Horizontal alignment When designing the road the first thing we have to consider is the horizontal alignment of the

road. This horizontal alignment gives the path of the particular road. This refers how straight the road section is. Our target is to design the center 1.5 km part of the Galawila road which is running from Kottawa to Homagama. Actually I saw some basic features of that road in the field visit. The main problem I saw there is the narrowness of the road. But when designing the base map Im trying to minimize the impacts on the existing conditions. There are lots of restrictions that I have to look at when designing. Most of the private houses are situated near to the road. Some of them dont have proper accesses. The existing road way is going through wet lands like paddy fields, through some crowded areas. Proper accesses to the people, proper road way drainage patterns should be provided. So when designing the road I have to take in to account all the above conditions. I talked about some external factors that Im looking for to design in the road path in previous paragraph. Most important thing of the horizontal alignment is to make sure the safety condition of the road users. In that context I have to look at some technical details. To design those features properly the topography of the road is very important. Horizontal stopping side distance designs, curvature designs, super elevation designs, safety issues are some of basic parameters. The other major fact is the cost. The path of the road affects the cost of the project very much. We have to design the road by comparing the cost of the project. So at last my aim is to design the horizontal alignment by ensuring all the above mentioned issues.