 COURSE OUTLINE:

1. Introduction and Background

2. Roads & Bridges: Basic Construction &
Equipment
3. Human Factors and Geometric Design
4. Traffic Flow Theory and Capacity
5. Transportation Safety, Planning & Demand
6. Transportation Systems Management
and Operations
7. Transportation Systems and Impacts
2. Basics in Roads & Bridges

A. Roads: Basic Construction and Equipment

B. Bridges: Components, Classification & Materials

A. Roads: Basic Construction and Equipment

I. Preparatory Works
-Preconstruction Conference/Preliminary Preparations
-As-Stake Survey
-Temporary Facilities
-Access and Detour Roads(Traffic Management)

II. Road Construction

a. Clearing and Grubbing
b. Removal of Existing Structures
c. Roadway Excavation
d. Embankment
e. Stabilizing Layers(Subbase & Base Course)
f. Portland Cement Concrete Pavement(PCCP)
g. Asphalt Pavement

III. Drainage Structures

IV. Slope Protection/Retaining Structures
V. Miscellaneous Works
1. Preparatory Works

-Pre construction Conference

-As Stake Survey

-Temporary Facilities

-Access and Detour Roads(Traffic Management)

Prior to Construction:
Notice to Proceed

-Issued within 7 calendar days form the date of approval of

the Contract
Pre-Construction Conference

- A discussion of the project, specifications, unusual

conditions, Contractor’s plan and schedule of operation
material source etc.
As - Stake Survey

-Determines the actual position of the road structure based

on the plans

-Helps in determining what necessary deviation should be

undertaken
Plans That Govern an Infrastructure Project:

-Original Plans

-As-Stake Plans

-As-Built Plans
Temporary Facilities and Equipment

A. Facilities for the Engineer(Implementing Office side):

-Office, Quarters and Laboratory for the Engineer

-Vehicle for the Engineer

-Progress photographs
B. Temporary Facilities and Equipment(Contractor’s Side):

-Office

-Equipment yard

-Fabrication Area

-Workmen’s quarters

-Storage/warehouse
Contractor’s Equipment Yard
Access and Detour Roads

- In planning the construction work, care must be taken to

see that alternative routes or temporary deviations are
provided for traffic using the route.
Maintenance of Traffic

 The Contract normally, will include a Traffic Control Plan(TCP) developed

by the Contractor

 The Contractor shall assign to the project an employee experienced in all

aspects of traffic control that will serve as Traffic Manager (TM)
II. ROAD CONSTRUCTION

A. Clearing and Grubbing

-Consists of clearing, grubbing, removing and disposing of all

vegetable matter not designated to remain along the road right of
way
 -A crawler dozer(fig. below) doing clearing operations in a road
construction project
Dozer are classified on the basis of running gear:

1. Crawler type – with track shoes

2. Wheel type – has rubber wheels

Crawler type Wheel type

Comparison:

Wheel dozer Crawler dozer

1. Good on firm soils 1. Can work on variety of soils

2. Best for level and downhill work 2. Can work over almost any terrain
3. Good for long travel distances 3. For long travel, it is recommended to
4. Best in handling loose soils transported
5. Can only handle moderate blade 4. Can work on soft and muddy ground
loads 5. Can push large blade loads
1. Dozer(Crawler Type):
with Special Clearing Blades

- with a stinger that acts as a knife to cut and split trees, stumps,
and roots.
Dozer(Crawler Type) with Clearing rakes

- with rakes that are used to grub and to pile trees after the clearing blades
have worked an area.
Dozer(Crawler Type) with Ripper

-penetrates ground to loosen and split hard ground or rocks, pavements or

base materials
Removal of Existing Structures/Obstructions

Typical Obstructions are :

Existing pavements

Existing drainage structures

Underground waterline

Electrical post and lines

Cable and telephone lines

Residential houses and buildings

Fences
Broken pieces of concrete may be used for slope protection structures or riprap.

Removal of Existing Pavement Using Pneumatic Drill mounted on a hydraulic excavator

boom
B. Roadway Excavation
Roadway Excavation

- It is the process of loosening and removing earth from its original

position and transporting same for fill or to a waste deposit.

Types of Roadway Excavation:

a. Common excavation
b. Unsuitable excavation
c. Rock excavation
d. Unclassified excavation
e. Structure excavation
Common Excavation

This consist of excavations of suitable materials along the roadway as

indicated in the plans and cross sections.

The excavated materials are used in the formation of embankments,

subgrades, slopes, backfilling for culverts.
a. Unsuitable Excavation

Is the removal and disposal of saturated or unsaturated mixtures of soils and

organic matter not suitable for foundation material. Shown below is a crawler type
hoe excavator doing the excavation.
Unsuitable Material
Unsuitable Material

a) Materials containing detrimental quantities of organic materials, such as

grass, roots and sewerage.
b) Organic soils such as peat and muck.

c) Soils with liquid limit exceeding 80 and / or plasticity index exceeding 55.
d) Soils with a natural water content exceeding 100%.
e) Soils with very low natural density, 800 kg/m3 or lower.
f) Soils that cannot be properly compacted as determined by the Engineer.
c. Rock Excavation

Consists of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks which

cannot be excavated without blasting or the use of rippers.
d. Unclassified Excavation

Excavation and disposal of materials regardless of its nature which

were not classified and included in the bill of quantities under other pay
items.
e. Structure Excavation

This Item shall consist of the necessary excavation for foundation of

bridges, culverts, underdrains, and other structures not otherwise provided
for in the Specifications.
Common Problems Encountered
Remedial Measure

Assign any available heavy equipment with operator and helper

particularly on touched portion to assist or tow the vehicles once it is
stranded in the slippery/muddy sections during bad road/weather
situation.
Equipment :

Excavators

-commonly hydraulic powered

3 Types of excavators:

Front shovel – used predominantly for hard digging above track level and for
loading dump truck

Hoes – used primarily to excavate below the natural surface of the ground on
which the machine rests. A hoe is also called a backhoe or back shovel.

Loaders- is used extensively in construction work to handle and transport bulk

material, such as earth and rock, to load trucks, to excavate earth.
Excavator-Front Shovel :
Excavator-Hoe :
Excavator-Loader :

-not suited for digging hard materials

-has limited lifting height , and to position the bucket to dump, a loader must
maneuver and travel with the load, thus increasing cycle time.
C. Embankment

Are suitable materials which can be common or rock which are

brought and compacted together to a specified degree.

The most desirable fill is a mixture of two or more simple type

and varying proportion of clay, silt, sand, gravel and stones.
Typical roadway cross section
Unsuitable Material
Quarrying and Hauling

Embankment may be obtained by quarrying with excavators from borrow

pits opened just to obtain the fill and loading/hauling same using a loader and
dump trucks.

A hoe can also load a dump truck as shown in the figure below.
Spreading of Embankment

A stable embankment is attained by spreading the materials into a thin layers

then compacted at moisture content close to optimum.
Maximum thickness of uncompacted layer is 20 cm.
Common Problems Encountered

-No side ditch was provided

Remedial Measure
Colored Tops

-usually called blue tops, which are painted sticks placed along the side of
the road traverse as guide and reference in the elevation of the different layering
requirements of the road project
Compaction

Compaction trial of not less than 500 sq.m. is done to determine the actual capability of the
compaction equipment and the compatibility of the material to be used.

The number of passes for the compaction equipment to attain the specified degree of compaction is
recorded for use as reference in the subsequent layering works using the same material and
compaction.
Field Density Test (FDT)

-conducted on site in order to determine if the required compaction specification has been
attained to a specific layer.

Specification Requirement, Min. % Degree of Compaction:

Embankment & Subgrade Material – 95 %

If the soil is compacted at the optimum water content, practically all
settlement occurs during construction because of the lubricating
moisture and adequate compaction effort.
Equipment:

Grader
-are multipurpose machines used for spreading, mixing, finishing, shaping and
ditching in road construction.
Moldboard rotation Grader moldboard pitch
Road Roller

Smooth Drum Vibratory

Roller

Padded Drum Vibratory

Roller
Pneumatic Tired Roller
 The effectiveness of different compaction methods is dependent on the type of
soil being manipulated.
Appropriate compaction methods based on soil type are:
Reference for today’s discussion:

1. Methods and Techniques for Roads Construction

(CE Institute Learning Center)

2. Construction Planning, Equipment, and Methods, 6th Ed.

(Peurifoy/Schexnayder)

3. Project Study-Road Construction

(Sanares)

4. QA/QC Seminar Notes (Eng’r. P.N. Palacio-DPWH Davao City)