AFD/GOK ROADS 2000 CENTRAL PHASE II

PROJECT
Kiambu, Muranga, Nyandarua, Kirinyaga, Nyeri,
Laikipia Counties

MANAGEMENT SUPPORT CONSULTANTS (MSC)

County and Supervision Consultant Staff Training

Programme
GRAVEL ROAD CONSTRUCTION
PROCEDURES
 SETTING OUT
Tools for setting out the culvert and horizontal alignment

• Ranging Rods = Used for setting out positions of straight lines.

• Steel or plastic tapes = For measuring lengths
• Plumb bobs = for transfer of positions from profiles to the
ground or vice versa.
• Hammers (claw, mason) = Driving pegs into positions.
• Pegs = for fixing principal points on the ground.
• Strings/wire = for defining straight lines
• Nails = for fixing actual principal points on pegs and
also for making profiles etc. edge lines and
Culvert headwalls lines form right angles.
• From the intersections as in (v) above, the wingwalls are set out.
• Culvert headwall-edge-lines and structure-end lines are transferred onto profiles
by use of nails/wire and plump bobs.
• Boning rods
• Line and level
• Roll of steel wire
• Plumb bob
• Tape Measure
• Ranging Rods
• Pegs
• Nails
• Claw Hammer 
• Sledge Hammer
• Mason Hammer
• Profiles
 •FIG: Setting out Equipment/Materials

Roll of steel wire

Tape Measure

Plumb bob

Sledge Hammer

Ranging Rods

Claw Hammer

Nails

Mason
Hammer
Pegs
Profiles

FIG: Setting out Equipment/Materials

 SETTING OUT HORIZONTAL ALIGNMENT

 
Definition
 
• Setting out is the transfer of geometric measurements of the structure from the
drawings onto the ground.
• This is done by marking pegs on the ground at the site to indicate, initially
horizontal dimensions and, gradually, vertical levels of each of the components
of the structure.

General:

• Before the setting out is done, a site visit shall have been done by the engineer
to evaluate the site conditions and all other necessary information leading to a
specific choice of a particular type of structure to be constructed or maintained.

• In this evaluation a sketch map of the site with all its measurements should be
noted.
• The road cross sections and standards, which are necessary for the
establishment of vertical and horizontal alignments of the road components,
should be sketched.
• These sketches help the Engineer to carry out approximate estimates of
materials, stores, work and cost of the road.
• They are the details from these drawings which are set out on the ground during
setting out process.
 
 
• Setting out of dimensions of any construction is important because:
 
- It enables easy translation of drawing details into simple instructions,
which can easily be remembered by artisans.
- It enables sufficient information to be provided in the form of ‘pegs’,
nails, paint marks or crayon inks etc to permit as much accurate
construction as per design drawings.

The following should be considered during setting out:

• The given working drawings in the contract document

• The road cross sections
• The culvert
• The road standards
• The carriageway width
• The slope
• The width of the ditch
Setting out a straight line

After the horizontal alignment has been determined, the centreline is marked
at 20 m intervals by guiding a person with a ranging rod so that the rod is in line
with the two ranging rods at the intersection points.
Mark the start and the end of curves.
Do not set out straight lines in curves.

Cross-section
A cross section of a road set out in the field with ranging rods and pegs shows:
•The location of the centre line of the road.
•The location of the shoulders, side slopes, side drains and back slopes.
•The location of drifts, splashes and mitre drains
•The level of the camber, shoulders, side drains, drifts, splashes and mitre
drains.
•The amount of dig and fill
 CURVE SETTING OUT METHODS
METHOD APPLICATION

SUITABLE ONLY FOR USE FOR CURVES WITH A RADIUS OF LESS THAN 30
STRING METHOD METRES.
THE AREA MUST BE FLAT AND FREE OF OBSTRUCTION.
MOST SUITABLE FOR JUNCTION CURVES AND HAIRPIN BENDS.

SUITABLE FOR SHORT CURVES WHERE A STRINGLINE CAN BE STRETCHED

QUARTER METHOD UNOBSTRUCTED BETWEEN THE ENDS OF THE TWO STRAIGHTS.

SUITABLE FOR ANY CURVE WHERE THE ALIGNMENT TURNS THROUGH

LESS THAN 90
TANGENT METHOD THE INTERSECTION POINT FOR THE TWO STRAIGHTS AND THE AREA
BETWEEN IT AND THE ROAD MUST BE FLAT AND FREE OF
OBSTRUCTIONS.

SUITABLE FOR ANY CURVE.

OFFSET METHOD HOWEVER IT REQUIRES A TRIAL AND ERROR APPROACH FOR THE
APPLICATION TO AN EXISTING ALIGNMENT.
 PREPARATION ACTIVITIES
Preparatory Activities
• Preparation consists of the following activities:
• Bush Clearing
• Stripping and Grubbing
• Tree and Stump Removal
• Boulder Removal
BUSH CLEARING
• This activity is normally carried out over the width of improvement plus one-two
metres on either side i.e. 13 metres for the Standard Cross Section (See Figure
below).
• Bush clearing consists of cutting and removing all bushes and shrubs within this
area and disposing of the cuttings outside of the cleared area.
• A panga (bushknife) and stick are required to cut, control and discard the
vegetation.
• The material should be burned in controlled heaps to reduce the danger of fire
spreading to adjoining land.
 
 BUSH CLEARING

CROSS SECTION TYPE WIDTH TO BE CLEARED(M) WIDTH FROM CENTRELINE (M)

A (STANDARD) 13 6.5

B (BLACK COTTON) 14 7.0

C (REDUCED) 10 5.0

D (EMBANKMENT) 10 + (2 X EMBANKMENT HEIGHT) VARIES

E (SUPERELEVATION) 13 6.5

F (RAR) 10 5.0
STRIPPING AND GRUBBING

•This activity includes the removal of all grass, upper grass roots and other
vegetation remaining after bush clearing (except trees) over the width that
earthworks will take place (Figure below).

•All topsoil should also be removed from the grubbed width as this would weaken
the road if included in its construction.

• The vegetation and topsoil should be discarded outside of the grubbed width.
Jembe (Hoe), Rake and Shovel are required for this activity.
 TREE AND STUMP REMOVAL
• This activity includes the felling of trees within the area previously bush cleared
(See Figure below).

• The stumps must also be up-rooted and all material disposed of outside of the
cleared width.

• Burning may be necessary with the precautions described under "Bush Clearing".

• Great care must be taken in felling trees to avoid injuries; sufficient ropes should
be fixed to the tree to achieve a controlled felling.

• Most trees can be felled complete with roots using ropes if the soil is excavated
from around the main roots and these are then severed with axe or saw.

• Jembes (Hoes), shovels, mattocks, axes, crowbars, bow saw/two persons

crosscut saw and ropes are required for this activity.
 
• Draft animals (oxen or donkeys) can sometimes be used to help remove stubborn
stumps (Figure below).
 REMOVAL OF STUMPS USING ANIMALS

•Tree shading of the road surface retards sun and wind drying after rain.

•Such trees within the road margin should be removed.

• Trees on private land should not be removed.

•If trees have to be felled efforts should be made to replace them with saplings planted
in a location causing no obstruction to the road or to landowners.

•The saplings may be obtained from the Kenya Forest Services nursery.
 Boulder Removals

• Boulders and rock are encountered in limited sections of some roads (Figure
below).
• Careful consideration should be given to minimising the work involved in crossing
these areas.
• There are a number of methods for dealing with these problems (Also see Figure
13):
• Modify alignment
• Remove boulders from road
• Bury boulders
• Split boulders using fire and water
• Split boulders using hand tools
• Split boulders using explosives
• Modify Alignment
• The horizontal alignment can sometimes be modified to avoid short sections with
rock and boulder problems. The vertical alignment may also be raised using fill
material. Often stones are available in the areas of boulders and rock. These can
be used to construct a hand packed stone pavement over the boulders or rock
thus overcoming the problem and avoiding the need to gravel that section of road.
Remove Boulders from Road
This is applicable for boulders of volume less than about 0.5 cubic metre. The
boulder is moved using crowbars as levers once a path has been excavated to
allow this. Lengths of track rail can be useful for rolling the boulders along.

Bury Boulders
If the boulder is larger than 0.5 cubic metre or lying deep in soil, it is often most
effective to dig a hole next to the stone and bury it. Care must be taken when
excavating alongside the boulder that labourers are working in safety. If the
boulder is lying on the centreline, it may be left if the camber formation works will
cover it.
Boulder Removals
• Split Boulders Using Fire and Water
• An individual boulder or a rock surface may be cracked by building a substantial fire
around/over it. The vegetation arising from previous activities may be used for this
purpose. The fire will usually need to be fuelled for a long period (more than 6
hours) to heat up and expand the rock sufficiently. The boulder/surface should then
be dowsed with cold water to encourage rapid shrinkage, and struck with
sledgehammers. Cracks should develop along weak planes allowing the rock to be
broken into pieces.
 
• Split Boulders using Hand Tools
• If the boulders or rock are weathered or cracked it is often possible to break it into
smaller pieces using pickaxes, sledgehammers and chisels/wedges, or plugs and
feathers. Holes can even be drilled in rock using hand quarry drills and
sledgehammers. These are then used for the splitting tools,
• Split Boulders using Explosives
• If there is a large number of boulders or a solid rock face to be removed then the
use of explosives may be justified. Care must be taken in drilling the holes (using
hand tools or compressed air driven tools) in the correct location and orientation. A
licensed blaster must carry out handling of explosives and blasting. This can be
arranged through the Engineer or a contractor.
• SAFETY
• It is essential that safety of labourers is given high priority in any work with trees,
rock or boulders.
KEY NOTES

PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO SAFETY ASPECTS WHEN FELLING TREES OR

DEALING WITH ROCK/BOULDERS

CONSIDER OPTIONS FOR MINIMISING THE WORK REQUIRED ON SECTIONS

AFFECTED BY ROCK/BOULDERS

BOULDER REMOVAL
DEALING WITH BOULDERS AND ROCK
 Earthworks
 Two methods
1. Excavation to level
2. Reshaping

Excavation to level
This type of formation method only applies to new alignments
Procedure
 Vertical alignment ( ETL slots)
 Excavation to level and compaction
 Ditch excavation (middle third compaction)
Inslope and backslope excavation
Spreading and camber formation
Final compaction

Reshaping
This type of formation is for existing alignments with camber
Procedure
Vertical alignment(reshaping slots)
Side drain excavations
Spreading and compaction
DRAINAGE AND STRUCTURES
• Setting out of culverts
Consider a a minor road with 5.4m carriageway cross section
Procedure for setting out a culvert
Step 1
Establish 2 pegs (A & B) at both road edges and make sure the pegs are
the same level(use line & level or abney level)
Step 2
Measure the distance between step A and peg B (usually 5,4m for minor
roads)
Step 3
Calculate the depth to be excavated at the inlet to ensure adequate
cover(ext dia +overfill)
Step 4
•Calculate the difference in level between peg A & B with the chosen
culvert gradient ( assume 4% of the carriageway).
Step 5
•Calculate the depth to be excavated at the outlet (B) ( step 3+ step 4) =
step 5
Step 6
Raise level peg A by the same measurement that you have calculated
under step 4 by establishing a second peg (difference in level)
Step 7
Find the end of the outlet drain by using bonning rods and a stick or rod
of length 1.39 as in step 5 .Walk S and rod away from B until the tops of
A ,B and S are in line.
GRAVELLING WORKS
Site organization

•Traffic control
•Positioning of materials on site
•Labour arrangements

Tools and Equipments

Shovels, Mason hammers, wheelbarrows, steel squeegees, screeding
bars, Polythene sheeting for covering processed gravel, spacer bars,
straight edge, shutters and steel shutter pins.
3 tonne Roller
Production set up and sequence for
gravelling with shutters
Lane open for traffic
. Team 3: 3 days x 100 m Team 2: 3 days x 100 m Team 1: 3 days x 100 m

Direction 300m 300 m 300 m

of work
Team 3: 3 days x 100 m Team 2: 3 days x 100 m Team 1: 3 days x 100 m
Lane open for traffic

Daily production target with three teams: On a 5.4m cross-section, the three team are spaced out 300 m apart, all
working in the same lane and in the same direction. Over a six day week
Width 2.7m -> 300m a total of 900 m full width can be produced.

Lane open for traffic

Gravel material Daily production target per team:

stockpile 54 m3 Water 2.7 m width -> 100m End of
( incl. 10% oversize) drums or previous days’
cart production
 Construction procedures for
gravelling with shutters

•Trial section to be approved before work continue.

•Re-establish the road centre line.
•Placing the shutters with required depth.
•Water, process and spread gravel uniformly between the shutters and
screed.
•Cover the finished section with a polythene
Sheeting to avoid moisture loss
 Cont.
• Compact with 3 ton roller.
• Make one pass non vibratory.
• Regulate using straight edge.
• After regulating make the remaining determined passes vibratory.
• Field density test to be carried out for approval