Transportation Engine

13-CE-136

Urban Highway
An Urban Highway is defined as Any road or street within the limits of an
urban area. An urban area is an area including and present next to a
municipality or urban place with a population of 5,000 or more.

Planning of an Urban Highway

Comprehensive Planning of an Urban Highway is very essential. Due to
expensive land and limited space careful planning and coordination among
various agencies is very critical. Execution of work is also carefully planned
as the construction activities hinders the normal flow of traffic to adjacent
commuters.
Planning process broadly involves three phases, the planning on behalf of the
Public sector responsible for urban planning using public funds. The
Designer, usually a consultant that carry out the data collection, evaluation
and design and last but not least the Tender Documents for execution. Finally
the planning by the Contractor to minimal disturbance to adjacent road users
and access to various properties is provided un-hindered.
The Planning process for above the stakeholders is as follows:
Employer Aspect (Public Sector)
Usually, the urban streets and Arterials are under the jurisdiction of
metropolitan Organization; that in Pakistan is like CDA, LDA, RDA etc. Limited
budget is available for projects as the demand for various projects always
exceeds than the available funding.
Need Assessment
The requirement of an urban road Project is carefully assessed. The
incurred cost must offset the direct or indirect benefits like, vehicle operating
cost, value of time etc. During project screening, it is essential for the Client
(Employer) to collect basic data like Project length, Road width, Traffic count
and relocation of utilities. Once the project appraisal is done and necessary
funds are secured, the Terms of Reference (TOR) is drafted and made part of
RFP, Request for Proposal.
Usually the Basic Design parameters are well defined in Codes like AASHTO
where road standards are well defined for Urban and Rural Roads of various
configurations.

Once the RFP is made the Project is advertised and appointment of

Consultant is made using PPRA (Public Procurement Regulator Authority)

Consultants Aspect
Consultant has to follow the steps and standards as given in the TOR. The
Planning and Design Steps are summarized hereunder:
Step-1 Data collection and coordination with Local Departments
Once the Agreement is signed, the consultant undertake a reconnaissance
visit of the area and record its observations to develop the detailed design
program. Inventory of the utilities above and underground are noted so that
relocation process is taken up the concerned departments like WAPDA, PTCL,
SNGPL and Water Board etc.
Necessary data is collected from various departments like available maps
from municipal Authority, Soil data available with the client any other
previous study or data of adjacent Projects for reference.
Traffic Management Plans during execution are developed and shared with
the Traffic police.
Step-2 Environmental Study and collection of Baseline Data
For any Project worth more than 50 million PKR, EIA study is mandatory and
its omission is a non-bail able offence. Pakistan Environment Protection
Agency PEPA has set procedures and guidelines in this regard. Baseline data
for Air, water, Noise etc. is collected
Step-3 Topographic Survey
The detailed topographic survey is done to depict all features that exists. The
whole design is based on this survey. Usually for urban area
1:500(1m=2mm) scale survey is sufficient.
Step-4 Traffic and Axle Load Survey
24 Hour classified traffic counts for various week days is very essential. The
traffic data is used to calculate the Capacity of the new facility and number
of lanes required with future projections. Axle load survey is done to be sued
for pavement design.
Step-5 Soil & Material Investigation
Soil and Material investigation is an important part of Planning. Soil samples
are collected and necessary tests are done to determine the suitability of the
insitu soil and its bearing capacity. Requirement of other construction
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material like steel, cement, Bitumen and aggregates is also determined with
its availability and haulage.
Step-6 Pavement Design
Based on traffic count and soil tests, Pavement design is done.

Step-7

Hydrology Study

Proper disposal of water is very essential for pavement life and safety of road
users. Unlike in rural areas, where water is easily disposed, in urban areas
most of the area is paved and virtually no space is available to dispose of
surface runoff. Appropriate collection of water from road and its disposal to
appropriate location is most critical activity.
Step-8 Highway Safety Audit
Highway Safety Audit HSA is done by a third party. Its a pro-active approach
to apprehend any likely danger that might result in road accident. It is done
by a certified Highway Safety Auditor and his team.
Step-9 Stake of Design Alignment
Usually the designed alignment is put to ground by the Consultant with
physical marker on ground, so that the alignment is inspected by the Client.
Any adjustment required is done by the experts, when they see the design
on ground.
Step-10 Land Acquisition Folders and Utility Relocation
In case the urban road is a new facility, land has to be procured or the
existing property inside the Right of Way has to be removed. Legal
compensation requires proper evaluation of land and private property. Land
acquisition folder showing the details of land and property is developed and
handed over to client for necessary acquisition procedure.
Step-11 Submission of Final Tender Documents
Once the field work is completed the Final design drawings, Bill of quantities,
Engineers Estimate and specifications are made and submitted to client for
procurement of Contractor.

Contractors Aspect

After the Field work by the Consultant has been completed. The Client carries
out this process to award the project to any specific Contractor. Each
Contractor develops his own bid and after thorough analysis, the bid is
submitted to the Client. On a specific day the bid is opened by the Client and
the project is awarded to the lowest bidder. Mobilization on site takes place,
the Contractors distributes his resources over the site adequately to
complete the project on time. When the project is completed it is handed
back to the client whose job it is now to carryout maintenance work when
necessary.

Flow Chart for Urban Highway Planning