Rural Road Engineering in Developing Countries

Book excerpt: Rural Road Engineering in Developing Countries provides a comprehensive coverage of the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of rural roads in developing countries and emerging nations. It covers a wide range of technical and non-technical problems that may confront road engineers working in the developing world, focusing on rural roads which provide important links from villages and farms to markets and offer the public access to health, education, and other services essential for sustainable development. Most textbooks on road engineering are based on experience in industrialised countries with temperate climates or deal only with specific issues, with many aspects of the design and construction of roads in developing regions stemming from inappropriate research undertaken in Europe and the USA. These approaches are frequently unsuitable and unsustainable for rural road network environments, particularly in low to middle income countries. This book takes on board a more recent research and application focus on rural roads, integrating it for a broad range of readers to access current information on good practice for sustainable road engineering in developing countries. The book particularly suits transportation engineers, development professionals, and graduate students in civil engineering.