Highway Engineering

Introduction:
Maintenance of roads is the continual work to ensure they are in good shape for drivers and pedestrians. It entails normal maintenance, like fixing small problems like potholes and cracks in the pavement, and major repairs, such as repaving or reconstructing larger stretches of road. Regular road maintenance is crucial to ensure the safety of drivers, passengers, and pedestrians, avoid vehicle damage, and lessen traffic congestion. Depending on where you live, municipal, state, or federal governments may be responsible for road maintenance.

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Introduction:
Geocell is a cellular confinement system made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE) commonly used in road construction as a soil stabilization solution. Using geocell in road construction dates back to the 1970s when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers developed the technology to stabilize the ground for military applications. The first documented use of geocell in road construction was in the late 1980s when the technology was used to stabilize the shoulders of an access road leading to a copper mine in Chile. This initial use was successful, and geocell began to gain popularity as a solution for soil stabilization in road construction projects worldwide.

Over the years, the technology has evolved, and the use of geocell has expanded to include applications in retaining walls, erosion control, and even green roofs. Today, geocell is a widely accepted and cost-effective solution for soil stabilization in road construction projects, particularly in areas with poor soil conditions or unstable terrain.
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Introduction
Bitumen is obtained from the fractional distillation of crude petroleum. It has adhesive properties, and it has added oil while manufacturing the names of kerosene, spirit, volatile oils, etc. It is most widely used on roads as it is an excellent binder and binds the materials for durability, recyclability, and usability for roads. It is used widely used for the construction of flexible pavements. It has excellent waterproofing properties, low-cost material, and is dark or black. It is often confused with tar as it has similar properties. Tar is obtained by destructive distillation such as coal or wood, while bitumen is not. Apart from this, bitumen is soluble in carbon disulphide, and tar is soluble in benzene or nitrobenzene. It’s scope in improvement is limitless as it has flexibility in properties and is expected to be environment friendly during the course of time. All these properties and the effectiveness of bitumen are discussed here in this article.
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Introduction
Nowadays, all the energy resources are depleting due to our constant dependency on natural resources. At this stage, an urgency has emerged to harness the energy that can operate almost anything in the world. Likewise, in the civil engineering world, new inventions are emerging to make a greener world.

In the transportation sector, kinetic roads can help tackle pollution and our extensive dependency on natural resources. Solar radiation and kinetic energy from passing automobiles are two forms of energy sources frequently applied to road surfaces. As a result, they offer a lot of potential as long-term energy sources. Roadway pavement occupies a large portion of urban and rural areas, covering millions of square kilometers and constantly being exposed to various energy sources such as sun radiation, vibration, and traffic-induced pressures.

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Introduction
Interlocking Concrete Block Pavement (ICBP) has replaced the conventional concreting technique that required the use of traditional bricks and asphalt on the surface of the road. The traditional method was cumbersome as it required skill and accuracy to maintain the thickness of the road in addition to constant supervision by the site engineer. The roads had to be closed for hours as time was consumed in laying and mixing works. This problem was noticed by the higher authorities and the implementation of concrete blocks was recommended for ease of work.

The shape of such blocks varies as well as in size aspects because the design of these blocks constantly evolved during the years. The interlocking between the blocks was not good initially but as time went on, the design was modified so as to provide perfect interlocking. Interlocking is required to be perfect while laying as sand or other impurities might penetrate the gaps leaving the blocks isolated from the nearby blocks. This would result in breaking of the pattern and eventually the blocks would come out of the place. Hence, the works need to be precise on the field and is to be well monitored by the site engineers.

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