ROAD CATEGORY

AND HIERARCHY
ROAD CATEGORY
EXPRESSWAY
Bukit Kayu Hitam to Johor Bahru
FEDERAL ROAD
Interstate national network and complements the
expressway network
Route 1 (Kangar to JB)
Route II ( West Coast to East Coast)
Route III (East Coast-state)
Maintenance under the Federal Government and is
done through the State JKR with fund from Federal


ROAD CATEGORY
STATE ROAD
Roads within the state
Constructed with state funds
Maintenance under state government

URBAN AREA ROAD
Local Authority

RURAL AREA ROAD
Under the jurisdiction of the District Office

Factors governing alignment
Obligatory points
The location should avoid obstructions such as places of
cemeteries, archeological, historical monument, public facilities
like schools and hospitals, utility services
Geometric design features
Facilitate easy grade and curvature
Enable ruling gradient in most sections
Void sudden changes in sight distance, especially near
crossings
Avoid sharp horizontal curves
Avoid road intersections near bend or at the top or bottom of a
hill
Factors governing alignment
Precautions at river and railway crossings
Bridges should be preferably be located at
right angles to the river flow, not located on a
horizontal curve
Crossing railway lines should avoid
intersections at gradient, frequent crossing
and recrossing
Factors governing alignment
Topographical control points
The alignment, where possible should avoid passing through
Marshy and low lying land with poor drainage
Flood prone areas
Unstable hilly features
Avalanche prone areas
Flat terrain-below 3%
Rolling terrain -3 to 25%
Mountainous terrain above 25%
A location on high ground should be preferred rather than valley
to avoid cross drainage works
Factors governing alignment
Materials and constructional features
Deep cutting should be avoided
Earth work is to be balanced; quantities for
filling and excavation
Alignment should preferably be through better
soil area to minimize pavement thickness
Location may be near sources of
embankment and pavement materials

GEOMETRIC DESIGN
Elements of design:
Sight distance
The length of road ahead visible to drivers
Stopping sight distance
Passing sight distance
Horizontal alignment
Superelevation rates (0.1 for rural areas, 0.06 for urban)
Minimum radius
Vertical alignment
Pavement design
Intersection and crossing design

Horizontal alignment
Adjustments in horizontal alignment can help reduce the potential for generating
roadway sediment. The objective in manipulating horizontal alignment is to strive to
minimize roadway cuts and fills and to avoid unstable areas. When unstable or
steep slopes must be traversed, adjustments in vertical alignment can minimize
impacts and produce a stable road by reducing cuts and fills


Vertical alignment
Vertical curves or grade changes, like horizontal curves, require proper
consideration to minimize earthwork, cost, and erosion damage.
Vertical curves provide the transition between an incoming grade and an outgoing
grade.
The grade change is the difference between incoming grade and outgoing grade.
The shorter the vertical curve can be kept, the smaller the earthwork required.
Cross section
elements
1. Pavement
Determined by
The volume and composition of traffic
Soil characteristics
Three general types
High
High volume traffic, smooth riding qualities and good nonskid
properties in all weathers
Intermediate
Slightly less costly and less strength than high type pavement
Low
Range from surface treated earth roads and stabilized materials to
loose surface such as earth and gravel
2. Normal cross slope
Cross slope to minimise water ponding on flat
sections of uncurbed pavements due to
pavement imperfections or unequal settlement
To control the flow of water adjacent to the curb
on curbed pavements
2.5% for high surface type
2.5 %- 3.5% for intermediate surface
2.5 % - 6% for low surface
3. Lane widths
3.5 m normal road width
2.75 m minor roads and local street
3.5 m 3.75 m width - Divided highways

4. Shoulder
Emergency stopping free of the traffic lane
The sense of openness contributes to driving ease and comfort
Sight distances is improved in in cut sections, thereby improving
safety
Highway capacity is improved and uniform speed is encouraged
Structural support is given to the pavement
Minimum 0.6 m should be considered
Maximum 3 m for high type facilities
Should be sloped sufficiently
2 to 6 % - Bituminous and concrete surfaced shoulders
4 to 6% - gravel or crushed rock shoulders
6 % - turf shoulders
5. Kerbs
Urban areas
Drainage control
Delineation of pedestrian walkways
Aesthetics
Two general classes of kerbs;
Barrier kerbs
High and steep faced
Designed to discourage vehicles from leaving the roadway
Should not be used on expressways
Should not be used where the design speed exceed 70 km/hr
Mountable kerbs
To define pavement edges of through carriageways
6. Medians
Road carrying four or more lanes
To provide the desired freedom from the
interface of opposing traffic
To provide for speed changes and storage
of right-turning and U-turning vehicles
To provide for future lanes
Cross-section of a flexible
pavement
Wearing course
Binder course
Road base/ base course
Sub base
Sub grade
Subgrade
Uppermost part of the soil
Natural or imported
Supporting the load transmitted from the
overlying layers
Sub base :-
Consists of granular materials, either naturally or
compacted or ocassionally stabilized with cement or
lime.
To disperse the load from the base course before
transmitting it to the subgrade.
Help as a drainage layer
Prevent moisture migration from subgrade
Menahan tanah subgrade dari bercampur dengan road
base
Sand and aggregate
Standard CBR % : Crushed aggregate 30
Sand, Laterite, etc 20
Base course / Road base (1)

Plays a prominent role in the support and
dispersion of the traffic
The thickest layer
3 types :
Crushed aggregates
Cement stabilised
Bitumen stabilised base courses
Surface course
All the bound layer(s) within the pavement i.e wearing course,
intermediate course and binder course
An impermeable and flexible lining of high elastic modulus
Hot-mixed bituminous mixtures-consist of well graded mixture of
coarse aggregates, fine aggregates and filler, bound together with
bitumen
Binder course
Overlying the base course
Supporting and dispersing the traffic load
Resists shear
Wearing course
Topmost layer
Resist abrasion and prevent skidding
Drainage system
DRAINAGE is VERY! VERY! VERY! IMPORTANT, both
in relation to road pavement construction and
maintenance.
Good drainage will help to keep the water table (and
strength) of the road pavement in equilibrium.
Water below the road pavement must be kept low and
not be allowed to rise up into the construction layers
The road pavement must be constructed so that it will
drain in the event of a failure of the integrity of the
surfacing layers, i.e. if water is able to enter the road
pavement there must be a path for it to exit.

Important of surface drainage
Softening the road surface when it is constructed
of soil or sand-clay or gravel or water bound
macadam
Washing out unprotected areas of the top
surface, erosion of side slopes forming gullies,
erosion of side drain
Generally softening of the ground giving rise to
land slides or slips
Softening the subgrade soil and decreasing its
bearing power
Drainage systems

Components of surface drainage

Shoulder slope
Roadside drain/ shoulder drain
Toe drain
Bench and Berm drain
Interceptor drain
Out fall drain
Median Drain
Kerb drain

Road construction
Three stages
Stage I Construction of road formation, i.e
earthwork
Stage II Construction of the pavement
structure and drainage
Stage III Provision of traffic engineering
facilities
Road construction
Typical road construction equipment
Plant for clearing- bull dozers, tractors
Plant for drilling/ripping
Plant for each mining and moving process-
mechanical showels bulldozers, scrapers, trucks
Plant for formation construction-graders, scrapers,
bulldozers
Compaction plant-rollers of various types tracked,
smooth, or rubber tyred
Bituminous mixing plant
Site Preparation Services

Land clearing including demolition and environmentally
advanced recycling and disposal.
Grading and earth work.
Storm water drainage, retention ponds, and erosion
control.
Road curbing and gutters.
Road construction including asphalt, paving,
resurfacing, seal coating and striping.
Site utility work including water and sewer lines.
Trucking services, heavy and specialized hauling, dump
truck services for dirt and stone.

Earth work
Cut/fill
Cut and fill involve the cutting or excavation of earth materials
and the compaction as fill in conformance.
Fill is placed in horizontal lifts and then each lift of fill is
compacted to setup a uniformly compacted material.
Fill materials - Only suitable materials such as medium stiff
clays, clayey sand or other approved soils shall be used for filling
Materials from swamps, top soils and other highly organic clay or
silts, materials containing boulders materials, materials with
chemical composition or at their moisture content will not
compact properly shall not be used for filling
Soil compaction
Process by which a mass of soil
consisting of solid soil particles, air
and water is reduced in volume by
momentary application of loads, such
as rolling, tamping or vibration
Compaction of the soil generally
increases its shear strength,
decreases its compressibility and
decreases its permeability

Max.dry
density
Dry
density
Zero-air-voids
line (100%
saturation)
Optimum m/c Optimum m/c Optimum m/c
Moisture Content Moisture Content Moisture Content Moisture Content
Fig.1


Fill widening
Fill widening of 0.30 m are recommended where fill slope height is less than
2.00 m.
Fill slope height in excess of 2.00 m should have 0,60 m of fill widening.
Fill slope height in excess of 6.00 m should be avoided altogether because
of potential stability problems.
Road construction
Compacting subgrade
Rolling using 8-10 t smooth wheeled roller
Rolling continued till 100% maximum dry density is achieved and
the surface appears to be well closed
Spreading coarse aggregates
The required amount of course aggregates is spread uniformly
on the prepared foundation
Using a 6-10 t smooth wheel roller / equivalent capacity vibratory
roller.
Bituminous road construction
Binder coarse
Wearing coarse

Discussion topics
1. What are the factors controlling alignment of roads
2. What are the important engineering characteristics of
soils that are likely to influence the performance of a
road?
3. Discuss the basic principles of field compaction. Can
climatic conditions influence compaction in road
construction?
4. Pavement deterioration; causes and rehabilitation
5. A properly designed highway requires a well-designed
drainage system