3.
Sharp ditches and steep slopes requires costly manual labour
ROAD MAINTENANCE
9.1 Highway Maintenance
Highway maintenance begins just after the construction, reconstruction or
rehabilitation of the roadway facilities. It enables those working within the
highway industry to demonstrate their knowledge and competence in this
field.
As defined by AASHHTO, “Maintenance is the preservation and keeping
each type of roadway, roadside, structures and facilities as nearly as possible
in its original condition of highway facilities and services to provide satisfactory
and safe transportation.”
Objectives of Highway Maintenance
• The highway programs and activities are measured by the amount
of expenditures for construction of new facilities and reconstruction
of existing structure with the aim of keeping up with the traffic
demand.
• Maintenance has its own role: by giving priority to local rural and
urban facilities particularly the paving and rehabilitation after the
construction has been completed.
• Maintenance is focused on the do-betterment projects. It includes
grading and paving for short alignment changes, to correct steep
grades or sharp curves, re-surfacing and mulching, planting, flood
and erosion control.
Relationship between Design, Construction and Maintenance
1. Poor preparation of the base, insufficient slab thickness and poor
mixture ratio will only result to the very expensive road repair. Thus,
maintenance absorb the end result of design and construction
inefficiency.
2. Poor drainage design will mean erosion or deposition of materials
that requires costly clean-up operations.
maintenance as compared to flat ditches and slopes which allows
equipment to work at a lower cost.
4. Narrow road lanes usually force the large and heavy vehicles to
travel with one set of wheels near the edge or off the pavement
giving maintenance personnel a serious problem in the care of
pavement edge and the shoulders.
5. High maintenance cost is the result of poor design or construction
methods. This is the main problem that causes the numerous
demolition and reconstruction activities being undertaken by the
highway authorities.
Maintenance calls for periodic and immediate corrections of unfavourable
conditions. Most likely making the facilities as near the newly constructed or
reconstructed conditions as possible. The utilization of manpower makes the
maintenance very costly. Cost could be reduce if and only if the operations is
done by the use of equipment. Unfortunately, instead of using modern
equipment as a product of modern technology, they still used those primitive
tools.
Maintenance is categorized into:
1. Road Surface maintenance
2. Shoulder and approach maintenance
3. Bridge maintenance
4. Traffic services
Road Surface Maintenance
Unlike construction which involves high volume of work, maintenance
operation involves small amount of work at separate locations.
• For gravel roads, blading and periodic re-shaping or resurfacing is a
routinary periodic maintenance activities.
• For surface treatment of low type bituminous pavement,
maintenance could be patching, seal coating, remixing and
relaying.
 • For slick asphalt surface, roughening, burring or non-skid seal is
required.
• For Portland cement concrete road, maintenance could be
removal and replacement or filling of damaged areas.
Maintenance of Shoulder and Approach
• Sod shoulders are removed and periodically bladed down to the
roadway elevation to avoid entrapment of water in the travelled
way.
• Grass prevent shoulder erosion. If necessary, be fertilized, re-seeded,
or treated to keep it in good condition.
• Gravel and earth shoulder should be maintained by blading under
favourable weather conditions.
• Rutting or setting of the shoulder should be corrected at once by
reconstruction or re-surfacing.
Maintenance of Roadside
• If the roadside is full of grass, mowing closer to the shoulder is the
answer. If necessary, grass at the roadside is fertilized or treated with
lime.
• If the roadside has dry grass that is considered as fire hazard, burning
or plowing is the solution.
• If bush covers the back slope, trimming is necessary to maintain
clearance and sight distance.
Ingenious machine used for roadside maintenance are:
• Mechanical sod cutter
• Combined seed and fertilizer spreaders
• Power mowers
• Portable grass cutter
• Bush mower
• Bush copper
Drainage Maintenance
 Cleaning of: ditches, culverts, drop inlets, and catch basins to
accommodate free flow of water
 Removal of sediments, branches, and other debris gathered at trash
tracks, culvert and structure entrances.
 Repair of eroded channels and dikes.
 Riprapping and bank protection to prevent recurrence.
Bridge Maintenance
1. For steel bridge structure, the routinary maintenance calls for
cleaning by sandblasting, flame, or other means of repainting.
2. Cleaning and re-sealing of deck joints that are extruded or filled with
dirt.
3. Repair of drainage handrails.
4. Re-surfacing of surface deck which are rough or slicky.
5. To correct serious scour around the piers and abutments.
6. Most of bridges maintenance are of specialized work, traveling
crews exclusively for bridges work along is a function of the
maintenance operations.
7. Concrete bridge decks deteriorate due to deicing salts which is
considered as a real problem.
8. Correction is to remove the concrete, clean the steel and apply new
material such as polymer concrete.
9. Sometimes seal-put or overlay of asphaltic materials are used as
protective covering.
10. Check the bridge deck deterioration by:
 applying waterproof membranes
 applying latex modified concrete
 impregnating the deck with polymers
 passing electric current through the reinforcing steel
 11. If decks are dismantled, an epoxy-coated reinforcing steel may be
used
Traffic Service
• Striping – this is a continuous function
• Repair of road signs
• Maintenance of street and highway light and signals
• Coping up with emergencies. Personnel on patrol to keep the
road open, and rescue stranded vehicles.
9.2 Maintenance Management
Maintenance is regarded before as secondary functions of the Highway
Agencies. The personnel of the maintenance sections often felt that they are
regarded as secondary class employees of the Highway agency.
Today, maintenance and its management is considered as the most
intricate and ever changing highway technology. Considering appropriations
and expenditures, maintenance is regarded as one of the most important part
of the Highway agency.
Studies about maintenance have been focused on the best management,
time utilization, and, productivity. Studies showed the need for improvement
for the following:
1. Education in management technique.
2. More detailed and careful planning, scheduling of work, and
establishing standards for the level of maintenance.
3. Maintenance tools and equipment.
4. Providing a better and efficient communication.
5. Establishing line of authority and responsibilities.
6. Staffing with permanent trained and dedicated personnel.
7. Efficiency, accuracy and fairness in budgeting and reporting
procedures to achieve effective management.
Example:
Studies made on roadside mowing show:
a) The use of better equipment could accomplish mowing from 3 –
6 times as much area compared to the use of poor and
antiquated tools.
b) Two mowers working side by side accomplish less than when they
work separately.
c) Not less than one and one half to two hours a day is spent
unproductively for the preparatory operation and travel of the
mower to the job site.
Requirements for Maintenance Management
1. To stabilize the standard level of maintenance by setting
performance standards for workers crew and maintenance units.
2. To develop an accurate monitoring and fair reporting system and to
compare actual work with the expected production.
3. To develop a management system that will give efficient work
scheduling assignment.
4. To develop effective procedures, methods, machinery or
organization
Effective maintenance personnel
1. Personnel devoted to the maintenance work.
2. Personnel responsible for keeping the roadway open to traffic
moving under all conditions.
3. Personnel rescue operation in assisting stranded motorists.
4. Maintenance personnel.
Highway agency is legally held responsible for injury to person or damages
to property resulting from poor highway maintenance. Employees and
supervisors are even charged in court, condemned and crucified by the
media people prior to the hearing of the case.
9.3 Rehabilitation 3. Substantial pavement work
4. Reworking or strengthening of sub-base
Pavement Rehabilitation is an activity primarily to provide good riding and 5. Recycling existing materials to improve their structural integrity
skid resistance. Pavement Rehabilitation is to improve the structural 6. Adding under drains
effectiveness of the pavement. 7. Improving shoulders
FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) defined rehabilitation as: 8. Removing and replacing deteriorated materials
“Resurfacing, restoration and rehabilitation work, restoring to the original
safe usable condition without addition to the original capacity.” Pavement Maintenance refers to actions that are corrective or preventive

AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Reconstruction refers to the removal of existing pavement and replacing
Officials) them with a new pavement and under-courses.

Overlays could be either by Portland Cement or Asphalt Concrete laid on

Primary Objectives of pavement rehabilitations of AASHTO an existing pavement.
A. Elements of Roads and Highways Recycling means the repeated use of existing pavement
1. To improve the smoothness of the road surface Pavement Recycling is categorized into:
2. To extend the pavement life 1. The type of materials to be used
3. To improve the skid resistance of the road 2. The procedure to be employed
4. To reconstruct the sections with poor foundations 3. The structural benefit to be gained
5. To improve the drainage facilities

B. The efficiency of the highway system could be rated by: The Recycling procedures could be as follows:

1. Sufficiency ratings 1. Surface Recycling

2. Accident data - consist of reworking about the top surface of asphalt pavement
3. Skid tests - applied for the treatment of ravelling, wheel truck rutting,
4. Maintenance report flushing and corrugations.
5. Public suggestions 2. In-Place Surface and Base Recycling
- involves pulverizing all the existing pavement followed by
Resurfacing is the addition of a pavement layer over the existing roadway reshaping and compacting
or bridge deck surface to provide layer over the existing roadway or bridge - this method is used in asphalt and Portland cement concrete
deck surface to provide additional capacity. It is also the additional re-surface pavement
pavement should not be less than 20 mm thickness. - it has the ability to increase the load carrying capacity of the
pavement without major changes in the grade.
Restoration and Rehabilitation

Restoration and rehabilitation work includes:

1. Replacement of defective joints
2. Repair of spalled joints
 3. Central Plant Recycling • Reflection cracking can be eliminated
- the removal of the material from the roadway, crushing them, • Frost susceptibility may be improved
mixing in the plant the laid and compacted with conventional • Improved riding quality
equipment.
Disadvantages:
Advantages and Disadvantages of Recycling Categories • Quality control not as good as central plant
A. Surface Recycling • Traffic disruption
• Pulverizing equipment repair requirement
Advantages:
• High cost
• It reduces reflection cracking
• Promotes bond between the old pavement and the thin
overlay
C. Central Plant Recycling
• Provides transition between the new overlay and the existing
gutter, bridge, pavement, etc., that is resistant to ravelling Advantages:
(eliminates feathering) • Significant structural improvement
• Reduces localized roughness • Good quality control
• Treats a variety of types of pavement distress such as ravelling, • Treats all types and degree of pavement distress
flushing, corrugations, rutting, oxidized pavement, faulting at a • Reflection cracking can be eliminated
reasonable cost • Improved skid resistance
• Improved skid resistance • Geometries can be more easily altered
• Minimum disruption • Better control if additional binder or aggregate is used
• Improved riding quality
Disadvantages:
• Limited structural improvement Disadvantages:
• The heater-scarifier and heater planning has limited • Increased traffic disruption
effectiveness on rough pavement without multiple passes of • May have air quality problems at plant site
equipment.
• Limited repair of severely flushed or unstable pavements Maintenance and Rehabilitation programs are based on different types of
• Some air quality problems collected data which includes:
• Vegetation closer to roadway may be damaged.
• Mixture with maximum size aggregate greater than 1 inch 1. Surface roughness – defined as the irregularities in the pavement
cannot be treated with some equipment surface which adversely affect the riding quality.

2. Surface distress – defined as any indication of unfavourable

B. In-Place Recycling pavement performance or signs of impending failure or any
Advantages: unsatisfactory performance of a pavement sort of failure.
• Significant structural improvements
• Treats all types and degrees of pavement distress
 Any type of distress that may be observed includes any one of the
following:
a. Fracture which is associated with load and non-load cracking.
b. Distortion which is permanent deformation of faulting.
c. Disintegration such as spalling, ravelling and other failure of the
pavement
3. Surface deflection – measurement of the changes in pavement
surface level between the loaded and unloaded segment is the
basis for rehabilitation design strategies.
4. Surface friction or skid resistance – determined from gathered data
identifying a pavement section having a low coefficient of friction.
9.4 Evaluation of the Pavement
Maintenance decisions are based on pavement condition data gathered
on project to project basis. From these gathered data, it is determined which
project calls for maintenance or rehabilitation including the decisions required
to correct pavement deficiencies. Decisions however are made on a yearly
basis.
All road pavements are damaged by their overall operating environments.
The greater the number of heavy vehicles, the greater the distress caused as
heavy vehicles play the most significant part in causing pavement distress. In
fact, the passage of one fully loaded semi-trailer can causes at least 30,000
times more structural damage than the passage of a car. Therefore, the
condition of the pavement primarily depends on the number of accumulated
heavy vehicles, their axle weights, tire pressures, travel speeds, turning
movements as well as temperature and moisture conditions.
Considering the increasing length of the roadways, the management on
the basis of field observations alone is becoming difficult, hence, an objective
method of evaluation was introduced such as:
1. Those projects which need immediate maintenance or rehabilitation
are listed on the priority projects.
2. The type and kind of maintenance or rehabilitation required is
specified.
3. What strategy of maintenance or rehabilitation would be adopted
now and, in the future, to minimize life cycle costs or maximize the
net benefits?
9.5 Maintenance of Concrete Pavement
As mentioned earlier, maintenance of the roadway of any type is a routine
activity. Maintenance of good concrete road could be argued as follows:
1. Sealing cracks of transverse and longitudinal construction and
expansion joints is one recommendation where Maintenance
Engineers could not agree on one question whether sealing the
narrow cracks is effective or not. However, the practice is that wide
cracks or spalled joints are properly cleaned and applied with
sealing material to prevent the intrusion of extraneous material and
to block the downward penetration of surface water.
2. For small and scattered broken surface on a good concrete
pavement, patching with concrete is economical. On an affected
portion, old concrete id removed by vertical straight line cut parallel
and perpendicular to the roadway center line. For corner repair, the
angle from the roadway center line should be greater than 30˚ and
less than 60˚.
3. Sections that are removed should have a minimum area of 20
square meters. If the subgrade appears to be weak and doubtful to
carry heavy axial load replace it with suitable materials and
compact properly. The new slab should be as thick as the original
pavement.
4. Good practice demand that extra thickness adjoining the old
concrete be provided and extending the patch under the old
pavement to a width and depth of 10 centimeters.
5. Additional cement is necessary to produce high early strength
concrete or an accelerator such as calcium chloride is used for
patching if early use of the pavement is desired. The ideal time to
make repair of concrete pavement road is in the evening.
 6. Pavement surface with spall from freezing and thawing or salt action
are leveled with asphalt mixture or surface treatment. Another
method is to patch with concrete bonded to the old concrete with
a cement-water or epoxy.
7. Spalled joint can be repaired with cement grout containing epoxy
mixed with catalyst.
Mud Jacking
Mud jacking is a maintenance method adopted to restore the sub-
grade support under pumping pavement and to level uneven slabs. A liquid
filler is injected under the slab through drilled holes. The mud or slurry fill all the
voids which if continuously injected applies hydraulic pressure forcing the slab
upward.
Slurry for mud jacking consists of a mixture of fine grained aggregate,
Portland cement and water or an addition of a small amount of asphalt. A
mixture of one-part cement and three to four parts of ground lime stone could
be used as slurry for mud jacking.
The mixture must pass through the pump without gumming, it must flow
readily under the pavement to the smallest voids. The mixture must harden
rapidly without excessive shrinkage and not becoming hard and brittle. Take
note that the spacing of the holes through the concrete should be planned
carefully when the slab is to be lifted by pumping slurry into several holes.
Frequent movement of the nozzle is necessary so that the lifting will be in small
increment.
Under-sealing
Under-sealing is an alternative for mud-jacking. A heated asphalt
sometimes an air blown product is used as slurry substitute. The advantage of
under-sealing is the formation of the asphalt as seal against the penetration
of the surface water into the subgrade.
9.6 Highway and Its Environment
Early roads were patterned after the railroad of the same period. The
principle behind the construction of early road is to construct the cheapest
roadway that would serve traffic under all conditions of weather without
regards to its environment.
Roadside development was not included in the program. Shoulders and
right of way are narrow or non-existent at all. Side slopes were too steep,
drainage and ditches, channels and structures were designed to protect the
roadbed without regard to erosion outside the roadway limit.
These crude practices in road building has brought unsightly conditions and
high maintenance cost until such time that design standards have been
gradually modified and improved. The later development and improvement
of the roadway has incorporated the following aspects:
1. Pleasing views and surroundings were developed sacrificing a little
cost or distances to enhance driving pleasure.
2. Long sweeping horizontal curves are acceptable than a short curve
connected by long tangents.
3. Choppy or broken backed grade line are flattened and
smoothened.
4. In rough areas, the depth of cuts and fill heights are smaller to
reduce scar and slope erosion to a minimum level.
5. Retaining walls are sometimes helpful and improve that
attractiveness of the roadway.
6. Modern highways now provide wide gutter and ditches, flat back
slope and cuts and also flat side slope on fill.
7. Top of cut banks and toes of fills are rounded to blend into the
original ground.
These features of the roadway give a safer roadbed and a pleasing
approach. Erosion occurs more slowly or are prevented on flatter slopes. The
result is less expenditures for cleaning gutters and ditches. Mowing could be
done using power equipment which substantially reduces maintenance cost.
Wider right of way has become a necessity in road side development for
the following reasons:
a. It allows blending of the road into the natural landscape.
b. It provides space to plant screening in front of unsightly and
objectionable areas and other undesirable objects.
 c. It isolates the highway visually from its surroundings and free the
roadside of hazards.
Roadside is the entire right of way except the traveled way. In planning
roadside development, planners must be conscious of the cost maintenance
including the cost of mowing, trimming and cleaning. Roadside development
is sometimes referred to as roadside beautification made after the road
construction is completed. Roadside development without question provides
a more pleasing environment for travelers, less maintenance cost and safer
highways. The roadside development is under the care of the Highway
agency, although there are adjacent property home owners who sometimes
contribute to the beautification of their surroundings including the roadside
itself for an aesthetic consideration which they themselves enjoy.
9.7 Highway Beautification
In the United States, highway beautification is the subject of the Highway
Beautification of 1965, which called for control of outdoor advertising,
including removal of certain types of signs, along the Nation's growing
Interstate System and the existing Federal-aid primary system.
It also required certain junkyards along Interstate or primary highways to be
removed or screened and encouraged scenic enhancement and roadside
development.
Highway Beautification is a broad term which includes activities such as:
1. Landscaping and roadside development within the right of way.
2. Improvement of strips and land adjacent to the highway for the
restoration, preservation and enhancement of natural beauty.
3. Acquisition and development of publicly owned and controlled rest
area, recreation and sanitary areas including other facilities.
Factors that contribute to beautification
• Good location
• Good design
• Construction
• Maintenance
Outdoor advertising
The control and removal of outdoor advertising had long been
controversial in the beautification of highways. A court ruling on these aspects
states that:
“The concept of public welfare, for the purpose of which the legislative
may exercise police power, is broad and exclusive, and the value it
represents is spiritual and aesthetic as well as physical and monetary.
9.8 Environmental Laws
1. The government recognizes the impact of man’s activities in relation to
all components of the natural environment particularly:
a. The influence of population growth
b. The high density urbanization
c. Industrial expansion
d. Resource exploration
e. The expanding technological advances
f. Restoration and maintenance of environmental quality to
the welfare and development of man
2. The present generation must fulfil the responsibility as trustees of the
environment for the succeeding generations.
3. To assure all Filipino people a safe, healthful, productive and
aesthetically and culturally pleasing surroundings.
4. To provide the widest beneficial use of the environment without
degradation and risk to health or other undesirable consequences
5. To preserve some important historic, cultural and natural aspect of our
natural heritage and whenever possible an environment which uphold
diversity and variety of individual choice
6. To maintain a balanced distribution of population and use of resources
that will give high standard of living and wide sharing of life’s amenities.
7. To impart that all person has the responsibility to contribute to the
preservation and enhancement of the environment
9.9 The Environmental Effects of Highways
Roads can have both positive and negative influences on people and the
environment.
Some of the most damaging effects of road construction and
management are the following:
• Air & Noise Pollution
• Traffic induced vibration
• Accidents
• Annoyances such as water pollution, dust, dirt and litter
Air Pollution Control
Air pollution is the result from discharges into the air of non-reactive
pollutants including carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, sulfates, dust, smoke
and lead.
Dimensions of highway pollution problems:
a) Area wide effects of preliminary reactive pollutants.
b) High concentration of non-reactive pollutants at points or corridors
along or near highways.
Main contributors of pollutants are motor vehicles which is estimates at 70%
carbon dioxide, 50% hydrocarbon and 30% nitric oxide.
Temperature inversions trap pollutants near the ground surface when there
is little or no wind. Concentration becomes extremely high, it affects human life
and even some kind of vegetation are killed, stunted or the foliage are burned.
Various approaches to reduce area pollutants are employed/planned
such as:
• By Land Use Control
– Limitation and control of industrial and commercial
development.
• To lower the Emission
– Lowering the emission of pollutants from existing machineries.
• Modification off the fixed existing facilities
– Reducing the release of sulphur oxide by using low sulphur coal
as a substitute.
• Lowering pollution from motor vehicles under the following
categories:
- Reducing the output of pollutants
- Limiting vehicles travel
- Cutting fuel consumption and pollutant output
- Set of standard to be met by new vehicles
Dust is an almost inevitable consequence of roadwork. It is from local
geological material should not be inherently environmentally harmful to the
local landscape whether it is deposited either naturally or by the next rain
shower. Dust incidences can be treated by either watering, alternative
material choices or using dust binders near houses.
Noise and Its Control
Noise is defined as unwanted sound. It is measured in decibels with a
common unit of dBA.
• In a quiet residential area at night, ambient noise is 32 – 43 dBA.
• Urban residential district at daytime, limit is about 41 – 53 dBA.
• Industrial areas, the range is 48 – 66 dBA.*
• Downtown commercial areas with heavy traffic is 62 – 73 dBA.*
*note that sound levels at 65 - 75 dBA at a distance of 1m, an ear has to
be plugged by a finger in order to hear a telephone conversation.
The condition of roads also have an effect on noise level. For example
if a road is in poor condition and cars are traveling fast, this can cause more
noise than if the road is in better condition.
Vibrations
Vibrations disturb people close to roads but they may also cause damage
to buildings and sensitive equipment. It can cause damage to geological and
archaeological objects.
If vibrations are likely to be caused by roadwork, greater consideration
should be given as to when the work should be done.
 Unnecessary high vibration sources, such as compaction with heavy
vibration rollers or bedrock blasting, should be avoided or minimized in built-up
areas. Heavy vibrations can cause damage to buildings and installations,
which can give rise to damage claims.
A general piece of advice that applies to vibrations (and this rule applies
to noise also) is to use modern equipment wherever possible.
Waste
Waste may arise in different ways:
• Packaging material
• Residual road structure material
• Dangerous waste, oil from machines, etc.
Waste is also classified on how it can affect the environment:
 Inactive waste, i.e. material that will not be modified by any physical,
chemical or biological reaction in a normal landfill site.
 Active waste, i.e. the opposite of an inactive waste. This may be, for
example, oil residues and batteries. A special case is waste that is
dangerous to life, e.g. explosive or flammable waste.
Good handling of materials can enable most residual materials to be put
to use in one way or another. If the quality of material is too poor to use in the
road structure, it can usually be employed as landscaping material, e.g. to
level out steep slopes.
Hazardous wastes are controlled by strict regulations (by European Union
and local authorities). It is classified as materials with following properties:
• Flammable
• Caustic
• Oxidable
• Explosive
• Poisonous
• Harmful and irritating
• Dangerous to environment
The main sources of these dangerous goods are vehicles (both road users
and maintenance).
The economic cost of waste is an important reason why waste should be
avoided. Poor waste management costs time and money.
Examples are:
 Poor waste management at the start of the project. This can give
rise to high costs at a later stage. Such costs can be avoided if the
waste is managed correctly right from the start.
 Costs of storage, transport and disposal of waste.
 Time (costs) for handling the waste.
 Increases in costs due to usable material being scrapped.
These costs, when taken together, clearly demonstrates that it is beneficial
to have a thoroughly thought-out strategy for waste management.
9.10 Construction in Relation to Roadside Development
Where possible, removing soil or fills from along the right of way which is
called side borrow should be avoided. Borrow fills out of sight of the roadway
is preferable, Suitable top soil should be preserved during grading operations
for future landscaping, likewise, suitable trees within a proper distance from the
travelled way should be protected from damages during construction.
Objects of interest such as rock outcrops in cut slopes or trees at toes of fill
should be preserved to add variety, rugged slopes in borrow areas and along
roadside are dressed to encourage the return of native plants and shrubs.
9.11 Vegetation and the Highways
Ground cover is defined as low growing herbaceous or woody plants more
than one meter at maturity. Both low shrubs and vines are included. Also, it is
an alternative to grass in controlling erosion by wind and water. It serves as
insulation that reduces sloughing caused by freezing and thawing.
Other Vegetation Desirable for Roadside Protection
1. Bushy dense foliage plants, and those producing litter with great
water folding capacity are considered good vegetation to protect
the roadside against erosion.
 2. The rapid growing species with inconspicuous flowers to prevent
distraction and vandalism are preferred.
3. Fire resistant plants with the ability to sprout after burning is much
desirable. The cogon grass is one example.
9.12 Parking and Rest Area
Parking turnout to accommodate stopping off the travelled way is an
important adjunct to major rural highways.

4. Plants that are subject to disease and insect damage, poisonous or
irritating to the skin or that may become agricultural pest should be
rejected.
Trees and shrubs
These are effective means of providing interest, variety and beauty to the
roadside. Those that are native to the areas are more preferred that the
imported variety. The following are important tips in planting:
Wayside rest areas are necessary facilities of the highway wherein motorists
stop, relaxes and use sanitary facilities.
Wayside rest areas should be located on those with natural features that
makes the area:
1. More attractive
2. Accessible and safely located.
3. Those with sufficient area and with existing shades.

1. For rural roads, the objective is to preserve or recreate a natural Locations closer to cities and towns are not advisable because they will be
foreground in harmony with a distant view. Existing well placed trees monopolized by the town people.
should be preserved while ugly and obstructing growth are
Highway rest areas are worthwhile, but highway officials and maintenance
removed.
personnel object to their establishment because motorists are untidy and are
2. Replanting should be considered only when irregular introduction of sometimes vandals making maintenance difficult and very expensive.
trees and shrubs serve to highlight the natural beauty or where it is
particularly desirable to screen unsightly objects.

3. Trees should be planted back a distance from the traveled way to

provide a recovery area of vehicles that run off the road. A minimum
distance of 9.00 meters from the lane edge is recommended.

4. Row planting along rural road is not considered a good taste as it

spoils distant view and is a monotonous design.

5. Group planting create an occasional point of interest or call of

attention to intersections, bridges or other point of hazard.

6. Continuous planting is appropriate to screen unsightly roadside

conditions or to insulate residential areas from the road.

7. Avoid monotomy over long stretches of the route. The solution is to

group flowering trees and vines at best and appropriate locations.