The Proposed West Coast Highway Connection between Muriwai Beach and Raglan on the North Island of N.Z - Research Paper Example

The proposed west coast highway connection between Muriwai Beach and Raglan on the North Island of N.Z. Module: Highways ENGG … ID number: Date: Table of contents List of figures………………………………………………………………………3 Introduction……………………………………………………………….………..4 Background…………………………………………………………………….…..4 Rationale for the project ……………………………………………………........4 Aim and objective…………………………………………………………………..5 Project methodology……………………………………………………………..….6 Appendices…………………………………………………………………….…….12 List of figures 1. Figure 1: map of Auckland 2. Figure 2: cross section of the bridge at the harbor. 3. Figure 3: map of the proposed route. Introduction The proposed project detailed below outlines some of the considered vital factors such as the future growth of both cities in order to resolve the traffic congestion. The city of Auckland is an island separated by water and therefore a team was formed to probe the best route. The design of the coastal highway will involve the connection of the Muriwai beach and Raglan harbour. Before construction commences, it was important to consider some of the necessary requirements like the materials specification and soils suitability analysis in order to have the best knowledge of the area to be constructed. Background Auckland is the most populous city in the entire region of New Zealand with predominant Maori culture. Auckland is one of the islands located in the northern part of the New Zealand encompassing both rural and urban areas. It borders the Waitakere ranges to the western part of it. According to economic rank, Auckland has been on the map since with exponential economic figures in terms of GDP thus being the fastest growing towns in the country. The soil type found in most regions of Auckland is mainly granular sedimentary rocks covering extensive area. The porosity of the soil is determined by its strength and the size of the soil particles. New Zealand has an extensive coastline with voluminous economic resources. The northern part which is Auckland resides is more mountainous and hilly like terrain unlike the southern part. The island is also prone to earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic activities which are experienced frequently due to tectonic movements. The study area was analysed by use of Google maps. Highway engineering involves the design, planning and construction of structures such as roads, bridges among others. It encompasses the use of safe measures to solve an impending problem. It is always objective oriented to produce a unique result such as ease of transportation of goods and efficient ways of ferrying people. Rationale for project The project is done in order to solve the congestion problem experienced between the two cities. Likewise, to increase the ease of accessibility Aim and Objectives The project aims at finding the alternative route along the west coast of Auckland linking the city with Hamilton. Project methodology For the project to be conducted and be completed successfully, the following methodology will be followed. 1. Involvement of project stakeholders This involves arranging meetings with the concerned stakeholders. Primarily, there are three stakeholders involved in this category; primary, secondary and tertiary ones. The primary stakeholders are the people who will be affected by the project development therefore it will be important to involve them in the participation and as a result collect their views and opinions. Alternatively, the contractors are the secondary stakeholders who will initiate the project from the initial stage to the final stage while tertiary are the ones which will not involve directly but will participate through other means such as funding. It is important to involve all these parties in the beginning of the project to ensure successful progress of the project. For instance, the people of Bethells Beach and Piha Beach were involved through a series of various meetings to collect opinions of the likely impact of the coastal highway project. The authority, constructors and the engineers involved in the project construction were the secondary and vital stakeholders. 2. Extensive sources This involves sourcing for very important and vital information necessary for the progress of the project. A good and critical information will be obtained from such source for the project evaluation and possible constraints associated with project implementation. It includes the use of correct methods of determining the amount of earthworks, the cuts and fills procedures to be used before the construction begun. 3. Traffic modeling: This involves meticulous evaluation and analysis of the traffic flow, its route and the economic activities of a certain place. It also encompasses the study of their cultural pattern in order to come up with conclusive and the best traffic standard model. Analysis of the traffic in terms of routing and selection was used to determine the number of traffic in Auckland and Hamilton. 4. The possible alignment constraints and the available opportunities This step explores the available opportunities and the shortcomings of project implementation such as bends and irregular terrain. This will assist in coming up with the best solution of the unavoidable problems. Also, having the right control benchmarks to ensure the correct pavement construction in its right position. 5. Assessing the alignment option After the alignments have been shortlisted, each one of them will be scrutinized to come up with the most appropriate among them. 6. Recommendation of the preferred alignment After a scrutiny of the possible route alignment, the best alignment is proposed as the most preferred alignment for implementation. 7. Design and implementation of the project Finally, the best design of the road project is done and this marks the point for the implementation of what has been discussed and put in paper. Route alignment selection discussion After analysis of the terrain of the whole area, the route chosen was: Maruwai-Te Henga Beach-Alawhata-Piha-Karekare-Huia-Wesley-Onehunga-Rangland. From the information given about the area and the purpose of the road, it is being predicted that the road will be intended to handle vehicles that travel for long distances and also the local traffic within each section. Therefore, we need to have road that whose access is controlled and it has a minimum design speed of approximately 80 km/h along the highway but this speed will be reduced at the junctions. The cross section of the road will be based on the Austroads standards such that the design speed, general terrain, and the nature of the heavy vehicles are accounted for. a) More than 12,000 vehicles per day for a 2 lane single carriageway b) Approximately 12,000- 35,000 vehicles daily for a 4 lane dual carriageway. c) Less than 35,000 vehicles each day for a 6 lane dual carriageway. The potential alignments for the selected route were identified and each one of them were analyzed exposing the constraints and the available opportunities in each one of them. Three possible alignments were identified including: a) Alignment to the existing highway from Waimauku-Raglan Bay. b) Alignment to the railway line that runs from Maruwai through Raglan. c) Alignment to the coastal strip. An analysis of each and every option is described below: 1. Option 1(alignment to the existing highway from Waimauku-Raglan Bay) This option provides a direct link from Maruwai to Raglan but it may not deliver the intended goal of having the road serve both the Bethells Beach and Piha Beach communities. Furthermore, its closeness to the current highway may not reduce the problem of congestion hence it is unsuitable for the development of the road. The area along this highway is densely populated and this also may come in handy in hampering the possible alignment of the road along this route. 2. Option 2(Alignment to the railway line that runs from Maruwai through Raglan) The railway line runs from the town of Waimauku all the way to Raglan Bay. It is located close to the existing highway in the densely populated area and this may obstruct the implementation of this project hence the route aligned to the railway line is unsuitable for the project. 3. Option 3(Alignment to the coastal strip) The route aligned to the western coastal strip cuts through the Karekare ranges through the Piha and Bethells region and then turns towards Wesley and finally to the Raglan Harbour. This area has a very rough terrain especially at the Karekare ranges AND a number of rivers and streams which may call for the construction of a number of bridges hence making the whole exercise very costly. However, the route must serve both the Bethells Beach and Piha Beach communities and therefore we can align it close to the beach and have it run from Maruwai-Te Henga Beach-Alawhata-Piha-Karekare-Huia-Wesley-Onehunga-Rangland. The third option is the most suitable and it is therefore chosen as the most preferred choice. Description of the selected route The route that was selected was supposed to run from maruwai through the west cost of the Northern island, across the Piha region and finally into the Ragland harbor. In this regard, the best suited route was : Maruwai-Te Henga Beach-Alawhata-Piha-Karekare-Huia-Wesley-Onehunga-Rangland. a. Section 1(Maruwai-Te Henga Beach) This is the initial section of the entire route. It starts at Oaia Road and is endowed with a very mountainous terrain whereby some dense sub tropical forests exist. The section has a number of rivers and streams which are mainly perennial. Some sections of this region are swampy and are therefore waterlogged across the year. This region experiences sub tropical climate with warm humid summers and winters that are mild and damp. The main inhabitants of this region are Europeans of British and Irish origin. These people mainly engage themselves into farming and fishing. This section has greywacke rocks which lie on the entire western coastal side and outcrop at the area south of the Waikato River. Some sections of the Maruwai region have pillow lava. b. Section 2(Te Henga Beach- Karekare) This is the second section of the route and is mainly composed of greywacke rocks. The Karekare ranges are found in this region and are mainly composed of andesitic volcanic rocks. Similar to the first section, the main inhabitants of this region are mainly Europeans of British and Irish origin and they mainly practice farming. The region is very mountainous and as a result, the area is sparsely populated. c. Section 3(Karekare - Huia) This is the third section of the route and it runs for quite a longer distance as compared to the previous sections. The area is mountainous and has a very rough terrain and is therefore sparsely populated. The inhabitants mainly practice farming and fishing as the main way of life. This area is mainly composed of a combination of greywacke and conglomerate rocks which lie across the entire western side and the part of the central island. The Piha region has a number of blowholes. d. Section 4(Huia-Wesley) This is the fourth section of the route and it now runs towards the eastern side of the island away from the mountainous regions. The region has fewer rivers and the land is gently sloping. The area has an average population whereby most of the inhabitants are Europeans of Irish and British origin but some other inhabitants of African, American and Asian origin also exist though in small numbers. The area mainly is composed of conglomerate rocks. e. Section 5(Wesley-Onehunga) The fifth section of the route runs from Wesley to Onehunga a region that can be said to be mainly a transition zone from the rural farm areas to the urban areas. The inhabitants are mainly a mixture of Europeans of British and Irish origin and people of other origin such as Africans, American and Asian origin. The region is mainly is composed of a gently sloping terrain and a number of wide rivers as they flow from the mountainous areas to the sea. This section is mainly composed of sandstones, siltstones and mudstones. f. Section 6(Onehunga-Rangland) This is the last section of the route. The section is densely populated and the main inhabitants of the mainly being Europeans of British and Irish origin and other communities from different regions. This is an urban area that has trade and other commercial activities as the main way of life. The section is mainly composed of chert and argillite rocks which are of volcanic origin. Conclusion From the foregoing, the details that involve the completion of the project have been discussed and illustrated. The project methodology gives a comprehensive step by step way in which the details of the project can be analyzed and finally implemented. In our study area of Auckland, a number of factors that may limit the alignment of the route in the designated area have been identified but a number of measures can be taken to ensure that the route serves the intended purpose and serves the necessary communities. References Nicholas J. Garber , Lester A. Hoel , 2008, Traffic & Highway Engineering, 4th Edition pg. 146-152. Braja M. Das, 2010, Principles of Foundation Engineering, McGraw-Hill Professional Publishers pg. 126-135. Paul H. Wright , Karen Dixon, 2003, Highway Engineering Wiley inc. pg. 145-149. Roger Brockenbrough, 2009, Highway Engineering Handbook Edition 3, McGraw-Hill Professional Publishers pg. 128-129. James R. Mihelcic, Julie B. Zimmerman, 2009, Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design, Wiley pg. 136-138. Arthur Nilson, David Darwin, Charles Dolan, 2009, Design of Concrete Structures, McGraw-Hill Professional Publishers pp.514-552. Appendix Figure 1: map of Auckland Figure 2: cross section of the bridge at the harbor Figure 3: Map of the proposed route Read More