CHAPTER 2 - DESIGNING THE HIGHWAY

2-l Consistency
Consistency is the most important single rule in highway
design. That is, by making every element of the roadway conforms to the expectation of every driver.

Drivers expect the highway agency to provide them with:

1. Clear information and guidance through a variety of road signs.

2. Avoiding abrupt changes in the traffic as well as the road standards.

If these guides and directions could be planned properly to convey one single message at a time, and if
these directions will be followed smoothly and easily without undue haste, or changes in speed, then, the
roadway facilities are considered satisfactory. Experienced highway Engineers recommended that highway
signs and directions should be integrated as early as the preliminary layout studies.

2-2 Definition of Terms

AASTHO is the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. ln 1914, the American
Association of State Highway Officials (ASSHO) was established as an
association of State Territorial and District of Columbia Highway Department, and the Federal Highway
Administration. The name was expanded in 1973, when the Department of Transportation was integrated
into the association renaming AASHO to AASHTO, giving the officials of these agency the power to govern
its operation. Engineering activities, were implemented by the standing committees with the task of
preparing specifications manual and standards, representing the current highway engineering practice.

AASHTO publications includes:

1. Transportation Materials Specifications and Tests.

2. Specifications for highway bridges
3. Geometric design standards.
4. Numerous policy statements and guides.

AASHTO publications are authoritative" References are made in these books and periodic manuals. The
association also publishes the AASHTO quarterly reports on current Highway and Transportations subject
including trends in forecast and legislation.

Roads and Highways is defined as strips of land that have been cleared and further improved for the
movement of people and goods.
Road. Road has somewhat broader application in usage
while generally used to describe a public thoroughfare. It can also refer to railways.

Highway. The term was first used in England to describe a public road built by digging ditches on both sides
and heaping up the earth in the middle creating a way higher than the adjacent land. Highway now
connotes, a higher state of development than road. but the words are almost interchangeable.

Expressway is a divided arterial highway for through traffic with full or partial control or access and generally
provided with grade separation at major intersections.

Freeway is an expressway with fuIl control of access

Control of Access is a condition where the rights of owners or occupants of adjoining land or other persons’
access to light, air or view in connection with a highway is fully or partially controlled by public authority.
Full Control of Access - The authority to control access is exercised to give preference to through traffic by
providing access connections to selected public roads only. Crossing at grade or direct private driveway
connections is not permitted.

Partial Control of Access - The authority to control access

is exercised to give preference to through traffic. Although in addition to access connections with selected
public roads, there may be some crossings at grade and some private driveway connections allowed.

Through Street or Through Highway - Every Highway or portion thereof on which vehicular traffic is given
preferential right of way, and at the entrance to which vehicular traffic from intersecting highways is
required by law to yield right of way to vehicles on such through highway in obedience to either stop sign
or yield signs erected thereon.

Parkway is an arterial highway for non-commercial traffic, with full or partial control of access usually located
within a park or ribbon park-like development.

Arterial Street is an arterial route that carries traffic to the nearest access point or through traffic. It often
serves as the most advantageous routes for relatively long distance travel. Most arterial streets are existing
highways of considerable length along which cross traffic is regulated by signals or stop signs. In addition,
arterials provide access to adjacent property but often with restrictions on entry and exit points. Arterial
street is considered as a "make do" substitute for controlled access facilities when traffic volume exceeds
about 20,000 vehicles per day.

Basic Considerations in Planning Arterial Roadways

1. Selection of the routes.

2. Studies of the traffic volume.
 3. Origin and destination.
4. Accident experienced.
5. Width should not be less than 15 meters.
6. Must carry at least one lane of traffic in each direction.
7. Should be at least one kilometer in length.
8. Should skirt neighborhood areas rather than penetrate them.
9. On grid design system streets, arterials are spaced at about 600 to 900 meters apart.
10. Where accident hazard is not a factor, the minimum volume to justify arterial road is 300 vehicles
per average hour during the day, and 450 vehicles hourly during peak periods.

Sometimes, peak hour traffic volume on designated arterial road exceeds the capacity of two-way streets,
and to increase the arterial capacity, the following solutions are enforced:

1. During peak hours, parking is prohibited on one or both sides of the street.
2. Parking is prohibited several meters away from each side of the road intersections or corners.
3. Right turn is allowed on red signals anytime with care.
4. Left turns are eliminated on congested intersections.
5. The direction of traffic is reversed in the center lane to provide more lanes in the direction of
heavier traffic flow

Collector Street form smaller mesh grid pattern where passengers are pick up from service streets and
carried to the arterials. Large commercial enterprises or amusement facilities like drive in theaters are mostly
fronting arterial roads.

Local Road is defined as street or road primarily for access to residence, business, or other adjoining
properties. It is also defined as a road constructed and maintained by the local government.
Highway Capacity is defined as the minimum number of vehicles that are reasonably expected to pass a
given point over a given period of time usually expressed as vehicles per hour.

1. Under ideal conditions, one freeway lane can accommodate about 2,000 passenger cars per hour.

2. Two-lane road can carry up to 1,000 passenger cars per hour in each direction.

There is an obvious relationship between vehicle speed and highway capacity. As the volume of traffic
approaches capacity, the average speed is markedly reduced.

AADT or ADT refers to traffic volume or flow on a high-way as measured by the number of vehicles passing
a partial station during a given interval of time. It is called 'Average Annual Daily Traffic" if the period is less
than one year. Volume may be stated on hourly "Observed Traffic Volume" or estimated 30hour volume
commonly used for design purposes. Some highway agencies use traffic volume for 5minutes interval to
distinguish short peak movements of vehicles.

2-3 The Design Speed

There is no single set of Geometric Standards that will apply to all highways. For every highway segment,
decisions regarding appropriate control for each of the many details or requirements must be addressed
individually or separately.
AASHTO defined Design Speed as:

"The speed determined for design and correlation of the physical feature of a highway that
influence vehicles operation”

Basic Design Features refers to the tightness and super elevation of curves, the sight distance, and grade.
The design speed is basically higher than the anticipated average speed.
AASHTO recommend that:

"The design speed be set to the greatest degree possible, to satisfy the needs of nearly all drivers both
today and throughout the road anticipated life."

For economic reasons, the Geometric Features of certain road sections are designed for speed from 30 to
50 kilometers per hour. And yet, some motorists drive faster on straight road alignment or less sharply
curved sections. Under this situations, highway design adopted control by reducing the super elevation
combined with easement curves, delineators, stripping signs and rumble strips, to alert motorists and inform
them that they are approaching sharp curves or blind curves.

Selection of the proper road design speed is one of the most important decisions to make, because it sets
the limit to curvature, sight distance, and other geometric figures. But because of limited funds, there is a
strong temptation to reduce the design speed. Such kind of decision is unwise, because the alignment
grade and sight distance after the roadway has been constructed and paved along the landscape and rights
of way, become more difficult and expensive to adjust or to correct.
2-4 Cross Section of Typical Highway
The cross section of a typical highway has latitude of variables to consider such as:

1. The volume of traffic.

2. Character of the traffic.

3. Speed of the traffic.

4. Characteristics of motor vehicles and of the driver

Highway design usually adopted cross section that is uniform in thickness from end to end of the
improvement. This is acceptable on high volume traffic road facilities. For a low volume of traffic facilities,
modification of the features like the shoulders width in rough areas are usually employed to reduce costs. A
cross section design generally offers the expected level of service for safety and a recent study showed that:

1. A 7.20 meters wide pavement has l8% less accident compared with pavement narrower than 5.50
m. wide.

2. A 7,2A meters wide pavement has 4% of fewer accidents than the 6.00 meters wide roadway.

3. Accident records showed no difference between the 6.60 meters and the 7.20 meters wide
pavement.

4. For the 6.00 m., 6.60 m. and,7.20 meters wide pavement with 2.70 to 3.00 m. wide shoulder,
recorded accident decreases by 30% compared to 0 to .60 m. wide shoulder. And 20% compared
with a 0.90 to 1.20 meters wide shoulder.

It appears that, the above difference in accident potentials may not justify higher standard, particularly,
when traffic volume is low. A driver's instinct when overtaking or allowing
other cars to overtake or meting oncoming vehicles is to look at the surface width of the highway, and see
the kind of surface where to position his car.

Originally, the total surface width of the roadway was only 4.50 meters, but due to the increased number of
vehicles using the roadway, the width was adjusted to 4.80 to 5.40 meters.
Lately, the width of the road was standardized to 3.00 m. for first class paved one lane highway, and now
3.60 meters wide surface was adopted standard for freeways and other major traffic roadways, although
there is strong demand to increase it further from 3.60 to 4.20 meters.

For Two Lane Rural Highways, a 7.20 meters wide sur-face is required for safe clearance between
commercial vehicles and is recommended for main highways.
For Collector Roadway, 6.00 meters wide surface is acceptable only for low volume traffic including few
trucks traveling thereon.

For Local Rural Roadway, the minimum surface width is 4.80 meters for a 30 km / hr. design speed.
For Urban Roadway, the minimum design width is 3.60 meters although 3.00 meters is allowed where space
is limited.

Where there are heavy meetings or overtaking between cars and trucks, air disturbances sometimes cause
side collision be-tween passing vehicles when swerved within or out of their lanes. Motorists are requesting
for wider lanes.
 Republic of the Philippines
University of Eastern Philippines
University Town, Catarman Northern Samar
College of Engineering
Civil Engineering Department

CE426a HIGHWAY SURVEYING

REPORT

EMERSON GRANT P. ABAYON

BSCE-IV

ENGR. LEO M. SAURO

PROFESSOR