Components Of Highway Roads

This Article Covers Cross Sectional Elements Or Components Of Highway Roads One By One With Diagrams.

The primary consideration in the design of geometric cross sections for highways, run-ways, and taxiways is drainage. Details vary depending on the type of facility Highway cross sections consist of traveled way, shoulders (or parking lanes), and drainage channels.

Shoulders intended primarily as a safety feature. They provide for accommodation of stopped vehicles, emergency use, and lateral support of the pavement. Shoulders may either paved or unpaved.

Drainage channels may consist of ditches (usually grassed swales) or of paved shoulders with berms or curbs and gut-ters. Cross section of various roads given bellow.

Table of Contents

Components Of Highway

Pavement Surface Characteristics

For a safe and comfortable driving four aspects of the pavement surface are important; the friction between the wheels and the pavement surface, smoothness of the road surface, the light reaction characteristics of the top of pavement surface, and drainage to water.

Friction

Friction between the wheel and the pavement surface is a crucial factor in the design of horizontal curves and thus the safe operating speed. Further, it also act the acceleration and deceleration ability of vehicles. Lack of adequate friction can cause skidding or slipping of vehicles.

Skidding happens when the path traveled along the road surface is more than the circumferential movement of the wheels due to friction

Slip occurs when the wheel revolves more than the corresponding longitudinal movement along the road.

Various factors that act friction are:

The frictional force that develops between the wheel and the pavement is the load acting multiplied by a factor called the coefficient of friction and denoted as f . The choice of the value off a very complicated issue since it depends on many variables.

IRC suggests the coefficient of longitudinal friction as 0.35-0.4 depending on the speed and coefficient of later friction as 0.15. The former is useful in sight distance calculation and the latter in horizontal curve design.

Unevenness

It is always desirable to have an even surface, but it is seldom possible to have such one. Even if a road constructed with high quality pavers, it is possible to develop unevenness due to pavement failures. Unevenness act the vehicle operating cost, speed, riding comfort, safety, fuel consumption and wear and tear of tyres.

Unevenness index a measure of unevenness which cumulative measure of vertical undulation of the pavement surface recorded per unit horizontal length of the road.

An unevenness index value less than 1500 mm/km considered as good, a value less than 2500 mm/km satisfactory up to speed of 100 kmph and values greater than 3200 mm/km considered as uncomfortable even for 55 kmph.

Drainage

The pavement surface should be absolutely impermeable to prevent seepage of water into the pavement layers. Further, both the geometry and texture of pavement surface should help in draining out the water from the surface in less time.

Camber

Camber or cant is the cross slope provided to raise middle of the road surface in the transverse direction to drain o rain water from road surface.

Too steep slope is undesirable for it will erode the surface. Camber measured in 1 in n or n% (Eg. 1 in 50 or 2%) and the value depends on the type of pavement surface.

Width of Carriage Way

Width of the carriage way or the width of the pavement depends on the width of the traffic lane and number of lanes. The Width of a traffic lane depends on the width of the vehicle and the clearance. Side clearance improves operating speed and safety.

Kerbs

Kerbs indicate the boundary between the carriage way and the shoulder or islands or footpaths.
Different types of kerbs are (Figure)

Low or mountable kerbs :
Semi-barrier type kerbs :
Barrier type kerbs :

Road Margins

The portion of the road beyond the carriageway and on the roadway can generally called road margin.

Various elements that form the road margins given below.

Shoulders
Parking lanes
Bus-bays
Service roads
Cycle track
Footpath
Guard rails

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Also Check Video Tutorial Site KPSTRUCTURES.COM

Stages Of Highway Development

Classification Of Roads

Highway Alignment

Factor Affecting Geometric Design-Highway

Ketan Pattekar

Author & Editor Of This Blog.

Founder Of “KPSTRUCTURES”