Hill Road

 A hill road is usually defined on the basis of terrain

 Terrain types:
 Hill road-one which passes through terrain
with cross slope of 25% or more.
 There are sections along hill road with cross
slope less than 25%, esp when the road follows
river route.
 It is the overall terrain that must be
considered.
Why hill road
 Nepal area=140,000 sq km approx
 66% covered with thinly populated hills,
mountains
 90% population reside in hilly areas and
depend on agro products
 Waterways, railways, airways- difficult
 For transport, economy, social reasons– justify
the construction of road.
Design & construction problems
 characterized by a highly broken relief with
widely differing elevations and steep slopes—
increase in length
 Complex geology- different rock bed- geology
differs from place to place– assessment for
road foundation
 Environmental impact- removal of vegetation
etc- stable slope may change to unstable slope
 Variation in hydro- geological condition
[ground water condition] vary from place to
place– may lead to damages after construction
 New earth fill for road embankment may
overload the relatively weak underlying soil
layer– may trigger slides
 Requires installation of various types of
special structures- cost may rise upto 50 -
60% of total construction
 Steep slopes– high speed of surface runoff-
provision of erosion protection works
 Construction along small stretches– different
construction technology may be needed
 Special safety precaution during construction
 precipitation [rain and snow] , velocity of wind
etc need considerations
Special consideration in hill road
 Alignment through hilly areas is slightly
different from aligning through a flat terrain.
 For the purpose of efficient and safe
operation of vehicles through a hilly terrain
special care should be taken while aligning the
highway.
 Alignment should be- short, easy, economical &
safe
Stability of the slopes:
for hilly areas, the road should be aligned
through the side of the hill that is stable.
The common problem with hilly areas is that of
landslides.
Excessive cutting and filling for road
constructions give way to steepening of slopes
which in turn will affect the stability.
Hill side drainage:
Adequate drainage facility should be provided
across the road.
Attempts should be made to align the roads in
such a way where the number of cross
drainage structures required are minimum.
This will reduce the construction cost.
Special geometric standards
The geometric standards followed in hilly
areas are different from those in at terrain.
The alignment chosen should enable the ruling
gradient to be attained in minimum of the
length,
minimizing steep gradient, hairpin bends and
needless rise and fall.
 Temperature- lower temp in hill –drop by 0.5
degree per 100m rise- slopes facing south and
north
 Rainfall- heavy rainfall affects construction and
maintenance
 Wind-high wind velocity contribute to damage
–weathering of rocks, blowing away binding
material in valley
 Geological condition
Route location
 Hill road follow twist and turns- curves
 Location of alignment varies for sections along
valley and mountain pass
 Alignment through valley- river route,
mountain- ridge route
 A hill road may be only river route, ridge route
or combination of both
River Route Ridge Route
Most frequent Gentle slope Steep gradient, sharp curves including hair
pin bends

Serves rural settlement situated next to the Expensive rock works, successive
water course mountain pass

Low vehicle operation cost Route climbs up continuously from the

valley till mountain pass and descends
down

Availability of construction material and Construction of special structures, tunnels,

water snow fences etc

Involves numerous horizontal curves, Are most stable

construction of large bridges

Special retaining protection on hill sides

River training works may be extensive- toe
cutting etc
Alignment Survey
 Reconnaissance-
 Tentative
alignment after map study-
topographical, geological and
meteorological
 Trace cut-
route selected in step 1 is translated on the ground
to provide an access for subsequent detailed survey. A
1-1.2 m wide track is constructed with easier
gradient
 Detailed survey
 Fixingof bench marks
 Cross section and longitudinal sections
– 15 m on straight, 30 m at sharp curves
 Design of horizontal curves and hair pin
bends
 Soil investigation, geology, hydrology
study
Geometric Design of hill road

 Width of pavement
 gradient
 Camber/ cross fall
 Sight distance
 Super elevation
 Radius of horizontal curves
 Widening at curves
 Setback distance
 Transition curves
 Vertical curves
 Hair pin bends
Special Structures in hill road
 Structures that are extensively used in hill
roads
 Are used to retain soil mass
 Increase the stability of road embankment
slopes and natural hill slopes
 Accommodate road bed in steep slope
 River training and erosion control
 Prevent bed scour, toe cutting by rivers
 Types
Retaining structures
Drainage
Slope protection works
Retaining walls
 Are constructed for the propose of retaining
or supporting a vertical or nearly vertical earth
bank
 Cost nearly 20% of total cost
 Constructed under situations like
 To support a road either wholly or partly on fill
 To support the toe of a slope that has failed or
likely to fail
 When width can not be extended due to property
line or other reason
 As revetment wall to prevent erosion on steepy
slopes
Classification of retaining walls
 Material-dry masonry, stone filled gabion,
mortar masonry, pcc, Rcc

 Structural- gravity, cantilever

 Location- hill or valley side

Design of retaining walls
 Selection of the type of wall
 Material for construction
 Backfill material
Design Procedure

 Analyze the soil profile

 Establish surcharge load
 Select type and tentative proportion of wall
 Compute earth pressure
 Analyze structural stability
 Analyze foundation stability
 Design structural elements
 Select drainage in backfill
 Predict settlement and movement of wall
Drainage
Refer ch 5
 Management of surface water
 Cross drainage structures
 Causeway
 Culvert
 Sub surface water management
Slope protection structures
 Refer ch on drainage
 Designed specially to fight against slope
erosion and slope failure
 Methods comprise of drainage control and
surface treatment –vegetation, slope covering-
geotextiles
MAJOR ECOLOGICAL PROBLEMS

There are a large number of ecological

problems associated with road construction in
hilly areas, some of these can be summarized
as below:
 Deforestation:
The association between deforestation and
slope instability has been a subject of
considerable research. Deforestation brings
about erosion and soil movement
 Disturbance of geological strata:
 Operations like blasting excavation, chipping of
mountain slopes to come to desired
accessibility, are involved during road
construction in hill areas.
 These operations creates geological
disturbance in the area
 Hill face disturbance: Natural inclination of hill
face is disturbed by road cutting operation.
 Drainage pattern interruption:
 Velocity of run-off at the down hills increase to
a very large extent due to construction of
bridges and culverts on the road as well as due
to cutting for getting proper communication
systems.
 Water resources disturbance:
Natural water resources get disturbed due to
blasting which is used during road construction
activities.
Moreover, improper disposal of fuel, lubricants
used in the process contaminates the surface
and ground water.
Siltation problem:
A large quantity of excavated material
disposed on the down hill slopes is carried by
the river
that gets accumulated in the dams and
reservoirs and reduce their
Destruction to flora and fauna:
Wild life gets disturbed due to blasting,
hauling of machineries, shriveling sound o road
rollers and noise of moving vehicles on the
up-gradient.
Destruction of key habitats such as resting sites.
Pollution:
Tremendous pollution is created due to
accumulation of debris down hill.
Moreover, heating of bitumen through hot mix
plants produces a large number of air
pollutants like oxides of sulphur, nitrogen and
carbon.
Destruction of medicinal wealth:
the hill areas possess various kinds of
medicinal properties.
Hundreds of plants have ethno botanical
importance.