First, understand Highway meaning, Basically, Highway is the new type of road structure developed in the course of time. Road Development and planning detailed explained below
Highway:- Special type of road structure which is allowed to the high speed of vehicles.
Highway usually constructed over embankment due to following reasons :
- Modified Drainage Facility
- Safety against High Flood level
- No Lateral entry of public and animals
Expressway:- Special type of Highway Designed between Defined Origin and destination to organize traffic in a channelized way
Thus now let us understand actually How this road development happened
Development of Roads
History of road Development
- The first mode of travel was through Footpaths.
- Then people started using animals for transportation of heavy loads. After the Invention of wheels, this method becomes Popular.
- Thus After the invention of wheels, the necessity of Hard surface for movement becomes essential.
- After that road development and modification process started
The first evidence of road development in India traced back to approximately 2800 BC in the ancient cities of Harrapa and Mohenjodaro of the Indus Valley Civilization. Ruling emperors and monarchs of ancient and medieval India continued to construct roads to connect the towns. The existing Grand Trunk Road was re-built by the Mauryan Empire and further rebuilt by subsequent entities such as the Sur Empire the Mughal Empire and the British Empire.
Step by step Description of Different Road Development Period
Road Development is divided into certain important period
- Roman Roads (312 BC)
- Tresaguet Roads (1764 AD)
- Metcalf Construction ( 18th century)
- Telford Construction ( 19th Century)
- Macadam Construction ( 19th century)
- Water Bound Macadam (WBM)
You can use Short Trick RTMTM for Remembering the Sequence of Road Development
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Roman Roads (312 BC)
Roman Started first construction of roads on large amount. The Appian Way concept brought by Romans in 312 BC.
Roman roads are straight. There is No provision of gradients in Roman roads.
The length of the Appian Way was 580 Km. The total thickness of construction was 0.75 m to 1.2 m.
The main Feature of roman roads is that they Built after Soft soil removed and Hard stratum reached
Drawbacks of Roman Roads
- No cross slope (i.e. Camber is not provided)
- No drainage system Provided
- Large foundation stones placed at bottom
Tressaguet Construction ( 1764 AD )
Pierre Tressaguet was a France inspector General of Roads.
The Main Features of its Constructions are :-
- He stated important observation that Thickness of Road only needs to be an order of 30 cm.
- The importance is given to Sub grade moisture Condition and Drainage of Surface-water.
- The top wearing surface is made up of a Smaller slope. It has provided a cross slope of 1 in 45.
- Thus drainage facility is improved due to the provision of cross-slope
- In order to drain the surface water to side drain Shoulder Sloping of slope 1 in 20 also provided.
Metcalf Construction ( 18th century)
John Metcalf ( 1717-1810) was blind since the age of six. He believed that Good roads should have Good foundations. Metcalf also stated that roads should have a smooth surface and well-drained to allow rain water to drain quickly and provide the good conditions of roads. He built about 300 km of road. Metcalf Established his reputation as Road Builder by building a good dry road across marshland.
Telford Construction ( 19th Century)
Telford is the Founder of Institution of Civil Engineers in London.
Main Features of Telford Construction
- He stated the width of Level Subgrade should be 9 m.
- The thickness of the Foundation stone varied from 17 cm at edges to 22 cm at the center.
- A binding layer of wearing course 4 cm thick provided with a cross slope of 1 in 45.
- Two layers of angular broken stones of thickness 10cm and 5cm are used to cover the center of about 5.5 m widths.
Macadam Construction ( 19th century)
John Macadam (1756-1836) has developed an entirely new method in road development.
His method is the first method of Scientific thinking.
Main Features of Macadam Construction
- Macadam was the first person who suggested that heavy Foundation Stones are not Required at the bottom.
- He Provided Stones of size less than 5 cm to a uniform thickness of 10 cm.
- Sub grade Drainage and Compaction has Given Importance so that it is prepared with a cross slope of 1 in 36.
- The size of the Broken stones for the top layers was decided on the basis of stability under animal-drawn vehicles
- The total thickness kept uniform from edge to center.
Water Bound Macadam (WBM)
In this method broken stones of base course and surface course are bounded by the stone dust in presence of moisture
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