GENERAL HIGHWAY MATTERS - ITALY

THE PRINCIPLES FOR THE DESIGN OF ROADS AND HIGHWAYS ARE IN AN EVOLUTIONARY STAGE IN ITALY. THE AASHO EXPERIMENTS HAVE PERMITTED HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATIONS TO DRAW CONCLUSIONS FOR DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE ROAD. MOST SUPERSTRUCTURES OF ROADS AND HIGHWAYS ARE OF A FLEXIBLE TYPE, THE THICKNESS OF WHICH IS DETERMINED BY THE CBR METHOD AND CORRESPONDING GRAPHS. EMPIRICAL AND THEORETICAL METHODS SUCH AS THAT OF IVANOV AND MEASUREMENT BY DEFLECTOMETER ARE ALSO USED. RIGID HIGHWAYS, EXCEPT AT AIRPORTS AND MILITARY AIRPORTS ARE SELDOM USED IN ITALY. NUMEROUS SERIES OF RUGOSITY MEASUREMENTS OF STATE ROADS WERE CONDUCTED TO AID RESEARCH INTO THE CAUSES OF THE DIVERSITY OF VALUES ON THE SAME TYPE OF HIGHWAYS AND THEIR VARIATIONS WITH TIME AND TEMPERATURE. A PROFILOMETER WAS BUILT FOR RECORDING THE TRANSVERSE PROFILE OF THE HIGHWAY. A DRAINAGE METHOD IS DESCRIBED IN SOIL CONSISTING OF PEAT AND OTHER ORGANIC SUBSTANCES WHERE THE CREATION OF HOLES 42 CM IN DIAMETER FILLED WITH SAND AND THEN COVERED WITH A LAYER OF SAND HAS PERMITTED SUB-SOIL WATER TO MOVE TO THE SURFACE BY CAPILLARITY WHERE IT IS THEN COLLECTED INTO DITCHES. ANOTHER DRAINAGE METHOD FOR THE CONSOLIDATION AND STABILIZATION OF SLIP MOVEMENTS BY INDIVIDUAL DRAINING SPURE IN THE FORM OF AN A IS DESCRIBED. THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE ITALIAN MOTORWAY NETWORK HAS REQUIRED SPECIAL WINTER MAINTENANCE ON THE HIGHWAYS. RESEARCH IS CONDUCTED: (1) TO AVOID BY PREVENTATIVE MEANS, THE FORMATION OF ICE ON THE ROADS SURFACE, (2) TO MAINTAIN THE CARRIAGEWAY FREE FROM SNOW, AND (3) TO OBTAIN BEHAVIOR APPROPRIATE TO THE METEOROLOGICAL SITUATION AT THE TIME FROM THE USERS. THESE FIRST DEMANDS WERE ACHIEVED WITH CHEMICAL SOLVENTS (SODIUM CHLORIDE AND CALCIUM CHLORIDE) SPREAD ON THE HIGHWAY BEFORE THE FORMATION OF FROST OR ICING. THE SECOND WAS ACCOMPLISHED BY THE CONTINUOUS CLEARING OF THE SNOW BY MECHANICAL MEANS, AND THE THIRD BY A SPECIAL SIGNAL SYSTEM AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATIVE LEAFLETS AT THE POINTS OF ENTRY. TO AVOID BUMPS FOR MOTOR VEHICLES PASSING FROM THE LEVEL OF A BRIDGE TO THE LEVEL OF THE ORDINARY ROAD SURFACE, STUDIES FOLLOWED BY EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH WERE CARRIED OUT AND A SPECIAL NEOPRENE JOINT WAS OBTAINED.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • No I-9, pp 2-11
• Authors:
  • Colabich, G F
• Publication Date: 1967

Media Info

• Serial:
  • Perm Intl Assoc Road Congresses Proc
  • Publisher: Xiiith Congress, Tokyo

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bridge approaches; California bearing ratio; Deflectometers; Drainage; Flexible pavements; Highway maintenance; Joints; Neoprene; Pavement design; Pavements; Paving; Profilometers; Road construction; Road meters; Salts; Snow and ice control; Surface drainage; Thickness
• Uncontrolled Terms: Pavement thickness
• Old TRIS Terms: Highway drainage; Highway pavement; Joint
• Subject Areas: Highways; Hydraulics and Hydrology; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00205527
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 21 1994 12:00AM