AMU-AMIT-FCE

Civil Engineering
Course: Geometric Design of Highways & Streets
Program: Regular
Year: 2023/2016E.C

By Merie A. [MSc]
Lecturer, AMU-AMIT-FCE
Email: [email protected]
 Chapter One
Highway Planning and Development
Process

Lesson objective
 Able to understand the Highway
Planning process
 Stages of Highway Development
 Introduction to Highway Planning
 Why are highways so important?
 Highways are vitally important to a country’s
economic development.
 The construction of a high quality road network directly
increases a nation’s economic output by:
• Reducing journey times and costs,
• Making a region more attractive economically.
 The actual construction process will have the added
effect of stimulating the construction market.
 Introduction to Highway Planning
 Planning is a pre-requisite for any engineering activity or project; this
is particularly true for the development of a highway network or system
in a country.

 The objectives of highway planning:

 Planning a highway network for safe, efficient and fast movement
of people and goods.
 Minimum Cost: Keeping the overall cost of construction and
maintenance of the roads in the network to a minimum.
 Planning for future development and anticipated traffic needs for
a specific design period.
 Phasing road development programs from considerations of
utility and importance as also of financial resources.
 Evolving a financing system compatible with the cost and
benefits.
 Introduction to Highway Planning
 To fulfill these objectives, the following
principles have to be borne in mind:

i. The proposed road links should be a part of the

planned road network for the state/nation.
ii. The importance of the road shall be based on the
traffic demand, and hence its type should fall
under the standard classification.
iii. The maintenance needs of the roads should
receive quick attention by setting aside funds for
this purpose.
iv. Statutory provisions for traffic regulation should
be in place.
 Introduction to Highway Planning
Introduction:-
 Highway design is only one element in the overall
highway development process.
 Historically, detailed design occurs in the middle of
the process, linking the preceding phases of
planning and project development with the
subsequent phases of rights-of-way acquisition,
construction, and maintenance.
 Stages of Highway Planning & Development Process
 Planning
 Project Development
 Right-of-way acquisition
 Construction
 Maintenance
 Highway Planning & Development Process

Introduction:-Highway Planning:
 All highway projects regardless of whether they are
provided by the government or the private sector go
through formal planning.
 Introduction to Highway Planning
 We shall discuss some of the factors that support the need for formal
planning in the public interests.
 Economic argument: Highways are classified as public goods with
externality properties which are not internalized by the free market.
It spurs on economic growth and is an important asset to the host
country. These projects require huge funding from either the
government or the private sector and therefore have massive
economic implications be it a success or failure.
 Political argument: As mentioned above, highway etc. These
interests groups can projects involve huge money and respective
interests groups such as industries, landowners, environmentalists
sway government decisions on highway projects against the
majority of individuals who have little power or influence over
decisions.
 Being transparent at various stages of implementation will make
corruption practices more controllable.
 Introduction to Highway Planning
 Social argument: Basic amenities such as clean drinking water and
roads are fundamental in developing countries.
 The construction of basic highway infrastructure has to be distributed in
accordance with the measurable social needs of the region or country.
 It is economically efficient to make the user pay for the usage of
highway such as roads.
 In this way, the highway should be built only if users can afford to pay
for it. However, issues of fairness and injustice will result in protests if a
proper reconciliation plan is not available.

 Issues in Planning:
 Demographic changes such as future trends in population and employment
play a vital role in assessing the criteria for the demand for future highway.
o Demand and cost risks are the two most important risk factors that render a
highway project financially not viable.
 Stages of Highway Development

i. Planning:
 The initial definition of the need for any highway or bridge
improvement project takes place during the planning stage.

 This problem definition occurs at the State, regional, or local level,

depending on the scale of the proposed improvement.
 This is the key time to get the public involved and provide input into
the decision making process.

Successful process includes designer and

community
 The problems involvement
identified usually fallfrom
into the
one beginning
or more of the following
four categories:
 Stages of Highway Development
i. Planning:
 The problems identified usually fall into one or more of the
following four categories:
1. The existing physical structure needs major repair/replacement
(structure repair).
2. Existing or projected future travel demands exceed available
capacity, and access to transportation and mobility need to be
increased (Demand > Capacity).
3. The route is experiencing an inordinate number of safety and
accident problems that can only be resolved through physical,
geometric changes (Safety).
4. Developmental pressures along the route make a re-examination of
the number, location, and physical design of access points necessary
(access).
 Stages of Highway Development
i. Planning:

 Whichever problem (or set of problems) is identified, it is

important that all parties agree that the problem exists,
pinpoint what the problem is, and decide whether or not they
want it fixed.
Increased public
involvement in highway
planning and development
is essential to success.
 Stages of Highway Development
i. Planning:
 Factors to Consider During Planning:
 It is important to look ahead during the planning stage and
consider the potential impact that a proposed facility or
improvement may have while the project is still in the
conceptual phase
 Some questions to be asked at the planning stage include:
 How will the proposed transportation improvement affect the
general physical character of the area surrounding the project?
 Does the area to be affected have unique historic or scenic
characteristics?
 What are the safety, capacity, and cost concerns of the
community?
 Stages of Highway Development
 Factors to Consider During Planning:
 Stages of Highway Development
ii. Project Development:
 After a project has been planned and programmed for implementation, it
moves into the project development phase.
 At this stage, the environmental analysis intensifies.
 The level of environmental review varies widely, depending on the scale
and impact of the project.
 It can range from a multiyear effort to prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement (a comprehensive document that analyzes the potential impact
of proposed alternatives) to a modest environmental review completed in a
matter of weeks.
 project development process generally includes a description of the
location and major design features of the recommended project that is
to be further designed and constructed, while continually trying to
avoid, minimize, and mitigate environmental impact.
 Stages of Highway Development
ii. Project Development:
 The basic steps in this stage include the following:

o Refinement of purpose and need

o Development of a range of alternatives (including the "no
build" and traffic management system [TMS] options
o Evaluation of alternatives and their impact on the natural
and built environments
o Development of appropriate mitigation
 In general, decisions made at the project development level
help to define the major features of the resulting project
through the remainder of the design and construction process.
 Stages of Highway Development
iii. Final Design:
 After a preferred alternative has been selected & the project description
agreed upon as stated in the environmental document, a project can move
into the final design stage.
 The product of this stage is a complete set of plans, specifications, and
estimates of required quantities of materials ready for the solicitation of
construction bids and subsequent construction.
 The need to employ imagination, ingenuity, and flexibility comes into play
at this stage, within the general parameters established during planning and
project development.
 The following paragraphs discuss some important considerations of
design, including: 
 Developing a concept
 Considering scale and
 Detailing the design.
 Stages of Highway Development
iii. Final Design:
A. Developing a concept:
 A design concept gives the project a focus and helps to move it
toward a specific direction. There are different elements of
design...
 Integrating all these elements to achieve a common goal or
concept helps the designer in making design decisions.
o Some of the many elements of highway design are
a. Number and width of travel lanes, median needs and width, and
shoulders
b. Traffic barriers
c. Overpasses/bridges
d. Horizontal and vertical alignment and affiliated
landscape.
 Stages of Highway Development
iii. Final Design:
B. Considering scale:
 People driving in a car see the world at a much different
scale than people walking on the street.
 This large discrepancy in the design scale for a car versus
the design scale for people has changed the overall
planning of our communities.
 The design element with the greatest effect on the scale of
the roadway is its width, or cross section. The cross section
can include a clear zone, shoulder, parking lanes, travel
lanes, and/or median.
 The wider the overall roadway, the larger its scale;
 Stages of Highway Development
iii. Final Design:
C. Detailing the design:
 Particularly during the final design phase, it is the details
associated with the project that are important.
 Employing a multidisciplinary design team ensures that
important design details are considered and those they are
compatible with community values.
 Often it is the details of the project that are most recognizable
to the public.
 A multidisciplinary design team can produce an aesthetic and
functional product when the members work together and are flexible
in applying guidelines.
 Stages of Highway Development
iv. Right-of-way, Construction, And Maintenance
Once the final designs have been prepared and needed right-
of-way is purchased, construction bid packages are made
available, a contractor is selected, and construction is initiated.

Right-of-way ROW Acquisitions [Land acquisition]

Purchased performed

construction bid packages are made

Construction available, and Contractor Selected then
Construction conducted

After Construction infrastructures are open

Maintenance for services and needs maintenance
Doubt, unclear
ideas...
???Q???
End Ch-1