ELEVATED HIGHWAY: A Solution to Developmental Problems in Pathanamthitta

ELEVATED HIGHWAY: A Solution to Developmental Problems in Pathanamthitta

Subhalekshmi1, Anandu R Pillai2, Anaswar Das H3, Pavishi P4, Senu Daison5

1Asst. Professor, 2345Student

Civil Department,

Musaliar College of Engineering & Technology, Pathanamthitta.

Abstract – An elevated highway is a highway that is raised above grade for its entire length. It has restricted entry and exit. Technically the entire highway is a single bridge. The Omalloor Kaipattoor road is a major road in Pathanamthitta district which is also a part of NH183A which spans all the way from Kollam to Vandiperiyar via Pathanamthitta and Adoor. Almost 17 sub roads that came from other towns and cities connect the main road at Omalloor itself. Traffic congestion occurs during peak hours in Omalloor Kaipattoor route. During the flood that occurred in the year 2018-2019, almost all the major roads were flooded with water. The water logging has caused the roads to lose its strength and durability. The lands in Pathanamthitta have hilly areas and plain marshy land. Land available for future road widening or construction is very less in Omalloor area due to the marshy land of the area. So we have proposed an elevated highway at Omalloor Kaipattoor road for smooth traffic flow.

Keywords: Elevated highway, Traffic volume survey, Questionnaire survey, Total station survey.

1. INTRODUCTION

   Pathanamthitta is a well-known district in Kerala for its culture and heritages. There are famous places like Sabrimala, Pandalam, Aranmula, Thiruvalla, etc. Pathanamthitta is among developing districts of Kerala. The district has a population density of 453 inhabitants per square kilometer.

   Omalloor is one of the small towns in Pathanamthitta district. Omalloor is well known for its temples. Omalloor is one of those places where almost 17 sub roads from different towns and cities connect NH183A.

   The increased traffic congestion in this area has been increased since last decade. An option for a bypass road cannot be taken in this case as the area gets flooded with water and also there is no land available for future development.

   Fig.1 Omalloor Kaipattoor road

2. OBJECTIVES

   • To identify and analyze the present scenario of traffic congestion at Omalloor Kaipattoor road.

   • To conduct traffic volume survey and questionnaire survey.

   • Collect necessary data for elevated highway design.

   • Analyze the data obtained.

3. METHODOLOGY

   Basic data regarding the project were collected from concerned authorities like land availability, soil investigation details, etc. A traffic volume study was conducted near Government Higher Secondary School (GHSS), Omalloor and Uzhuvathu Devi Temple, Omalloor. A detailed questionnaire survey was also conducted to evaluate the public interest about implementation of this project. The alignment of the existing road was found out by conducting a total station survey.

   The accurate data regarding soil investigation couldnt be collected due to some financial causes. Thus the soil investigation details of Pathanamthitta KSRTC bus stand has been adapted, as the land near KSRTC bus stand is same as that of the land proposed for elevated highway construction at Omalloor.

4. DATA COLLECTED

   As a part of study, the following data were collected.

   1. Soil investigation

      It is the study conducted to know about the structure and property of land underneath. The proposed site at Omalloor and the Pathanamthitta KSRTC bus stand side have the same type of soil. The average of soil investigation reports at the Pathanamthitta KSRTC bus stand side shows

      • 4.10m of filled lateritic soil and quarry waste (brown) (0.00m – 4.10m)

      • 1.50m of lateritic gravel (red/yellow) (4.10m 5.60m)

      • 4.20m of lateritic clay with sand & gravel (yellow/red) (5.60m 9.80m)

      • 6.40m of silty lateritic clay with sand (white/yellow) (9.80m 16.20m)

      • 1.20m of silty weathered (white/grey) (16.20m –

        17.40m)

      • 6.80m of soft rock (white/grey) (17.40m 24.20m)

      1.50m of hard rock (grey) (24.20m 25.70m)

      Bore-hole terminated at 25.70m depth and not met ground water level.

   2. Traffic volume survey

      It is the type of survey conducted to know the amount of traffic flow in any area. Traffic volume survey was conducted on a working day (24/10/2019) and on a weekend day (27/10/2019) at two points i.e. near Government Higher Secondary School (GHSS), Omalloor and Uzhuvathu Devi Temple, Omalloor. Number of vehicles in each hour is estimated. Vehicles are categorized as bus, truck, car, two wheeler and light carriage vehicles. The numbers of vehicles are converted into PCU (Passenger Car Unit) and the average of the data is determined.

      Passenger Car unit is calculated using the following data in TABLE 1.

      TABLE 1. DIFFERENT VEHICLE PCU VALUE

      Type of vehicle	Passenger Car Unit (PCU)
      Bus	5
      Truck	4
      Car	1
      Two wheeler	0.4
      Light carriage vehicles	2

      TABLE 2. AVARAGE TRAFFIC VOLUME DATA

      HOUR	WORKING DAY (in PCU)		WEEKEND DAY (in PCU)
      	Near GHSS, Omalloor	Uzhuvathu Devi Temple, Omalloor	Near GHSS, Omalloor	Uzhuvathu Devi Temple, Omalloor
      6am – 7am	320.2	424.2	351.6	342.2
      7am – 8am	390.4	442.8	400.2	392.6
      8am – 9am	479.8	482.4	421.6	424.8
      9am – 10am	560.8	522.2	450.4	472.6
      10am – 11am	432.8	418.8	507.6	508.6
      11am – 12pm	395.6	398.2	403.4	419.6
      12pm -1pm	345.8	379.8	339.2	374.8
      1pm – 2pm	317.6	394.2	330.6	330.4
      2pm – 3pm	377.2	415.2	352.4	300.8
      3pm – 4pm	434.8	461.6	421.4	350.2
      4pm – 5pm	542.2	556.2	458.8	428.6
      5pm – 6pm	519.2	506.8	504.8	503.8

      TRAFFIC VOLUME DATA

      TRAFFIC VOLUME DATA

      600

      500

      400

      Near GHSS, Omalloor (WORKING DAY) in PCU

      600

      500

      400

      Near GHSS, Omalloor (WORKING DAY) in PCU

      300

      200

      100

      Uzhuvathu Devi Temple, Omalloor (WORKING DAY) in PCU

      Near GHSS, Omalloor (WEEKEND DAY) in PCU

      300

      200

      100

      Uzhuvathu Devi Temple, Omalloor (WORKING DAY) in PCU

      Near GHSS, Omalloor (WEEKEND DAY) in PCU

      0

      <>Uzhuvathu Devi Temple, Omalloor (WEEKEND DAY) in PCU

      0

      Uzhuvathu Devi Temple, Omalloor (WEEKEND DAY) in PCU

      TIME in hrs

      TIME in hrs

      PCU

      PCU

      PCU

      PCU

      Fig.2 Traffic volume data

      AVERAGE TRAFFIC VOLUME DATA IN PCU

      AVERAGE TRAFFIC VOLUME DATA IN PCU

      600

      500

      400

      300

      200

      100

      0

      AVERAGE TRAFFIC VOLUME DATA IN PCU

      600

      500

      400

      300

      200

      100

      0

      AVERAGE TRAFFIC VOLUME DATA IN PCU

      TIME in hrs

      TIME in hrs

      Fig.3 Average traffic volume data

   3. Questionnaire survey

      The questionnaire survey was conducted over the Omalloor

      – Kaipattoor road. The people included for the survey were pedestrians, nearby households and regular vehicle users. A questionnaire was prepared and distributed among the above mentioned people. And their feedbacks were collected. Almost 90% of people liked the proposed project of elevated highway. The average of the rating for the proposed project was calculated to be 8.68 out of 10.

      Some of the reasons that the people liked this project are:

      • Time required to travel the destinations will be reduced.

      • Rate of accidents would be considerably reduced.

      • Traffic congestions in this area will be reduced.

        Some of the reasons that the people disliked this project are:

      • Large area of land will be acquired back by the government for this project.

      • Traffic conjunctions during construction phase.

   4. Total station survey

      Total station is surveying equipment which has a combination of Electromagnetic Distance Measuring Instrument and electronic theodolite.

      Fig.4 Total station survey equipment

      Total station survey was done to determine the alignment of the existing road. Following steps were followed for total station survey:

      • Tripod setup

      • Mount instrument on tripod

      • Instrument centering

      • Instrument levelling

      • Electronically verify levelling

      • Set the instrument to north

      • Set a default coordinate to the instrument station

      • Take readings

      • Shift to next known coordinate

      • Back site to the previous instrument station

5. RESULT AND ANALYSIS

   The elevated highway was designed and analyzed using software. All the specifications and dimensions were provided according to IRC specifications.

   • Clarence from buildings 5m

   • Width of elevated road 7.5m (2 lane)

   • Width of service road 4.5m (1 lane)

   • Pillar height 5m

   • Pillar diameter 1.5m

   • Slab thickness 0.3m

   • Width of crash barrier = 450 mm (IRC 5:1998)

   • Wearing coat = 100 mm

   • Material: Concrete : M30

     Steel : Fe500

   • Loading : Class AA

   Fig.5 Proposed elevated highway

6. CONCLUSION

• The present situation of traffic conjunction is thoroughly studied.

• The surveys conducted are traffic volume survey,

  questionnaire survey and total station survey.

• The proposed project could help rectify the traffic conjunction problems at Omalloor Kaipattoor road

  thus allowing smooth flow of traffic.

• The proposal can be adapted for the infrastructural as well as developmental improvement of the district.

REFERENCE

1. Nidhi P Tiwari; Sumit Jaidiya; Trishala Shinde; Kalyani Dhoble; Nayan Korde; Achintya Sakhre;, Advanced Techniques used in Surveying, IJRASET, volume 6, Issue III, March 2018.

2. Abrar Ul Haq Bhat; Dr. Rakesh Gupta;, A Review Paper on Study of Traffic Volume and its Safety Measures on National Highways, IRJET, volume 05 Issue 07, July 2018.

3. Mohd. Sajid Ali; Bipin Kumar Singh;, Future Trends and Developments in Bridge and Flyover Construction, IJTRE, volume 4, Issue 9, May-2017.

4. Vighnesh R; Prabhath Ranjan Kumar S; Dhinesh Kumar P; Kishore Kumar S; Anand Kumar P K;, Serviceability of Gandhipuram Flyover Coimbatore, IJEAT, volume 8, Issue 5, June 2019.

5. Ch.Manoghna; Shivangi Bharadwaj;, Design of Flyover Bridge, IJR, volume 04, Issue 14, November 2017.

6. Rasheed Saleem Abed;, Experience on Using Total Station Surveying for Mapping and Contouring; IJCIET Vol. 4, Issue 3, 2013.