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HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
ECG 304
SAIFUL BIN JUMALI
Faculty of Civil Engineering, UiTM JOHOR,
Campus Pasir Gudang.
FKA-6-67
saiful9649@johor.uitm.edu.my
012-6242529

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Programme Outcomes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Ability to acquire and apply basic knowledge of science, mathematics and

engineering (C)
Ability to communicate effectively, not only with engineers but also with
the public (A)
Ability to identify, formulate and solve engineering problems using thinking
skills and engineering reasoning (C)
Ability to act effectively as an individual and as a group with leadership
capabilities (A)
Understanding of the social, cultural, global, environmental responsibilities,
ethics and the needs for sustainable development (A)
Acquiring the capacity to undertake lifelong learning and having the
knowledge of contemporary issues (C)
Ability to design and conduct experiments as well as to analyze, interpret
data and to construct engineering drawing (P)
Ability to function in multidisciplinary teams (A)
Having the knowledge of management, financial and entrepreneurship (C)

Course Outcomes

At the end of this course, students should be able

to:

Describe the development, construction and maintenance

of roads and highway
Carry out simple traffic studies and apply the knowledge in
highway geometric design and traffic control devices by
using recommended standards and specification
Design simple flexible pavement according to JKR Arahan
Teknik (Jalan) method select the appropriate material used
in the construction
Organized the standard highway laboratory test and traffic
data analysis

Course Description
Historical

development of highways
in Malaysia
Traffic Engineering theory
Road geometric design
Traffic control devices
Pavement design
Road construction and maintenance

Chapter 1
Content:
1. Development of highway
transportation
2. Highway classification and
administration
3. Feasibility studies and route location
4. Road safety and current issues

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this chapter, students should be able to:

Describe the process involved in the

development and construction of roads and
highway as general as well as in Malaysia.
Describe the general aspects of highway
classification and administration
Explain the importance of feasibility studies and
identify the route location consideration factors.
Discuss on way to improve road safety and
current issues (transportation challenges).

Development of
highway transportation

Transportation :
Everything involved in moving either the
person or goods from the origin to the
destination.
Mobility
Movements different modes
e.g walking, driving etc

Transportation
Accessibility
Entry and exit

Development of highway transportation (cont)

Why do we provide and develop road

infrastructure?

To expedite economy recovery

development

May benefit the surrounding areas upgraded to reduce accidents, congestions

Investment in mode and road

infrastructure to meet the demands and
private transportation

Development of highway transportation (cont)

History of road construction

The

Roman Road

The

Telford Road

The

Macadam Road

The

Metcalf Road

The

Modern Road

Development of highway transportation (cont)

Roman Roads

Used by horses,

chariot, wagon
pulled by
animals

Made-up from

the stone blocks

placed closed
together
Quite roughjoints between
boulders.

Development of highway transportation (cont)

Mac Adams Road

Camber

Gravel

Several layers of compacted stones

Foundation improvement removing the topsoil
Big rocks were laid across the pavement and the
void fill with small stones.
Sustain higher loading. Comfortable due to
smooth riding.

Development of highway transportation (cont)

Metcalfs Road
Insisted on good
Gravel

Excavated Road
Material

Large Stone
Foundation

drainage and
foundation or subbase
carriageway was
arched assist surface
water drainage
Crossing soft ground,
he introduced a
subbase raft of bundled
heather

Development of highway transportation (cont)

Telfords Road
Improved ride ability Gravel

Broken Stone

Hand Pitched
Stone

sandwich smaller stones

between the boulders
smaller stones filled voids
between the stone
blocks compacted until
smooth surface obtained
Placing layer of bitumen
Bituminous layer improve
the riding quality.

The Modern Road

The Modern Roads

Divided by flexible (asphalt) pavement and rigid (concrete)
pavement.
Basically retains the same concept, i.e. layered structured
granular materials and impervious smooth surface.
Can sustain higher loads and provide comfort, smooth riding
quality and traffic safety.

Last decade before

independent tar
road constructed in
cities and town
Mac Adam

Animal drawn carts

to mechanical and
motorized vehicles

Development of highway transportation (cont)

Pre-Independent Era

Before independent walking or animals

cart and few motorized car by means of
footpath and bullock cart tracks
Rubber plantation and tin mining
increase demand for a better
serviceability of road network weak
laterite
Planning of road in Malaya British
Administration

Development of highway transportation (cont)

Post-Independent Era

Now, Malaysia has one of the finest

systems of road network system in the

world
Bituminous or concrete road provide
accessibility to residents (urban or rural)
Expressway stretching from the north to
the south of peninsular Malaysia (PLUS)
Federal highway links between states

Post-Independent Era

Highway/Road Classification

Roads are divided into two groups by

area: -

Rural

* Located outside
of cities
* Serve as links
between population centers

Urban

* Used for commuting &

shopping trips
* Serve areas of
high density land

Rural Road

Expressway
- divided highway for through traffic
- full access control and grade separation at all
intersection.
- speed limit is 110 km/h

Highway
- link up directly/indirectly federal capitals, state
capitals.
- serve long to intermediate trip lengths
- speed high to medium (not important as
expressway)
- smooth traffic with partial access control

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Rural road (cont)

Primary road
- major roads within a state
- serve intermediate trip lengths & medium travelling
speed
- smooth traffic with partial access control
- link up state capitals, district capitals and major towns

Secondary road
- major road within district
- serve intermediate trip lengths with partial access
control

Minor road
- apply to all road other than mentioned earlier
- serve mainly local traffic, short trip lengths, no access
control

Primary Road
Secondary Road
Minor Road

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Urban Road

Expressway
- as mentioned in rural road

Arterial
- continuous road with partial access for
through traffic within urban area
- Convey traffic from residential area to CBD
- smooth traffic flows and carry large traffic
volume

Rural road (cont)

Collector
- Serve as collector or distributor between the
arterial and local road system
- partial access control
- penetrate and serve identifiable neighbourhoods,
commercial areas and industrial areas

Local street
- basic road networks within a neighbourhoods
- serve direct access to abutting land (tanah
bersempadan)
- links to the collector road & short trip lengths
- through traffic should be discouraged

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Highway classification and administration

Highway Administration divided into;

i.

ii.

iii.

Federal
a)

Under Federal Road Ordinance

b)

Linking State Capitals, airport, railway station and ports

c)

Road within the FELDA land scheme

d)

constructed with Federal funds

State
a)

Constructed with state funds

b)

Maintenance state government through the state JKR

Local Authority
a)

iv.

District Office
a)

v.

City Hall, Municipal or Local Council

Usually earth roads maintained by district office

Private
a)

Maintain by private company, developer

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Traffic census
Environmental
Impact
Assessment

Capacity

Class of Road

Route
Location

Feasibility
Study

Structures

Finalizing the
Route

Feasibility Study (cont)

Traffic Census
- Obtain data on traffic census & growth rate
& a study on accident prone areas from
Highway Planning Unit (HPU)
Capacity
- A relationship between capacity & the no. of
lane, lane width, & level of service (LOS)
Class of road
- From traffic census and capacity, the class of
road can be determined from the JKR
Manual on Geometric Design

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Route Location
- Propose route locations
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
- It is necessary to balance benefits from
major road schemes with adverse
environmental effects due to their
implementations.
Structures
- propose structures : bridge, tunnels

Route location
Consideration Factors:

Topography terrain
Soil condition
Environment
Economy/socioeconomic
Politic
History

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Route location (cont)

2- Flat area rather

than mountainous

1- Avoid crossing
waterways

Example:

3- Avoid
destruction/removal
man-made culture
4- Avoid deep cuttings and
expensive tunnel
5- Locate near to sources
of pavement material

6- Avoid sudden changes in

sight distance, especially
near junction
7- Keep grades and
curvature to minimum
8- Avoid ground of
mining subsidence
9- Locate highway on soil
that need least pavement
thickness above it

10- River crossing should be right

angle

Transportation Crashes Contribution Factors

Form a group of 5 student
List down the factor that can be
contribute to the transportation crashes.

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Transportation Crashes Contribution Factors

High speeds
Drowsiness
Drinking
Using cell
phone
Unfamiliar

Faulty brakes
Worn tires

Rain
Fog
Snow
Ice
Cross
wind
Land
slide

Sharp curves
Sight distance
Skid resistance
Defects: potholes
Signboard

Road Safety in Malaysia

Multimedia Road
Safety Campaign
Increase awareness and
understanding of road safetybanning use hfone,campaign
How to improve?
againts drug driving, motorcycle
helmets.

Proposed
Amendments
(pindaan) To Road
Safety Act 1987

Improve heavier
penalties on drivers
including mandatory jail

Ops STATIK and Ops SIKAP

Drivers offences
recorded and
summonses were given
Intro to Defensive Driving

Upgrading quality of
instruction, instructors
and training facilities at
driving school

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Road Safety in Malaysia (cont)

Safety helmet &

safety clothing

Safety campaigns
at state & district
level

How to improve?

Proposal for
Dedicated
Motorcycle Lane

Be a policy
decision for
proposed new
highway

Proposal to Limit
Max Speeds of
Motorcyclists

To reduce
accidents and
fatalities
Still under study
by The Ministry of
Transport

Standard application to Malaysian

Roads
Higher design speeds for roads those
provide long distance travel
Lower design speeds for roads those serve
local traffic, where the effect of speed is less
significant
Higher standard for roads with heavier traffic

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Design Speed (RURAL)

Design Speed (URBAN)

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In Malaysia, design standards for roads are classified

into 7 groups for urban & rural categories. The
reason why road design standards in Malaysia need
to be standardized particularly with their geometric
design features are as follows:
To

provide a uniformity in the design of

roads based on the performance
requirements
To provide consistent, safe and reliable road
facilities for traffic movement
To provide a guide for less subjective
decisions on road design

Design Standards
R6/U6 :
Highest geometric design
serve long trips with high speed of travelling, comfort and
safety.
divided carriageway and with full access control
Rural and Urban Expressway
R5/U5:
serve long to intermediate trip lengths with high to median
travelling speeds.
with partial access control,
Highway, Primary Road and Arterial

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R4/U4:
medium geometric standard
serve intermediate trip lengths with medium travelling
speeds.
Partial access control
Primary Road, Secondary Road, Minor Arterial and Major
collector
R3/U3:
low geometric standard and serves mainly local traffic.
There is partial or no access control.
Secondary Road, Collector or Major Local Streets

R2/U2:
the lowest geometric standard for two way flow.
It is applied only to local traffic with low volumes of
commercial traffic.
Minor Roads and Local Streets
R1/U1:
very low geometric standard and is applied to very low
traffic where the chances of two way flow is low.
R1a :
Applied to local access to restricted areas such as
access to microwave stations and security areas.
UIa :
Applied to local access to low cost housing areas.

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The design standards used for various categories of

roads:

Agencies Involved In Highway & Traffic

JKR (The Public Works Department)

- Implementation of development projects (federal
road, state road, bridge & airport)
- make sure all roads are in a good condition & safety
JPJ (The Road Transport Department)
- increase road safety through observation of
motorized vehicles & drivers
- implement the Road Transport Act 1987
- Update the road tax system
LLM (Malaysia Highway Authority)
- plan, design, construct & maintain highway links &
facilities.
- collect the toll & other payment which are related.

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Benefits of Highway Privatization

Reduce government financial burden

Cost saving due innovation in const.
techniques
Users enjoy improved standard of
service & greater accessibility
Earlier implementation and
completion of highway project
Create more job opportunity

Roadway Ideal Conditions

Lane width 3.6 m
Clearance 1.8 m
Free-flow speed of 100 km/h
No No Passing Zone on two-lane highway
No parking near the curb
Level terrain
No pedestrians
Only passenger cars in the traffic stream (no
heavy vehicles)

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Transportation System Challenges

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2.
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4.
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6.

Transportation system exists to meet perceived social

and economic needs.
As the transportation system itself evolves, situations
arise as a problem serve as challenges to the
transportation engineering profession.
These challenges are
Managing congestion by demand or supply measures
Improving safety traffic accidents concern
Providing equal access poor, elderly, and physically
handicapped
Protecting the environment EIA
Incorporating new technology - ITS
Securing financial resources - funding

Current Issue
Serious urban traffic congestion
Highway-related crashes
- Over 40,000 traffic fatalities each
year
Delay
Parking difficulties
Pollution
noise and air (CO,NO, hydrocarbons)

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