Highway engineering

Introduction:-

Highway engineering is one of the most important branches of engineering science which deals with the art of design , construction and maintenance of roads of different kinds. the term 'road' refers to a structure constructed to facilitate the movement of men and material from one place to another, where as 'highway' signifies major or important roads of a country. the network of roads in a country can be compared with that of arteries and veins in the human body.

Highway engineering

The branch of science or engineering which deals with the art of design , construction and maintenance of roads of different kinds is termed as "Highway engineering" or "Road engineering".

The term 'High-way' has been used because the road pavements are generally constructed on embankments slightly higher than the general ground level to avoid difficult drainage and maintenance problems. The gentlemen who looks after the design , construction and maintenance of the roads is called a 'Highway Engineer'.

Functions of a highway engineer

The function of a highway engineer is to plan, design, construct , maintain and operate the highway system efficiently. highway engineering is both a large and challenging field having enormous scope for civil engineers to work in this field.

Importance of highway transportation

Roads are vital means of communication on land. The entire progress and development of a country depends upon the efficient and widespread network of roads. The major benefits of roads are listed below:

1. Roads facilitates the traffic to go easily and conveniently from one place to another.
2. Roads help in the growth of trade and related economic activities by quickly marketing and distributing the produce of the country side to the towns and cities . in short , roads are essential for economic prosperity and general development of a country.
3. Development of road system not only provides direct employment in road construction, maintenance and other fields but employment facilities are also increased to a great extent through movement  of people from one place to another. It has been estimated that every 1 crore rupee invested in road construction provides employment to 6500 people.
4. Roads serve as feeder lines for railways , water ways  and airways and thus acts as connecting  link between other modes of transportation.
5. Roads help in establishing cultural, social, religious, and educational contacts between people.This results in minimising the difference in standard of living between towns and villages which in turn reduces the urge to migrate to the towns and cities.
6. Good road network helps in the defence of a country against external aggression or war and at the same time, it helps in maintaining internal security by mobolising the military resources whenever required without loss of time. Thus, better law and order can be kept within the country through a good road network.
7. Roads provide opportunities to various classes of people to develop buildings, hotels, schools, cultural and business centres along road side. The growth of these important educational and trade centres by road side increases the land value of the region.
8. Roads are helpful in mobilising medical aids and other health services for the people in case of any emergency like accident, riot break, fire etc. or natural disasters like Earthquake, Thunderstorm etc.
9. Good roads allow tourist inflow in the country and thus contribute largely towards economic growth of the state.
10. Roads are the symbol of a country's progress and well being. Good roads are prerequisite to speed and speed is a necessity to progress. the country having comparatively more mileage of good roads is aid to be more  advanced and prosperous country. Indeed , roads are the lifelines of a nation's economy.

Important terms used in highway engineering 

Following are the most commonly used terms in relation to Highway engineering and every person related to this trade  must be aware of these terms:

1. Road : Road is defined as a structure constructed of different materials ( Earth, gravel, Bitumen or cement concrete)to facilitate movement of vehicles , carts , cyclists etc. from one place to another.
2. Traffic: The motor vehicles of different kinds such as carts , cyclists and pedestrians moving together on a road are termed as 'traffic'. It is also known as 'mixed traffic'. To avoid accidents , mixed traffic is not allowed to operate on Express-ways and National Highways.
3.  Right of way: The privilege to use road by the traffic is termed as 'Right of way'. This privilege is acquired by them by law or custom or general usage.
4. Street: A road in a built up area or town is termed as street. In case of city streets, the traffic is heavy, so in order to avoid accidents, proper traffic control measures should be adopted.
5. Carriage way: The part of  road , which is used only by vehicular traffic i.e. bullock carts and motor vehicles, etc. is known as carriage way. On important highways and major roads, the black metal part of the road is generally the carriage way.
6. Cycle Track: The portion of the road used by pedal bicycles only is called cycle track. in village and district roads , cycle track is not provided.
7. Foot path: The part of road used by pedestrians or general people walking on foot is termed as foot path. it is slightly higher than the carriage way.
8. Express way: The carriage way reserved only for high speed power driven vehicles is called Express-way. As all the vehicles entering on express way move at a high design speed , the entry to low speed vehicles is generally restricted.
9. Appian way: The major roads or highways constructed by Early Romans were called 'Appian way'. these roads were mainly of strategic importance. 'Appian way' is an example of the best road constructed during olden times.
10. Fair weather roads: The roads which can be used by traffic only in non monsoon season or fair weather are called Fair weather roads.
11. All weather roads:The roads which can be used by traffic in all seasons are called All weather roads. National Highways and State Highways are all weather roads.
12. Ribbon development: The settlement of population and growth of business centres and markets along side river shores, road side and near railway stations is referred as ' ribbon development'. this justifies that progress and development follows the line of transportation.
13. Road side Aboriculture: The provision and maintenance of trees and shrubs along side roads for aesthetic beauty and providing shade , comfort and pleasing environment to road users is termed as road side arboriculture.

Imoprtant organisations promoting road development in India

Various organisations dealing with road development program in India are given below:

1. Indian Road Congress(I.R.C.): I.R.C. works in close collaboration with Roads wing of Ministry of Shipping and transport, Government of India. It is now an active body of national importance controlling  standardisation of specifications as regards materials, design and construction of roads. [ Membership of I.R.C. is open to all qualified engineers dealing with roads].
2. Central Road Research Institute(C.R.R.I.): In 1950, C.R.R.I. was set up at Okhla near Delhi situated on Delhi-Mathura road to carry out research on various aspects of road engineering. This institute inaugurated by Late Prime Minister , Jawahar Lal Nehru is financed and controlled by Ministry of Surface transport (MOST) and is one of the national laboratories of Council of Scientific and industrial Research(C.S.I.R.).
3. Ministry of Surface Transport (MOST): Ministry of Surface Transport (MOST) consists of two departments:

• Department of shipping
• Department of Road Transport & Highways

         This Ministry is headed by one Minister of State with independent charge who is assisted by:

• Director General(Roads)
• Joint Secretary(Ports) and
• Joint Secretary (Shipping) to carry out various activities of the departments. Its headquarters is situated at Transport Bhawan , 1 Sansad Marg, New Delhi

      4.National Highway Authority of India (NHAI): National Highway Authority of India known as NHAI is an autonomous statutory organisation which was established on 15th June ,1989 under National Highway Authority of India Act 1988. It is working under guidance of Ministry Of Surface Transport (MOST) and is responsible for development , maintenance and management of National Highways in India. Its head office is situated in New Delhi. NHAI gets financial amount for project implementation from Central Road Fund (CRF) and is mandated to implement National Highways Development Project(NHDP).

IRC Classification of roads

This classification of roads is based on the recommendations made by the Nagpur Plan at National engineers Conference in 1943.

1. National Highways(NH): 'National Highways' were defined as the important roads running through the length and breadth of India connecting ports , capital cities, foreign highways, industrial centres and strategic points. National highways should have 2 lanes of traffic and should be 7.5 m wide. it should be necessarily a bituminous or concrete road giving an uninterrupted road communication throughout India and should connect the entire road network. All the national are assigned the respective numbers. The milestones provided along the road side indicating mileage(kilometres) along with name of nearest road station are painted in yellow top and base white in case of National Highways.
2. State Highways (SH) : 'State Hghways' were defined as the main trunk or arterial roads of a state connecting national highways of adjacent states, district headquarters and important towns within the state .State highways should preferably be 7.5m wide  and where it is only 3.8 m wide , it should have 2 m wide gravel shoulder on each side to support the carriage way. Milestones  in case of State Highways are painted in green top and white base . They are also of bituminous material or cement concrete type roads.
3. Major District Roads (MDR): The important district roads, which connect district headquarters , production and market centres with either a state highway or a railway station are termed as Major district roads. they also connect district headquarters or towns with neighbouring districts.Mdr should have atleast single lane carriage way of 3.8 m. They should be preferably bituminous type road.
4. Other District Roads (ORD): The roads within a district which connect rural areas of production with markets , educational centres and major district roads are termed as other district roads. They are mostly meant for serving population living in rural areas. These roads have single lane width of atleast 3.8 m of stabilised soil or compacted gravel. These roads are generally fair weather roads and it is the aim of IRC to construct them properly with drainage facilities to convert them into all-weather roads.
5. Village Roads (VR): The roads connecting villages or group of villages with each other and to the nearest district roads or railway centres are termed as village roads. Now-a-days, efforts have been made by Gram Panchayats to convert them into stabilised gravel roads.

Central goverment is responsible for the entire development and the maintenance of national Highways where State goverment is responsible for SH, MDR, ODR,  and village roads. The State government has further entrusted devlopment of district roads and village roads under the charge of local bodies.