Highway and Transportation

Engineering
 Chapter - 1
Introduction to Transportation &
Highway Engineering
TOPICS COVERED IN CHAPTER 1:
Importance of transportation engineering
Highway engineering ;
Characteristics and functions of roads
Hierarchy of roads in the Sultanate of Oman
Road traffic safety- Traffic problem as pertaining to
the Sultanate of Oman
Highway alignment requirements and controlling
factors
Surveys for highway location
 Importance of Transportation
Engineering
Transportation is basically the movement of
people or goods
Human settlements and transportation
Transportation and standard of living
Any good transportation solution should be
safe, quick, comfortable, easy, economical,
and eco-friendly
 Advantages of transportation
Transportation is for the advancement of
community
Transportation is essential for the economic
prosperity and general development of the
country
Transportation is essential for strategic
movement in emergency for defence of the
country and to maintain law and order.
 Definition of Transportation
Engineering
Transportation Engineering is defined as a
discipline applying technology and scientific
principles to the planning, functional design,
operation, and management of facilities for all
modes of transportation.
 Modes of transportation
There are four major modes of transportation
namely:
Highways (Roadways),
Railways,
Airways and
Waterways.
 Introduction to Highway Engineering
Roads serve as the first mode of transport
taking us to the railway station, port or the
airport. So we can say that highway (roadway)
is the mode of transport nearest to man
 Important characteristics of roads /
highways
Roads serve all types of vehicles from cycles,
bikes and cars to buses / trucks.
Roads are equally useful for pedestrians also.
They can reach remote locations unreachable
by other transport modes. (eg. hilly locations)
Investment on road transport by government
is comparatively small.
Maintenance of roads is also cheaper than for
railway, harbours or airports
 Functions of roads
Roads fulfil a number of functions. Generally
these are;
Allow passage of through traffic (vehicles and
pedestrians).
Allow local traffic (vehicles and pedestrians) to
reach their destinations.
Allow delivery / collection of people and goods to
properties alongside the road.
Provide space between buildings and an
environment suited to its function.
Act as a corridor to carry service authorities
equipment.
Highway engineers must take all these functions
into account when designing a road
 Hierarchy of roads

A road and street hierarchy is a classification

of roads and streets. The hierarchy
Defines a road network as a series of
connecting links
Classifies each road and street according to its
function
 The hierarchy for Oman has been defined to
fit in with the system used in other GCC
countries, which can be summarised as
follows:
The hierarchy adopted for Oman distinguishes
between streets in urban areas and roads
in rural areas.
Road / Streets Function

Primary Connect larger centres of population and cater for fast moving traffic

Connect smaller centres of population to each other and to the primary

Secondary
network

Provide access to property and connect to the primary and secondary

Tertiary
network