The Highway and

its Development
CE 411
LECTURE NO. 1

BRIEF HISTORY OF
ROADS
BRIEF HISTORY OF
ROADS
Mesopotamians, Hayans, Aztecs and Incas

Romans

Jerome Tresaguet

Thomas Telford

John Louden McAdam

Eli Blake

Aveling and Porter

Mesopotamians, Hayans,
Aztecs and Incas

For the movement

of armies and for
defense against
invasion

For transport of
food and goods
 Romans
discovered cement

expanded their vast through

extensive road networks

3 courses

a. layer of small broken

stones

b. layer of small stones

mixed with mortar and
compacted firmly

c. wearing course of massive

stone blocks properly set and
bedded with cement mortar

Jerome Tresaguet
(1716 - 1796)
Scottish engineer who
introduced new methods
of construction and
maintenance of stone
roads

he improved the crown,

drainage and the grade
of the road and reduced
depth of broken stones by
25 cm.

“Father of Modern Road

Building”
 Thomas Telford
(1757 - 1834)
President and founder
of the Institute of Civil
Engineers who made
improvements from the
methods of Tresaguet

His road foundation is

made of stones having
3” minimum thickness, 5”
breadth and 7” height

he employed a flat sub

grade

John Loudon Mc
Adam (1755-1834)
Scottish engineer who
developed the Macadam
Road Concept

he discovered that
massive foundations of
rock upon rock were
unnecessary

he asserted that the

native soil alone would
support road traffic and
traffic upon it
 Eli Blake
he invented the
first stone crusher
in Europe in 1858
Aveling and Porter

a company who
introduced the
steam road roller
weighing 30 tons in
France

EARLY LAWS THAT

REGULATE ROADWAYS
 Early Saxon Laws

Mandatory Duties of people to:

- repair roads and bridges

- to repair castles and garrisons

- to aid repel invasions

After the Norman

Conquest of England
“The King’s highway is sacred”. Roads are for
public use.

Property owners adjoining the roads were

required to drain the road, clip any bordering
hedges and refrain from planting trees or
shrubs closer than the specified distance from
the centre of the road

It is the people’s duty to protect and maintain

the roadway
HIGHWAYS IN THE
PHILIPPINES

Philippine Highways
1900’s

Transportation mainly depends on trails, waterways,

railroad, earth roads and partially gravelled roads

American Era

initiated the development of roadways

Macadam road type was introduced

World War II

rehabilitation thru payments made by the Japanese

government and other grands received from US
Philippine Highways
Five years after World War

major highways and expressways

were built thru financial
assistance and loans

1960’s to early part of 1980

“The Nation is on Wheels”

PLANNING
DIFFICULTIES
 PLANNING
DIFFICULTIES

Financial

Political

Technical

HIGHWAY
PROGRAMMING
Three Inseparable Inputs
in Highway Programming
Economic

deals with the question of resources

Financial

the question of who pays and who spends

how much and where?

Political and Administration

it involves decision making

HDM4

Highway Development and Maintenance

A decision making tool for checking the engineering

and ecumenic viability of the investment in road
projects

Highway Programming Approaches

Financial resources are either short or long

Recognition if the legislative and administrative

desire and constraint

Tentative priorities based on economic analysis,

critical situations, present and future expected level
of traffic, claims based on political subdivisions
 Providing continuity of route system
and coordination with other
transportation mode

Selection of projects based on

availability of labor and materials
including climactic conditions

Scheduling of project implementation

in coordination with other agencies

Budgetary reserve to cover emergencies

like floods and other natural disasters

DIRECT EFFECTS OF
HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION
A. Quantifiable Market Value

- cost of highway as to planning cost, right of way

appropriations, construction cost, maintenance cost,
operating costs

- Cost Benefits to Highway Users

- vehicles operating costs net income or decrease in

costs of vehicle operation per year

- travel savings (net increase or decrease in travel time

multiplied by peso value of commercial time

- Motorist’s safety (net change in expected number of

accidents times the average cost of accident per year)
B. Non - Quantifiable Non-Market Value

- Cost benefit to highway users

- motorist’s safety

- comfort and conversion

- aesthetic from driving viewpoint

C. Quantifiable Non-Market Value

- Cost benefit to highway users

- travelling savings time (minutes saved per

trip)

THE HIGHWAY
PLANNER
 The Planner
To prepare preliminary design, scoop of
study and the initial work program

Exploration of alternatives

Detailed analysis

Securing formal ratification from local

officials and have results documented

COMMUNITY
INVOLVEMENT
“The public has the
right to hear and be
heard”
 Community
Involvement

Public Hearing

information forum for the public

to know what the administration
wants for them, rather than, what
the people wants from them

1. Solicit the cooperation and support of public

officials, non-government organisations,
influential persons and conservative group
communities

2. Create special staff to carry out this function

3. Community leadership opportunity to

participate continuously in the planning stage

4. Organize and develop skilled persons to

conduct group meeting, workshops, hearing
and other related activities
HIGHWAY ECONOMY
“A minimum of expenses is of course, highly desirable,
but the road which is truly the cheapest is not the one
which has cost the least money, but the one which
makes the most profitable returns in proportion to the
amount expended upon it” - W. Gillespie

“Pay as you Go” principle

- road appropriations and expenditures depend

on tax collection

Arguments of those who favour borrowing

- need is immediate to have instant

infrastructure

- No impact project will be seen because the

PAYG fund is scattered throughout the entire
road system where the situation is most
critical

- Borrowings encourage investors

Counter-Arguments of those against borrowing

- borrowing may impair the credit rating of

government agencies obstructing other more
important improvements

- If future income is committed to pay past

improvements, no more funds available to
maintain the existing system

- With much amount available, temptation is there

to overbuild and recklessly spend extravagantly

- Interest of the loan is a big waste of public

funds

TYPES OF
HIGHWAYS
 TYPES OF
HIGHWAYS

2-Lane Highways

Multi-Lane Undivided Highways

Multi-Lane Divided Highways

Classification of
Highways
NATIONAL ROADS

declared by the President as recommended by the DPWH Secretary

Min RROW : 20.0 m

Min Width : 6.7 m

Max Allowable Grade : 6%

PROVINCIAL ROADS

Roads connecting one municipality to another, with the terminal to be

the public plaza; plus roads extending from one municipality or from
a provincial or national roads to a public wharf or railway station

Min RROW : 15.0 m

Min Width : 6.1 m

Max Allowable Grade : 6%

CITY ROADS

Roads or streets within the urban area of a city not

classified as provincial or national road

Min RROW : 15.0 m

Min Width : 6.1 m

Max Allowable Grade : 6%

MUNICIPAL ROADS

Roads or streets within the poblacion area of a

municipality not classified as provincial or national road

Min RROW : 15.0 m

Min Width : 6.1 m

Max Allowable Grade : 6%

BARANGAY ROADS

Roads located outside the poblacion

area of a municipality or urban area of
a city and those outside industrial,
commercial or residential subdivision
and those which act as a feeder to
farm-to-market roads

Min RROW : 10.0 m

Min Width : 4.0 m

Max Allowable Grade : 10%

TOURISM ROADS

Roads which marketed as particularly suited for tourists

Min RROW : 2.1 m

Min Width : 6.0 m

Max Allowable Grade : 6%

FARM-TO-MARKET ROADS

Roads linking the agriculture and fisheries production

sites, coastal landing points and post-harvest facilities to
the market and aerial roads

Min RROW : 6.0 m

Min Width : 4.0 m

Max Allowable Grade : 10%

Road Classification
According to Primary
Function
Expressways

divided arterial highways for through

traffic, with full or partial control of
access

Parkways

for non commercial traffic, usually

located within parks