highway engineering

• The design of highways involves considering factors such as traffic volume, speed limits, and geometric design standards.
• Transportation involves the movement of people or goods from the origin to the destination.
• Transportation mobility accessibility movements refer to different modes such as walking, driving, etc.
• Entry and exit in transportation refer to the development of road infrastructure to expedite economy recovery and may benefit the surrounding areas by reducing accidents and congestions.
• Investment in mode and road infrastructure is made to meet the demands of private transportation.
• The history of road construction includes the Roman Road, the Metcalf Road, the Telford Road, the Macadam Road, and the Modern Road.
• Roman Roads were used by horses, chariots, and wagons, were made from stone blocks placed close together, and were quite rough with joints between boulders.
• Metcalf Roads were gravel excavated road material, with a large stone foundation insisting on good drainage and foundation or subbase.
• Telford Roads were hand pitched stone, with a comfortable ride due to smaller stones filled voids between the stone blocks and a layer of bitumen was placed.
• Macadam Roads had a camber, were several layers of compacted stones, and had a foundation improvement by removing the topsoil.
• The Modern Roads are divided by flexible (asphalt) pavement and rigid (concrete) pavement, have a layered structured granular materials and an impervious smooth surface, can sustain higher loads and provide comfort, smooth riding quality and traffic safety.
• Before independent, transportation was done by walking or animal’s cart and a few motorized cars by means of footpath and bullock cart tracks.
• Rubber plantation and tin mining increased demand for a better serviceability of road network, and planning of road in Malaya was done by the British Administration.
• Post-independent era saw the development of highways such as the North South Expressway (NSE), New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE), Federal Highway Route 2 (Batu tigaKlang), Seremban-Port Dickson Highway, ELITE Highway, Linkedua (MalaysiaSingapore), Butterworth-Kulim Expressway (BKE), and Penang Bridge.
• Roads in Malaysia are divided into two groups by area: rural and urban.
• Rural roads are located outside of cities, serve as links between population centers, are used for commuting & shopping trips, and serve areas of high density land.
• Rural roads include expressway, highway, primary road, secondary road, and minor road.
• Expressway in rural roads is a divided highway for through traffic with full access control and grade separation at all intersection, speed limit is 110 km/h.
• Highway in rural roads is a link up directly/indirectly federal capitals, state capitals, serve long to intermediate trip lengths with partial access control.
• Primary road in rural roads are major roads within a state, serve intermediate trip lengths & medium travelling speed, and have smooth traffic with partial access control.
• Secondary road in rural roads are major roads within district, serve intermediate trip lengths with partial access control.
• Minor road in rural roads apply to all road other than mentioned earlier, serve mainly local traffic, short trip lengths, no access control.
• Urban Road: Expressway is a divided highway for through traffic with full access control and grade separation at all intersections, and the speed limit is 110 km/h.
• Arterial: It is a continuous road with partial access for through traffic within an urban area, serving to convey traffic from residential areas to the CBD, with smooth traffic flows and carrying large traffic volumes.
• Protecting the environment involves Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
• Delay is a common transportation problem.
• Highway-related crashes result in nearly 1.3 million people dying each year, on average 3,287 deaths a day.
• Improving safety involves traffic accidents concern.
• Serious urban traffic congestion is a transportation problem.
• The adverse impact of highways on the environment includes noise, air pollution, effect on wild life, effect on flora and fauna, effect on forests, land consumption, cutting trees, effect on existing residents, industrial and commercial activities, and effect on archeological, historical and religious places.
• Securing financial resources for transportation can be a current issue.
• Pollution, both noise and air (CO, NO, hydrocarbons), is a major transportation issue.
• As the transportation system evolves, situations arise as problems or challenges to the transportation engineering profession.
• Managing congestion can be done by demand or supply measures.
• These challenges include managing congestion, improving safety, providing equal access, protecting the environment, incorporating new technology, and securing financial resources.
• Parking difficulties are a part of transportation management.
• Incorporating new technology, such as Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), is a way to manage transportation challenges.
• Providing equal access means considering the needs of the poor, elderly, and physically handicapped.
• Collector: It serves as a collector or distributor between the arterial and local road system, with partial access control, penetrating and serving identifiable neighbourhoods, commercial areas, and industrial areas.
• Local street: It is a basic road network within a neighbourhood, serving to provide direct access to abutting land (tanah bersempadan), linking to the collector road, and with short trip lengths, through traffic should be discouraged.