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3.3 Highway Location
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Principles of Highway Location
roadway elements such as curvature and grade must
blend with each other to produce a system that
provides easy traffic flow at the design capacity.
while meeting design criteria and safety standards
The highway should also cause a
minimal disruption to:
Environmentally sensitive areas
Historic and archeological sites
Other land-use activities.
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Principles of Highway Location
The highway location process involve 4-phases:
1. Office study of existing information
2. Reconnaissance survey
3. Preliminary location survey
4. Final location survey
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1. Office study of existing information
The examination of all available data of the area in
which the road is to be constructed.
Carried out in the office prior to any field or
photogrammetric investigation.
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Data should be obtained on the following
characteristics of the area:
Engineering: including topography, geology, climate, and
traffic volumes.
Social and demographic: including land use and zoning
patterns.
Environmental: types of wildlife; location of recreational,
historic, and effects of air, noise, and water pollution.
Economic: including unit costs for construction.
Upon the completion of this phase of the study,
the engineer will able to select the general
areas through which the highway can traverse.
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2. Reconnaissance survey
to identify several feasible routes, each within a band
of a limited width of a few hundred meter.
Aerial photography is widely used to obtain the
required information in rural roads.
Feasible routes are identified by a
stereoscopic examination of the aerial
photographs, taking into consideration:
Terrain and soil conditions
Serviceability of route to industrial
and population areas
Crossing of other transportation
facilities, such as rivers, railroads,
and other highways
Directness of route.
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2. Reconnaissance survey
Control points between the start and the end of the
highway are determined for each feasible route.
The feasible routes identified are then plotted on
photographic base maps.
3. Preliminary location survey
The positions of the feasible routes are set as closely
as possible by establishing all the control points and
determining preliminary vertical and horizontal
alignments.
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Upon the completion of this phase, feasible
routes, each within a band, will be identified.
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3. Preliminary location survey
Preliminary alignments are used to evaluate:
Economic Evaluation: determination of the future plan
of investing the resources necessary to construct the
highway.
Benefit-cost ratio
road user costs,
construction maintenance costs,
road use benefits,
any disbenefits, which may include adverse impacts
due to dislocation of families and businesses.
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3. Preliminary location survey
Preliminary alignments are used to evaluate:
Environmental Evaluation
A highway is therefore an integral part of the local
environment.
human, plant, and animal communities encompassing social,
physical, natural, and man-made variables.
Sustainable lifestyle of the different communities
The construction of a highway may result in
significant changes in one or more variables
which may offset the equilibrium and result in significant
adverse effects on the environment.

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3. Preliminary location survey
Preliminary alignments are used to evaluate:
Environmental Evaluation
Environmental Impact Statement. It should include:
A detailed description of alternatives.
The probable environmental impact (positive and negative)
Short-term impacts and long-term impacts
Secondary effects, which may be in the form of changes in
the patterns of social and economic activities
Adverse environmental effects that cannot be avoided if the
project is constructed
Reversible and irretrievable resources that have been
committed

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Upon the completion of this phase, the best
feasible route will be chosen.
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4. Final location survey
It is detailed layout of the selected route.
Environmental Evaluation
This is usually a trial-and-error process until, in the
designer's opinion, the best alignment is obtained.
computer-based techniques enables driver's eye view
the alignments of the road.
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Location of Highways in Urban Areas
Urban areas usually present complex conditions that must
be considered in the highway location process.
Other factors that significantly influence the location of
highways in urban areas include:
Connection to local streets
Right-of-way acquisition
Coordination of the highway system with other
transportation systems
Adequate provisions for pedestrians
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Preparation Of Highway Plans
After determining the final location ,it is then necessary to
provide the plans and specifications for the facility.
The plans and specifications are part of the contract
documents and are therefore considered legal documents.
Profile: indicates the natural ground surface and the center
line of the road (Vertical Alignments), with details of vertical
curves.
The horizontal alignment is usually drawn to a scale of
1:1000, sometimes the scale of 1:500 is used to provide
greater detail.
In drawing the vertical alignment, the horizontal scale used
is the same as that of the horizontal alignment, but the
vertical scale is exaggerated five to ten times.
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Highway Survey Methods
Surveying techniques can be grouped into three general
categories:
Ground surveys
Remote sensing
Computer graphics
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