CE 408

HIGHWAY AND RAILROAD

ENGINEERING

Engr. Rodolfo L. Morales, Jr.

Dr. Cristina Amor M. Rosales

August 2020
 Course Rationale and Description
Highway and Railroad Engineering presents the methods and underlying principles for the
design and control of the elements of road and railroad infrastructure. The course will provide
familiarity with transportation system terminology, flow analysis, driver, vehicle and road
characteristics, and aspects of road geometrics, road construction, drainage, pavements and
maintenance.

Intended Learning Outcomes

• ILO 1- Define the basic concepts of highway and railroad transportation and present how
to apply them in civil engineering practice.
• ILO 2- Determine and compute the design principles associated with the geometry and
structure of highway and railway engineering systems.
• ILO 3- Develop basic traffic stream parameters and models, traffic flow models, and apply
the queuing theory.
• ILO 4- Explain the basic service requirements of the highway and detail the procedure to
conduct level of service analysis.

Criteria for Assessment

Intended Learning Outcomes

Assessment Tools Percentage, %
1 2 3 4
End of Module Assessment 20 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Midterm Exam 20 ✔
Final Exam 30 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Technical Study 30 ✔ ✔
Total 100 %
 Module 1 Introduction to Highway and Railroad Engineering
Introduction
Transportation has always been an important aspect of human civilization. In this module, the
student will learn the overview and development in transportation sectors including the different
modes of transportation, characteristics of road transport. This module will also explain the
transportation engineering profession and the scope of highway and railroad engineering, which is
the focus of this course.
Topic Outcomes
At the end of this module, the student will be able to:

1. explain the timeline of development of transportation sector, development of transportation

infrastructure
2. present the evolution of transportation engineering profession, its various specialization
and the scope of highway and railroad engineering

This module will be divided into different topics to ensure that the outcomes will be attained:

1. The development and significance of transportation

2. Different Modes of Transportation
3. Different Transportation Infrastructures
4. Transportation Engineering: evolution and its specialization
Topic 1: The Development and Significance of Transportation
Transportation is a means in which people and goods are moved from one place to another.
It is considered as the circulatory system of a society. The increasing transportation demand for
systematized mobility of people, goods and services as part of rural development and urbanization
all over the country indicates the need to increase specialists for the transportation sector.

One of the advocates of transportation, Prof. Rodrigue, in his book on transportation

geography, highlighted how transportation shapes the development of the world. The economic
and social development of people evolve with how transportation is being shaped in its locale. To
quote:

The unique purpose of transportation is to overcome space, which is

shaped by a variety of human and physical constraints such as distance,
time, administrative divisions, and topography. Jointly, they confer
friction to any movement, commonly known as the friction of distance
(or friction of space). In an ideal world, transportation would come at
no effort in terms of cost and time and would have unlimited capacity
and spatial reach. Under such circumstances, geography would not
matter. In the real world, however, geography can be a significant
constraint to transport since it trades space for time and money and can
only be partially circumscribed. The extent to which this is done has a
cost that varies significantly according to factors such as the length of
the trip, the capacity of modes and infrastructures, and the nature of
what is being transported. Transport geography can be understood from
a series of eight core principles:

1. Transportation is the spatial linking of derived demand.

2. Distance is a relative concept involving space, time, and effort.
3. Space is at the same time the generator, support, and a constraint for mobility.
4. The relation between space and time can converge or diverge.
5. A location can be central, where it generates and attracts traffic, or an intermediate
element where traffic transits through.
6. To overcome geography, transportation must consume space.
7. Transportation seeks massification but is constrained by atomization.
8. Velocity is a modal, intermodal, and managerial effort.
Topic 2: Different Modes of Transportation
The earliest form of transportation is by foot. Now, transportation may vary from land travel to
space travel. Listed below are some examples of different modes of transportation:
1. Land
a. By foot
b. Animal-pulled wagons
c. Bicycle
d. Cars
e. Buses
f. Trains
2. Water
a. Boats
b. Ships
c. Submarines
d. Hovercrafts (fig. 1.2.1)
3. Air
a. Airplanes
b. Helicopters
4. Others
a. Ski lifts (cable transport) (fig. 1.2.2)
b. Spacecrafts (space transport)

Fig. 1.1.a. Hovercraft Fig. 1.1.b. Ski lift

(image from industrytap.com) (image from cit)

With recent concerns of mobility specifically in urban areas, mode of transportation is

being reviewed and revisited by transport experts and travel enthusiasts. Figure below presents the
New Reverse Traffic Pyramid presented by Bicycle Network in Australia. This pyramid aims to
suggest an approach to city and urban planning that appropriately prioritizes active travel and aims
to decrease the congestion and pollution of a car-centric city.
Figure 1.2. The Reverse Traffic Pyramid
Topic 3: Different Transportation Infrastructures
The innovation of modes of transportation comes hand in hand with different transportation
infrastructures. The following are examples of common transportation infrastructures:

● Roads
- Highways
- Walkways
- Bicycle lanes
- Bridges
- Tunnels
● Railways
● Stations
● Ports
● Airports

In the Philippines, the road infrastructures are managed and monitored by the Department of Public
Works and Highways (DPWH). The DPWH is mandated to undertake (a) the planning of
infrastructure, such as national roads and bridges, flood control, water resources projects and other
public works, and (b) the design, construction, and maintenance of national roads and bridges, and
major flood control systems. The Department of Transportation (DOTr), on the other hand, focuses
on other modes of transportation such as railway (PNR, MRT, and LRT), airport, and ports (PPA).

Further readings:
Boquet Y. (2017) Transportation in the Philippines. In: The Philippine Archipelago. Springer
Geography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51926-5_15
DPWH Atlas (2019). Philippine National Road Network. Accessed through
https://www.dpwh.gov.ph/dpwh/2019%20DPWH%20ATLAS/index.htm
Topic 4: Transportation Engineering: Evolution and Its Specialization
Application of technology and scientific principles to the planning, functional design,
operations and management of facilities for any mode of transportation in order to provide for the
safe, rapid, comfortable, convenient, economical, and environmentally compatible movement of
people and goods. - Institute of Transportation Engineering (ITE)

Transport engineers plan, design and operate the large public and private infrastructure
systems that connect our physical world. - University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia

Transportation engineering is the application of technology and scientific principles to the

design, operation, planning and management of transportation infrastructure, mobility service,
traffic, and travelers for various travel modes, in order to provide for the safe, efficient, rapid,
comfortable, convenient, economical, and environmentally sustainable movement of people and
goods. - Columbia University, New York

Evolution
Mobility of people can be traced as early as the paleolithic age when people sought to travel
to different continents. Pathways created by animals are also considered as the start of
transportation networks. Evidence showed how humans followed animal tracks for walking which
eventually evolved into a clear path for humans to move from one location to another. With the
introduction of the wheel about 7,000 years ago, the larger, heavier loads that could be transported
showed the limitations of dirt paths that turned into muddy bogs when it rained. The earliest stone
paved roads have been traced to about 4,000 B.C. in the Indian subcontinent and Mesopotamia
(see figure).
The roadway construction, on the other hand, can be traced to Roman civilization wherein
roads are made of blocks of rocks embedded on soil and are used as carriageways. The Romans
developed techniques to build durable roads using multiple layers of materials atop deep beds of
crushed stone for water drainage. Some of those roads remain in use more than 2,000 years later,
and the fundamental techniques form the basis of today's roads.
Modern road-construction techniques can be traced to a process developed by Scottish
engineer John McAdam in the early 19th century. McAdam topped multi-layer roadbeds with a
soil and crushed stone aggregate that was then packed down with heavy rollers to lock it all
together. Contemporary asphalt roads capable of supporting the vehicles that emerged in the 20th
century built upon McAdams' methods by adding tar as a binder.
The actual process of road building has changed dramatically over the past century, going from
large gangs of workers with picks and shovels to enormous specialized machines. Rebuilding
existing roads starts with peeling up existing pavement, grinding it and dumping it straight into
trucks for reuse later as aggregate for new roads. After grading the surface, pavers come in and lay
down fresh, continuous sheets of asphalt followed directly by the rollers.
 Figure 4.1 Ancient Road in Greece
(Archaeological Site of Dion, Macedonia, Greece; taken June 2015)

In the pre-industrial revolution, transport technology was mainly limited to harnessing animal
labor for land transport and to wind for maritime transport. Initially, ships were propelled by
rowers, and sails were added around 2,500 BCE as a complementary form of propulsion. Most of
the technical innovations that modified the transportation sector took place in a short period of
industrial era, mainly between 1760 and 1800. It was during this industrial revolution that massive
modifications of transport systems occurred in two major phases: the first, centered along with the
development of canal systems and the second, centered along railways. This period marked the
development of the steam engine, an external combustion engine that converted thermal energy
into mechanical energy, providing an important territorial expansion for maritime and railway
transport systems.
Figure 4.2 demonstrates the evolution of different transportation sectors from the 18th century.

Figure 4.1 Evolution of Transport Technology since the 18th Century

(Source: Rodrigue, J-P (2020), The Geography of Transport Systems, Fifth Edition, New York: Routledge)

Subdisciplines in Transportation Engineering

Traffic Engineering is the subdiscipline of transportation engineering that addresses the planning,
design and operation of streets and highways, their networks, adjacent land uses and interaction
with other modes of transportation and their terminals (ITE)

Highway Engineering involved in the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance
of roads, bridges, and tunnels to ensure safe and effective transportation of people and goods.

Railway Systems Engineering a field of engineering which deals with the design, construction,
and operation of all railway systems. This specialization is a multifaceted science as it involves
different engineering disciplines such as mechanical engineering, computer engineering, civil
engineering, electrical engineering, production engineering and industrial engineering.

Airport Engineering is the field responsible for engineering standards and research for design,
equipment, and airfield development at civil airports. It is also responsible for airport data, safety-
related airport airspace issues, and facilitating innovative methods of improving airport
infrastructure

Ports and Harbor Engineering handle the design, construction, and operation of ports, harbors,
canals, and other maritime facilities. Recently, this is also termed as navigation engineering, a
civil engineering specialty that involves the life-cycle planning, design, construction, operation,
and maintenance of safe, secure, reliable, efficient, and environmentally sustainable navigable
waterways (channels, structures, and support systems) used to move people and goods by
waterborne vessels.
End of Module Assessment
Upload your answers to our google classroom.

1. What mode of transportation do you think is most applicable in the Philippines? In your
community? Explain. Limit your answers to 300 words.

Notes:
1. You may refer to further readings in topic 3.
2. Think technical. Avoid flowery words as we are now in our professional course.

Bibliography:
Jean-Paul Rodrigue (2020), The Geography of Transport Systems, 5th edition. New York:
Routledge, 456 pages. ISBN 978-0-367-36463-2
Boquet Y. (2017) Transportation in the Philippines. In: The Philippine Archipelago. Springer
Geography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51926-5_15
Mannering Fred, Washburn Scott,Kilaresky Walter. 2004. Principles of Highway Engineering and Traffic
Analysis. Muze Inc.
Wright, Paul H. 2003. Highway Engineering.Wiley & Sons.
Garber, Nicholas and Hoel, Lester. 2001.Highway and Traffic Engineering. Brookes/Cole Publishing.
Fajardo, Max Jr. B., Elements of Roads and Highways, Second Edition, 5138. Merchandising Publisher,
Manila,1998.
Lay, Maxwell G (1992). Ways of the World: A History of the World's Roads and of the Vehicles that Used
Them. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-2691-1

Websites:
https://www.asce.org/
https://www.ite.org/
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a4447/the-road-ahead-road-evolution/
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/back0506.cfm