Master of Engineering in Highway & Traffic Engineering
http://dl.lib.uom.lk/handle/123/37
2024-03-28T14:22:31ZImplementing cycle lane facilities in eastern province in a sustainable manner
http://dl.lib.uom.lk/handle/123/17908
Implementing cycle lane facilities in eastern province in a sustainable manner
Theebendram, V
Commuting by bicycle is a sustainable transport strategy and has advantages over other modes of transport, both for the commuter and for society. The social cohesion that can bring through recreational opportunities also promotes wellbeing. A diverse range of people choose to cycle, including school-aged children, regular commuters, weekend recreational cyclists and sporting cyclists. Cycling does not emit greenhouse gas, cause air or water pollution or rely on fossil fuels. Road Development Authority (RDA) has taken a policy decision to incorporate a separate lane as cycle lane to encourage the non-motorized transport of this country. But it is observed that these bicycle lanes are not used for its intended purpose. Especially in Colombo area, there are very few bicyclists on the roads and bicycle lanes are always empty. So, it is seen that the bicycle lanes are used to overtake vehicles in wrong side, for illegal roadside parking etc. While the situation is such. Road Development Authority is planning to extend its new policy to the areas where there are higher numbers of cycle users. Trincomalee is one of the districts in Eastern province having higher numbers of cycle users and the terrain condition also well suited for cycling. More than 50% of the road users are identified as cycle users and almost 60% of car, three wheel & motorcycle trips are less than 4 kms, a distance that is easily cycled in less than 20 minutes. These data were collected during field observation. Although cycling is an option for many commuters, a considerable number of them choose to use other forms of transport. Especially school children & office staffs, they use three wheel or motorbike as transport mode. In order to underpin policies that promote commuting by bicycle, this research investigates the determinants for commuting to work, school or their other purposes and studies about the public opinion in existing road conditions to use bicycles and their concern in cycling facilities to be provided in the future road developments. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 200 road users in different part of Trincomalee district. Accordingly, it was understood that existing road conditions such as non-availability of continue route network dedicated for Cyclists, mixed traffic without proper safety measures and parking facilities discouraged the commuters to use bicycle as their transport mode and commuters in Trincomalee district are really willing to use as a sustainable transport mode for the short trips up to 4kms, if the cycle lane facilities are provided with safety and comfort.
2016-03-01T00:00:00ZEvidence based fund allocation system for provincial road networks in Sri Lanka
http://dl.lib.uom.lk/handle/123/21423
Evidence based fund allocation system for provincial road networks in Sri Lanka
Panagoda A
Sri Lanka has faced an unprecedented economic crisis during the year 2022 and the entire
infrastructure development sector is now experiencing severe adverse effects. Under
prevailing conditions, a cost-effective fund allocation system for all infrastructure
development activities has become a mandatory requirement. Road infrastructure plays a
pivotal role in sustainable development by providing required facilities for all other
sectors. It can be shown that more benefits could be derived from the provincial and rural
road improvement projects and road maintenance works if the funds are allocated in a
scientific and logical manner.
Provincial road development planning needs more research and the main objective of
this research paper is to fill at least part of the widening gap between economic aspects
and the technical matters related to the development of the provincial roads. Unlike trunk
roads and other high-mobility roads, provincial and local roads mainly serve a predefined
population group living in the command area. However, those people living in the
command area do not enjoy the benefits of a proper transport system mainly due to the
substandard condition that prevailed on the roads. This can be directly attributed to the
ineffective fund distribution among the provincial roads. The proposed fund allocation
system is based on benefits-assets criteria.
Finally, it can be shown that net annual financial benefits derived from a single person
living in the command area per km, is more than 500 LKR. In addition to trips generated
by the people living in the command area, tourist destinations and industrial and
agricultural areas are also served by the provincial roads. Part of provincial roads is used
as shortcuts by minimizing the traffic congestion on the main roads.
Implementing Evidence-based fund allocation for provincial roads makes a strong
foundation for sustainable economic development. This research deals with the
development of a cost-effective fund allocation system for the provincial road system in
Sri Lanka.
2022-01-01T00:00:00ZInvestigation of relationship between the CBR swell and other soil parameters used in road construction in identification of expansive soil
http://dl.lib.uom.lk/handle/123/21412
Investigation of relationship between the CBR swell and other soil parameters used in road construction in identification of expansive soil
Kannangara KDIU
With the rapid growth in the construction industry in Sri Lanka, presently there is a shortage of
natural resources, especially soils. Therefore, finding good quality soil that conforms to the
construction specification is challenging.
Expansive soils are one of the major problematic materials in the road construction industry.
Clay minerals within expansive soils are subjected to significant volume changes when their
environmental conditions are altered from dry to wet. Therefore, prolonged periods of drying
and wetting cycles in the expansive soil can result in surface movements and distress in the road
pavement which may lead to safety issues for road users and high maintenance costs to the road
authorities.
There are various measures used to predict the swell behaviour of soils in the road construction
industry. Some of the measures which regularly used are CBR swell, shrink-swell Index, soil
suction, plasticity index, weighted plasticity index, swelling pressure, linear shrinkage, clay
content and cation exchange capacity. Even though some of the measures used are complex,
CBR swell test is one of the simplest ways of predicting the swell behaviour of soil.
As Sri Lanka is a tropical country, four days of soaked CBR is carried out as a part of the
requirement of pavement design guidelines. CBR swell test is also conducted as a part of the
CBR test. Therefore CBR swell data are readily available. But there is no published information
on relationships between CBR swell with soil parameters for Sri Lankan conditions. Therefore,
it is expected that the relevance of current specifications on quantitative estimation of soil swell
using CBR swell parameter to be in this research. With that concern, the objectives of the study
are to understand the nature of expansive soils and their properties, to identify the parameters of
expansive soil behaviour used by engineers in road construction and then identify and quantify
relationships that may exist in CBR swell with relevant soil parameters.
Particle size distribution, LL, PI, PL, Soil classification, Modified compaction, CBR and CBR
swell data were collected on 61 numbers soil samples and a database was prepared. Then linear
regression analysis and multiple regression analysis were carried out considering PI, LL, MDD,
CBR and percentage passing in the 75μm test sieve as variables in order to obtain correlations to
CBR swell.
Depending on the analysis, the variation of CBR swell is higher for soil types CH, CL, MH and
SM and also, these soil types have shown higher CBR swell values over the other soil types. The
lower CBR swell range for each soil type is less than 0.5 which is independent of whether the
soil is fine-grained soil or coarse-grained soil. As per the analysis, the results from linear
regression analysis, logarithmic regression analysis and multiple regression analysis, a
relationship between CBR Swell and other soil parameters cannot be established. The soils
which could be identified as expansive soil based on the WPI value, were not given evidence to
be identified as expansive soils based on their CBR swell.
The reliability of the relationships between CBR swell with soil parameters is greatly influenced
by the accuracy of the CBR swell test, especially the use of correct filter paper between soil and
perforated base plate of CBR mould. Hence, use of inappropriate filter paper may lead to the migration of fine particles into the soaking tank which will result in low CBR swell
measurements.
Therefore, it is suggested to consider CBR swell along with other swell parameters and/ or verify
the results with a direct swell parameter for future studies related to expansive soil and obtaining
correlations for soil swell.
2022-01-01T00:00:00ZInternational roughness index prediction model for flexible pavements in Sri Lanka
http://dl.lib.uom.lk/handle/123/17568
International roughness index prediction model for flexible pavements in Sri Lanka
Karunarathna E. P. N.
Due to the significance as an indicator of the pavement condition, International Roughness Index (IRI) is using globally as a pavement performance parameter. It also provides an idea about the riding comfort of a particular road segment and the level of riding quality. Therefore, it is using as a quality assurance criteria of roads just after construction or rehabilitation.
But in Sri Lanka, there is no proper pavement performance models has been developed yet to suite our own conditions. Hence any simple planning level analysis cannot be perform due to lack of a proper performance model(s). In Road Development Authority, HDM 4 software is using for performance modelling and predictions. But, HDM 4 has developed basically taking into account of road conditions in countries all over the world. The aim of this paper is to develop an accurate IRI prediction model for Road pavements in Sri Lanka using linear regression analysis and compare it with the default HDM 4 Model.
The key parameters that the IRI value directly related on a particular pavement was decided based on the literature and the availability of data. The proposed regression model from this paper predict IRI as a function of Pavement Age from construction or last Rehabilitation (years), Average Daily Traffic (ADT), Percentage of Area of All cracks identified on pavement surface (%), Percentage of Raveling Area (%) and Number of potholes. After completing three trials by changing different variables the final IRI prediction model developed is,
IRI = 1.594 + 0.207 Age + 0.1202 e – ln (ADT / 10^4) + 0.1343 Ravel % + 0.0295 No. of potholes
A set of available data was used to calibrate the regression model and using other set of data, relationship between the measured and predicted IRI values for the proposed model was observed using the coefficient of correlation (R- value) as a statistical measure to determine how close the data are to the fitted regression line, as the validation process. The proposed model yielded an R- value of 0.75. Finally the developed model was compared with the default HDM 4 Model which is currently using in Sri Lanka
2021-01-01T00:00:00Z