JIGJIGA UNIVERSITY

Road & Bridge Construction

Chapter 1: Introduction
IMPORTANCE OF TRANSPORTATION
Transportation contributes to the economic, industrial, social and cultural development of
any country. Transportation is vital for the economic development of any region since
every commodity produced like clothing, industrial products or medicine need
transportation at all stages from production to distribution.
Types of Transportation.
1. Railways
2. Roadways
3. Airways
4. Water ways
5. Pipe lines
Importance of Roadways
1. Roads can cover the wide geographical areas.
2. Roads can be constructed at lower initial costs, compared to railways.
3. Road transport offers quick deliveries and hence time can be saved.
4. Road transport offers door to door service.
5. Road transport has a high employment offers.
Classification of Roads
The types of roads are classified into 3 categories, depending upon weather, pavement
surface and depending upon the function.
Depending on weather
All weather roads: Roads which can be used during all the weather conditions.
Fair weather roads: Roads which can be used during summer and winter season but
not during the rainy season.
Depending upon the pavement surface
Surfaced roads: Roads which are provided with the asphalt or concrete surfacing.
Unsurfaced roads: Roads which are not provided with the asphalt or concrete
surfacing.
Instructor : Shivaraj B S

JIGJIGA UNIVERSITY
Road & Bridge Construction

Depending upon the function

The functional classification of roads in Ethiopia includes five functional classes.
Trunk Roads (Class I)
Link Roads (Class II)
Main Access Roads (Class III)
Collector Roads (Class IV)
Feeder Roads (Class V)
Trunk Roads (Class I)
Centers of international importance and roads terminating at international
boundaries are linked with Addis Ababa by trunk roads. They are numbered with an "A"
prefix: an example is the Addis-Gondar Road (A3).
Link Roads (Class II)
Centers of national or international importance, such as principal towns and urban
centers, must be linked between each other by link roads. They are numbered with a "B"
prefix. An example of a typical link road is the Woldiya- Debre Tabor- Woreta Road
(B22), which links, for instance, Woldiya on Road A2 with Bahir Dar of Road A3.
Main Access Roads (Class III)
Centers of provincial importance must be linked between each other by main
access roads. They are numbered with a "C" prefix.
Collector Roads (Class IV)
Roads linking locally important centers to each other, to a more important center,
or to higher class roads must be linked by a collector road. They are numbered with a "D"
prefix.
Feeder Roads (Class V)
Any road link to a minor center such as market and local locations is served by a
feeder road. They are numbered with an "E" prefix.
Roads of the highest classes, trunk and link roads have, as their major function to
provide mobility, while the primary function of lower class roads is to provide access.
The roads of intermediate classes have, for all practical purposes, to provide both
mobility and access.
Instructor : Shivaraj B S

JIGJIGA UNIVERSITY
Road & Bridge Construction

STANDARDS OF ROADS
All roads can not be constructed on the same standards. There are different standards for
the different classified roads. Each country has its own standards and classification off
roads. Similarly the design standard of Ethiopia is given below.

DESIGN STANDARD 1 FOR NORMAL & TOWN SECTIONS (DS1)

Instructor : Shivaraj B S

JIGJIGA UNIVERSITY
Road & Bridge Construction

DESIGN STANDARD 1 FOR PAVED DUAL CARRIAGEWAY (DS 1)

DESIGN STANDARD 2 FOR NORMAL & TOWN SECTIONS (DS2)

DESIGN STANDARD 2 FOR TOWN SECTION OF DESIGN STANDARD (DS2)

Instructor : Shivaraj B S

JIGJIGA UNIVERSITY
Road & Bridge Construction

Pavements
The surface of the road should be stable and it should allow the heavy wheel load of road
traffic to move with the least possible rolling resistance. The surface should be even
smooth along the profile. The earth roads may not be able to fulfill any of the above
requirements, especially in varying weather conditions. So the pavement is most
essential part in the construction of the roads.
Types of Pavements
Based on the structural behavior, pavements are generally classified into two categories:
1. Flexible Pavements
2. Rigid Pavements
3. Composite Pavements
Flexible Pavement: A flexible pavement is one, which has low flexural strength, and the
load is largely transmitted to the lower layers or to subgrade soil. Thus if the lower layer
of the pavements or subgrade is undulated, the flexible pavement surface also gets
undulated. The flexible pavement thickness is designed such that the stresses on the
subgrade soil are kept within its bearing capacity. The strength and smoothness of
flexible pavement structure depends to a large extent on the deformation of the subgrade
soil.
The cross section of flexible pavement is shown below,

Instructor : Shivaraj B S

JIGJIGA UNIVERSITY
Road & Bridge Construction

Rigid Pavement: Rigid pavements have sufficient flexural strength to transmit the wheel
load stresses to a wider area below. Compared to flexible pavement, rigid pavements are
placed either directly on the prepared sub-grade or on a single layer of granular or
stabilized material. In rigid pavement, load is distributed by the slab action, and the
pavement behaves like an elastic plate. Rigid pavements are constructed by Portland
cement concrete (PCC). The major factor considered in the design of rigid pavement is
the structural strength of the concrete.
The cross section of rigid pavement is shown below,

Instructor : Shivaraj B S

JIGJIGA UNIVERSITY
Road & Bridge Construction

COMPOSITE PAVEMENTS: Composite pavements are pavements composed of

cement concrete as a bottom layer and hot-mix asphalt as a top layer. The cement
concrete slab provides a strong base and the hot-mix asphalt provides a smooth and non
reflective surface. However, this type of pavement is very expensive and is rarely used as
a new construction. Composite pavements include rehabilitated concrete pavements using
asphalt overlays, and asphalt pavements with stabilized bases. A disadvantage of this
construction is the occurrence of reflection cracks on the asphalt surface due to the joints
and cracks in the rigid base layer.
ROAD DRAINAGE
Provision of adequate drainage is an important factor in the location and geometric
design of highways. Drainage Facilities on any highway or street should adequately
provide for the flow of water away from the surface and subsurface of the pavement.
EFFECTS OF DRAINAGE
Serious damage to highway structure
Reduce pavement strength.
Swelling heave.
Stripping of asphalt.
Instructor : Shivaraj B S

JIGJIGA UNIVERSITY
Road & Bridge Construction

Cause pumping in rigid pavements.

Frost heave and reduction of bearing capacity when melting.
Traffic operation problems
Slow traffic movement by accumulated water on the pavement.
Cause traffic accidents as a result of hydroplaning and loss of
visibility from the splash and spray.
REQUIREMENTS OF HIGHWAY DRAINAGE SYSTEM
The surface water from the road surface and shoulder should be effectively drained
off without allowing it to percolate to subgrades.
The surface water from the adjoining land should be prevented from entering the
roadway
Seepage and other source of ground water should be drained off by the subsurface
drainage system.
TYPES OF DRAINAGE SYSTEM
Surface Drainage: Surface water which occurs as rain or snow. Drainage for
runoff water on the surface from this source is referred to as surface drainage.
Sub-Surface Drainage : Ground water, is that which flows in underground
streams. This may become important in highway cuts or at locations where a high
water table exists near the pavement structure. Drainage for seepage water and
underground streams is referred to as subsurface drainage.

Instructor : Shivaraj B S