Highways and Highway TransportationChatburn, George R.
History
Highways and Highway Transportation
Chatburn, George R.
Roads; Transportation
Just how far all these things should be taken into account is
questionable. Whether or not just as good results would not come for
even a simpler classification is not yet determined. It might be that
only the heavy loads and their frequency is all that need be considered
if the destructive effect of traffic alone is aimed at.
The great amount of pleasure riding and the tremendous desire for such
riding should be considered in laying out a system of roads and in the
selection of a type of road, therefore all passenger cars and motor
cycles should be counted and given an influence number.
=Other Methods of Estimating Amount of Traffic.=--The amount of road
traffic may be roughly estimated from the area served by the highway.
Upon a map is outlined the tributary territory and its area measured by
any one of several means. The area may be divided into small squares
of known size and the number of squares counted; it may be divided into
strips and the length of the strips measured with a scale and thence
the area computed, or a planimeter may be used. Having found the area
the unit tonnage is estimated from a knowledge of the character of the
crops raised and the industries in the territory from which the haulage
is calculated. The average haul may be determined, if desired, by
finding approximately the center of gravity of the area and measuring
its distance from the market. If the market place is at the center of a
circle surrounding it and the products are uniformly distributed over
the circle the mean distance is two-thirds the radius of the circle.
The tonnage, arising from farms, which is transported over the roads
varies with the kind of crop, the fertility of the soil, the amount of
stock fed, or kept for dairying, and numerous other local conditions.
Studies made by various authorities[179] indicate that the marketable
products vary from ¹⁄₁₀ to ¹⁄₂ ton per acre. If a circular area with
market place at the center is served by six uniformly distributing
radial roads a mathematical analysis will show that the tonnage upon
each one of these roads, one-sixth that from the whole circle, will be
_T_ = 335.12_qr_²
where _T_ = total tons per year,
_q_ = yield of marketed crops in tons per acre,
_r_ = maximum haul-radius of the circle.
Dividing _T_ by the number of working days per year (usually taken as
300) gives the average daily haul into the market. The average length
of haul may be taken as ²⁄₃_r_. The haul over any zone whose edges are
concentric with the circle is considered to be all that originating
in the area outside the zone plus that originating within the zone
times the mean distance from the inner edge of the zone. The result of
the analysis gives this equation, for the haul over any zone having an
outer radius _a_, and an inner radius _b_,
_H_ = _T__{_r_} - _T__{_a_} +
2_a_² - _ab_ - _b_²
-------------------(_T__{_a_} - _T__{_b_}),
3(_a_ + _b_)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account