Low-Volume Roads
Low-Volume Roads Collection
Low-Volume Roads (LVR) Engineering involves many aspects of planning and design for roads, environmental considerations, and it incorporates many fundamental aspects of Geological and Geotechnical Engineering. This collection contains many documents and references to information on each of the key topics relevant to Low-Volume Roads Engineering. These include the ten topic areas below. Engineering judgment and an understanding of local soils, site geology, weather, and the social and physical environment around the road are critical to its successful design, management, function, and cost-effectiveness.
General Low-Volume Roads Information
This section contains general references on Low-Volume Roads, covering a wide range of LVR issues including planning, design, management, and best practices (both from a design and an environmental standpoint).
Road Planning and Location
References dealing with aspects of planning and location of Low-Volume Roads, to help build the appropriate road needed by users and avoid costly and problematic areas.
Environmental Issues
References addressing Environmental Analysis and the many environmental issues associated with roads, including land use changes, water quality protection, fish or aquatic organism passage, wildlife crossings, and noxious/invasive weed problems.
Engineering Design and Maintenance
Basic documents containing general information on the cost, design, construction, and maintenance of low-volume roads.
Hydrology and Hydraulic Design Tools
Basic references on hydrology and ways to determine design flows in rural areas. Also information on hydraulics and ways to protect structures against scour and erosion, including use of riprap, filter concepts, and use of goesynthetics.
Surface Drainage Issues
References addressing the many aspects of road surface drainage, including control of road surface water, roadway ditches, and water control in inlets and outlets to culverts and ditches. Some information is included on subsurface drainage.
Drainage Crossings: Culverts, Fords, Bridges
Basic references on design and maintenance of drainage crossing structures including culverts, fords or low-water crossings, and bridges.
Slope Stability Issues and Stabilization Methods
References addressing problems with stability of slopes, roadway cuts, and fill embankments. Documents address both analysis methods and stabilization methods commonly used.
Roadway Materials and Sources Development
References addressing many aspects for roadway materials including surfacing alternatives, use of aggregate, compaction, sampling and testing, and development/reclamation of materials sources.
Erosion Control Issues
Useful references addressing the many techniques available to control erosion on roads and areas disturbed by roads projects. In formation includes selection methods and information on physical, vegetative, and biotechnical erosion and sedimentation control methods.
International-Foreign Language LVR Documents
This collection contains a variety of publications and articles, mostly in Spanish, on different aspects of Low-Volume Road Engineering design and management.
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September 22nd, 2010 at 6:40 am
Gordon Keller has lived with design, construction, maintenance and restoration of low-volume roads (LVR) for thirty years (or more!) in the rugged mountain-forest regime of northern California … and through his specialty has become an American ambassador of LVR engineering around the world.
Gordon’s ten-part organization for his LVR COLLECTION, as listed above, constitutes a thorough introduction to the entire subject. I am struck by the fact that LVR are more dependent on geologic conditions that perhaps the most sturdy of the world’s major transportation routes, the Interstates, the Autopistas, Autobahns and the M-Roads; all of which are massive ribbons of portland cement concrete and asphaltic concrete, whereas LVRs are made nearly entirely of earth materials available along the route and are subject to the whims of nature to a great degree, largely because these roads are fragile in terms of the elements and of their superimposed traffic.
We welcome the LVR COLLECTION as a viable demonstration of the need for competent geologic input in this segment of TRANSPORTATION facilities.
Allen W. Hatheway
Curator-in-Chief
21October, 2010