Melendres, Kevin M.

CE 511C/ 10:30 AM-12:00 PM MW

BSCE 5 September 28, 2017

Highway Maintenance, Rehabilitation and Safety

in the Philippines and Abroad

One of the most important phases in the service life of highways, or any other transportation facility, is its
maintenance and rehabilitation in order to address the damages resulted from its usage and service. Ideally,
as soon as deteriorations and flaws in the highway system are verified, immediately repairs should be done
in order to avoid further failures in the highway. Unfortunately, this is not always the case in the Philippines.

A study done by Regidor et.al (2005) stated that certain roads are considered to be non-serviceable even
before the expected expiration of service lives. One reason that the authors has given is the unavailability
of data for heavy vehicle counts and load factors which ultimately resulted to poor pavement design.
However, another factor that aggravates the level of damage in the transportation highways is the poor
response in its maintenance and rehabilitation; whether with the technique in treatment of damages or the
response time done by the government.

In highway engineering, there are already numerous methods proposed from different studies with regards
to the maintenance and rehabilitation of highways. Every country has different treatment on the different
deformations in the highway system. The variations are caused by the different scenarios happening in
every location. It is very vital to have knowledge on the different methods that others have applied with
regards to maintenance, rehabilitation, and safety of highways in order to have a clear comparison of the
methods. With this, the more efficient method can be adapted in order to minimize the cost and labor of
highway maintenance and rehabilitation.

Highway Maintenance and Rehabilitation

AASHTO defines highway maintenance as the preservation and keeping of each type of roadway,
roadside, structures and facilities as nearly as possible in its original condition as constructed or as
subsequently improved the operation of highway facilities and services to provide satisfactory and safe
transportation. This includes both physical maintenance such as sealing, patching, filling joints and so
forth and other traffic service activities. On the other hand, rehabilitation is defined as the restoration or
betterment of roadways, highways, and other transportation facility. This includes asphalt pavement
overlay, graded aggregate sealing, hot in-place recycling and so forth.

In the Philippines, the major factors which cause road deteriorations include surface water, flooding,
changes in temperature and poor pavement design due to lack of data (as stated by Regidor et, al, 2005). It
cannot be denied that flooding may be one of the major problems in the Philippines due to the lack of proper
drainage designs and implementation of laws with regards to the treatment of drainages. With regards to
maintenance, the National Government is responsible for national roads and other secondary roads, while
the Local Government is responsible for provincial, city, municipal and barangay roads.
Several techniques have already been applied in order to assess and mitigate further damages of highways.
In the Philippines, the Department of Public Works and Highways uses the Highway Development and
Management Ver. 4 in order to evaluate the conditions of national roads and bridges. This tool is operated
under the DPWH Planning Service which employs the prioritization of maintenance works. Usual
maintenance works done by the Philippine government include overlays or re-blocking due to an
unexpected volume of traffic in a specified road.

The HDM-4 is actually a functioning tool in the DPWH. Unfortunately, the problem persists with the
mentality in the Philippines that in order to undertake maintenance in roads, severe deteriorations must be
present. Due to this, minor defects are disregarded by laymen when considering maintenance works. This
is also verified by an article written in the Inquirer which stated that the DPWH favors more on road
rehabilitation over preventive maintenance (from 2014 to 2016). Preferably, maintenance should not be
ignored, but rather be given more importance because ultimately, this would result to less cost and problems
in the future.

With regards to rehabilitations of highways, the Philippines uses Pavement Recycling as a method for
rehabilitation. By definition, this includes the removal of existing pavement fully or partially, reduction of
reclaimed material to suitable size, blending of reclaimed materials with aggregates and liquid asphalt, and
relaying the material as base, binder or surface course. However, one major flaw with regards to pavement
recycling in the Philippines is that existing pavement is not removed, but rather topped with new pavement.
This presents a problem in the stability and load of the highways. The addition of new pavement increases
the load in the roads; minor defects would still persist since these additions are not taken into account in
the original design of the highway.

In the Philippines, the Bureau of Construction is responsible for the review, evaluation, cost estimation and
contracting of projects under DPWH. Fundamental responsibilities of the BOC include inspection of the
area and monitoring of the progress of the different projects under DPWH. However, the PMO (Project
Management Office) and the District Engineering Offices carry out the actual implementation of the
projects of DPWH.

Comparing the maintenance and rehabilitation of the Philippines to other countries abroad, it can easily be
said that the techniques and methods done abroad are more advanced and efficient. This is due to the fact
that pavement maintenance and evaluation is thoroughly studied abroad. One example of an excellent
pavement maintenance abroad which gives more focus on the pavement itself is in Japan. This innovation
of the Japanese aims to lessen the reflected noise of vehicles when traversing through the road. The
pavement of Japan considers two types of pavements when designing roads; the ordinary pavement and the
drainage pavement. In the ordinary pavement, air is trapped between the end pavement surface and produces
noise. On the other, the drainage pavement allows the air to escape, thereby reducing the noise since air,
which usually reflects the noise is the one that is being allowed to escape. Application of this innovation is
vital in the busiest sides of Japan.

Another technique which is usually applied around the globe is microsurfacing. This involves paving thin
layers in cold application which is known to restore road surfaces and have good evenness and skid
resistance. The addition of thin layers in cold application prolongs the service life of damaged asphalt roads
without the need for replacing the entire road pavement.

Highway Safety

In the design of highways, the utmost consideration would have to be the safety of the users. To be
considered highly effective, highways are provided with sufficient lightings and road signs regarding the
appropriate speeds and other highway properties (such as signs showing possible curves, intersections etc).

The AASHTO Green Book includes in its contents highway lighting as part of the safety of a highway. It
mentions that lighting may improve the safety of a highway or street and the ease and comfort of drivers.
Based on statistics, nighttime crash rates are considerably higher than daytime crashes. In the Philippines,
nighttime crashes occur due to the absence of appropriate lighting and signages in the area, especially in
curved roads. The reduction of visibility at night is the main reason why accidents occur.

According to the AASHTO Green book, there are five basic principles of streetlight design; safety, security,
limiting the amount of light trespass, environmental responsibility, and consistency in lighting design.
According to a study done by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents in countries such as UK,
Europe, and Japan, it was found out that the number of accidents are reduced in areas where lighting is
improved.

The problem with highway lighting in the Philippines is its poor maintenance. Although there are available
posts for lighting, some are faulty while others are damaged due to natural wear and tear or persisting
calamities. This is usually prevalent in provinces wherein maintenance is less focused due to the lack of
funding by the government. When compared to abroad, such as in United States, sufficient highway lighting
is given high importance due to its significance. Another factor that greatly differs in the Philippines from
abroad is the amount of response time that the government does in order to address these problems.

Rules and regulations pertaining to highway safety in the Philippines is actually sufficient and thoroughly
explained. Technical manuals and handbooks on road infrastructure safety are already provided by the
Department of Public Works and Highways with the aim to improve the highway safety situations of the
country under its Traffic Accident Prevention and Reduction Program. These manuals include the
following: Road Safety Audit Manual, Road Works Safety Manual, Highway Safety Design Standards
Manual - Part I: Road Safety Design Manual, and Highway Safety Design Standards Manual - Part 2: Road
Signs and Pavement Markings Manual.

Also, there are available handbooks which explain methods for identifying hazardous locations and
development of road accident reduction projects. This includes the Accident Blackspot Investigation
Handbook explains the process of investigating and developing projects that will give high probability pf
improvement on road safety at an accident blackspot location; and the Project Evaluation handbook which
lists the processes of screening road safety projects to ensure compliance with the standard criteria for road
accident reduction works. Although the said handbooks are present, highway safety is still a major concern
in the Philippines due to the poor implementation of these guidelines.
Other countries have also developed several methods in order to address highway safety. In other countries,
common safety practices include the following: Assessment and Management of Material and Resource
Usage, Emergency plans for accident prone areas, Road traffic Accident Analysis, Safety Coordination and
Safety Plans, Speed Control Planning, Traffic Action Plans and Traffic Flow Condition Analysis, and Waste
Handling and Recycling.

There are no large differences in the handbooks and methods in highway safety in the Philippines and
abroad. Although the said handbooks are present and thoroughly explained, highway safety is still a major
concern in the Philippines due to the poor implementation of these guidelines. What greatly differs from
the Philippines and abroad is that in other countries, the government sectors give much importance on
planning, design and implementation of highway practices.

The causes of problems in the highway system of the Philippines is mainly due to the lack of funding (or
misuse of funding) and the poor implementation of highway rules and regulations. Although we are
sufficiently supported with our written guidelines in highway maintenance, rehabilitation and safety, the
system still crumbles due to the lack of strict implementation. This must serve as a call for attention to the
persons responsible in the government.

References:

A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets by AASHTO (4th edition)

Highway Maintenance and Rehabilitation by Dr. Taleb M. Al-Rousan

Esplanada J. (2014). Inquirer Online Newspaper. retrieved from http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/594719/dpwh-

to-favor-road-rehab-over-preventive-maintenance-in-next-2-years

Introduction to Lighting by Chester A. Henson, P.E.(2009)

Local Source-Based Road Maintenance in the Philippines Guide by International Labour Organization
(2014)

Napalang, M.S.G. et. al (2005). State of Pavement Engineering in the Philippines and Implications on the
Economic Life of National Roads.

Regidor, J.et. al (2005). Assessment of Traffic Inputs to Pavement Design and Rehabilitation. Philippine
Engineering Journal, Vol. 26 No. 2:1-12.

Roads in Japan by Road Bureau Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (2014)

Structural Maintenance, Repair and Rehabilitation by Wirtgen Group