Introduction CE Notes 01

Highway Engineering
• A branch of Civil Engineering which deals with
the location, design, construction &
maintenance, economics, financing, planning
and programming of roads.
• Highway Engineer
A civil engineer having expertise in the field of
Highway Engineering.

Roads/Highways
• Strips of land that have been cleared and
further improved for the movement of people
and goods.
• Road transport is one of the most common
mode of transport
• Roads in the form of trackways, human
pathways etc. were used even from the pre-
historic times

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Importance of a Highway
• Good highways are so interwoven with every
phase of our daily activities that it is almost
impossible to imagine what life would be like
without them.
• We depend on highways for the following:
– Movement of goods
– Travel to and from work
– Services
– Social and recreational purposes

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Movement of Goods

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Introduction CE Notes 01

Travel to Work or School

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Highway Development
• The great highway systems of our modern
civilization have their origin in the period
before the dawn of recorded history.
• Invention of the wheel is popularly supposed
to have occurred some 10,000 years ago.
• The earliest travel was on foot, later pack
animals were utilized, crude sleds were
developed, and simple wheeled vehicles
evolved.

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Introduction CE Notes 01

Roman Roads
The Roman era was undoubtedly the
greatest road building age not only in
Britain but throughout Europe.
5000 miles of their superb highways
stretch from Cadiz on the west coast of
Spain through France, Germany, and
Italy just to name a few and so on to
Tangier to complete the loop.
 Their roads were renowned for their
straightness.

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Roman Roads
 The Romans played a huge role in road
developments. The Romans certainly did
inspire, as they were able to build such a vast
system of roads and were able to manage it,
without the use of modern technology.
 This has certainly led to our current state, a
system of roads linking places. As the saying
goes, All Roads Lead to Rome.

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Roman Road Structure

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Introduction CE Notes 01

Pierre Tresaguet
• French engineer born in 1716
• He is widely credited with establishing the first scientific
approach to road building about the year 1764.
• Among his innovations was the use of a base layer of
large stone covered with a thin layer of smaller stone.
• The advantage of this two-layer configuration was that
when rammed or rolled by traffic the stones jammed
into one another forming a strong wear resistant
surface.

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French Roads

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Introduction CE Notes 01

Thomas Telford
Born in 1757, he began his career as an apprentice stonemason,
eventually becoming one of the greatest civil engineers of all
time

He designed 1600 km of new roads in the Scottish Highlands,

also the Caledonian Canal, the Menai Suspension Bridge

President and founder of Institute of Civil Engineer improved

the construction method proposed by Tresaguet with stones
having 3in thickness (min), 7in height, and 5in breadth. He also
employed flat sub-grade allowing variety of stones to be used
in the construction.

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Telford’s Road Structure

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John Macadam
Born in 1756, was the first true highway engineering
specialist

He went to America, returning in 1783 to his native

Scotland and introduced the first scientific road
section

Macadam’s construction method differed from

Telford’s in that the formation was shaped to the
road camber and was a cheaper form of construction

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Introduction CE Notes 01

Macadam’s Road Structure

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Advent of the Motor Vehicle

• The year 1904 marked the beginning of a new era
in highway transportation in America with the
advent of motor vehicles in considerable
numbers.
• Additional states enacted financial-aid laws, and
by 1917 every state participated in highway
construction in some fashion.
• Most states established some sort of highway
agency and delegated to these bodies
responsibilities of highway construction.

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Henry Ford
• Founded Ford Motor Company in June 16,
1903, an American multinational corporation
based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of
Detroit.
• Sold large numbers of vehicles, in a booming
American economy with soaring stock market
and low fuel prices

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Introduction CE Notes 01

Modern Roads
• By and large follows Macadam’s construction
method
• Use of bituminous concrete and cement
concrete are important developments
• Development of new equipment helps in
faster road construction
• Locally available materials make economical
and durable roads

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Modern Roads
Designed based on:

• Safety
• Cost
• Efficiency
• Behaviour of users
• Impact on the environment

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ROADS AND HIGHWAY CLASSIFICATION

Goals and Objectives
• To understand the purpose of functional
classification of highways
• Learn road classification systems that are used
by different authorities
• Design factors that influence road design
• Examination of environmental considerations

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Introduction CE Notes 01

ROADS AND HIGHWAY CLASSIFICATION

Mobility

Accessibility
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Factors Affecting Functional Classification

• Volume of traffic (light, medium, heavy)

• Purpose/ Type of traffic (motor vehicles,
pedestrians etc. )
• Based on Load or Tonnage (Class 1 or Class 2 etc or
Class A , B etc Tonnes per day)
• Weather (all weather roads, fair weather roads)
• Carriageway (paved roads, unpaved roads)
• Pavement surface (surfaced roads, unsurfaced
roads)
• Priority of roads
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According to Primary Function

• Interstate
– Roadways with the highest design speeds and the
highest design standards
• Expressway
– Divided arterial highway with full or partial control of
access and generally having grade separations at
major intersections
• Freeway
– An expressway with full access control and no at-
grade intersections

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According to Primary Function

• Arterial
- Facility primarily used for through traffic, usually on a continuous route
- No frontage access, no standing vehicle, very little cross traffic.
- Design Speed : 80km/hr
- Lane width : 50 – 60m
- Spacing 1.5km in congested areas & 8km or more in sparsely developed areas.
- Divided roads with full or partial parking
- Pedestrian allowed to walk only at intersection

• Sub-arterial – lower order/category

- Bus stops but no standing vehicle.
- Less mobility than arterial.
- Spacing for congested area: 0.5km
- Sub-urban fringes : 3.5km
- Design speed: 60 km/hr
-Lane width: 30 – 40 m

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According to Primary Function

• Collector
– Intermediate roadway system which connects arterials with the local road or street
systems
– Collects and distributes traffic from local streets
– Provides access to arterial roads
– Located in residential, business and industrial areas.
– Full access allowed.
– Parking permitted.
– Design speed : 50km/hr
– Lane Width : 20-30m

• Local road or street

– Provides access to residences, businesses, or other abutting properties
– Design Speed : 30km/hr.
– Land Width: 10 – 20m.
– Less volume of traffic at slow speed
– Origin and termination of trips.
– Unrestricted parking, pedestrian movements. (with frontage access, parked vehicle,
bus stops and no waiting restrictions) 37

According to System

• National Road
• Provincial Roads
• City Roads
• Municipal Roads
• Barangay Roads

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Introduction CE Notes 01

Road Classification in the Philippines

The first comprehensive reference to a Road
Classification System is found in Republic Act
No. 917, known as the Philippine Highway
Act, enacted in 1953 and Executive Order
(EO) No. 113, Series of 1955. EO No. 113 also
laid down criteria for classification of national
roads and for reclassification from local roads
to national roads.

Road Classification in the Philippines

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Introduction CE Notes 01

Road Classification in the Philippines

Road Classification in the Philippines

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Introduction CE Notes 01

According to System

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Activity 01
• In your own words explain the figure shown above on
mobility and land access. Give Examples.
• Answers shall be in a short bond paper print in
pdf(endoded is fine) with the file name:

LASTNAME_DATE_Activity01 (e.g.
CRUZ_23JUNE2020_Activity01

• Submit not later than 12 Noon Today!

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