impairments, may
affect some older adults' driving ability. Intersections can be especially challenging for older drivers.
4) Radial or Star and Grid Pattern :
Change in direction, and because street patterns are the most enduring physical element of any layout, it
could potentially contribute to systematic site planning and, consequently, deserves a closer look. Though
the network is entirely interconnected, north-south movement becomes circuitous, indirect, and
inconvenient, making driving an unlikely choice and vividly illustrating that interconnectedness by itself is
insufficient to facilitate movement.
Advantages:
1) Keep vehicular traffic safe with a high proportion of 3-way intersections.
2) Reduce cut-through traffic by similar or other means.
3) Improve traffic flow in both directions using Savannah’s cellular structure.
4) Improve land use efficiency and unit density.
Limitations:
1) Islands separating the approach and exit lanes, known as splitter islands, should extend far enough.
2) Traffic signs, pavement markings, and lighting should be adequate so that drivers are aware that they
should reduce their travel speed.
5) Hexagonal Pattern :
In this pattern, the entire area is provided with a network of roads formatting hexagonal figures. At each
corner of the hexagon, three roads meet the built-up area boundary by the sides of the hexagons is further
divided in suitable sizes.
Advantages:
1) Three roads meet the built-up area boundary by the sides of the hexagons.
Limitations:
1) Traffic signs, pavement markings, and lighting should be adequate so that drivers are aware that they
should reduce their travel speed.

13 Prem N. Bastola
 Transportation Engg I ch1 2013

6) Minimum Travel Pattern :

In this road pattern, city is contented by sector center, suburban center and neighborhood center by the
road which required minimum to connect the city center.
Legend: City center – encircled dot- sector center - * suburban center - * neighborhood center - *
representation of a Minimum Travel city
Advantages:
1) these types of potentially serious crashes essentially are eliminated.
Limitations:
1) Traffic signs, pavement markings, and lighting should be adequate so that drivers are aware that they
should reduce their travel speed.
2) Intersections can be especially challenging for older drivers.

*** students are assumed to go through these documents

 First Long term planning of road 2024 BS(First Nepal-Twenty-Years-Road-Plan 1965-

1985}
 Nepal Road Standards 2027 (second revision in 2051 B.S.)
 Nepal-Twenty-Years-Road-Plan 2058(Second)
 Gramin purbadhar bikasko rastriya rannaniti,2054, DoLIDAR

Assignment:

 Describe the history of major modes of transportation and their present status in Nepal.
 Discuss the role of transportation – refer class lecture.
 Discuss the major modes of transport [ road, rail and air]
 Describe with neat sketches various urban road patterns
 Describe land use transportation cycle
 Differentiate between Telford and Macadam road constructions with typical sections.

Further Reading: Khristy & Lal ch 1

Papacostas ch 1

Khanna & Justo ch 1 and 2

14 Prem N. Bastola