The Design of 10-Lane Highway From Thuwal To Makkah
Project Overview
Every city needs good infrastructure for it to be advanced and to prosper. The Holy City of Makkah has been the destination for millions of Muslim pilgrims for more than 1440 years.
Just 100 years ago, pilgrims used to leave their hometown months before Hajj, traveling in large ships, then they needed to travel through challenging environments in horses and caravans to finally reach Makkah. Advancements in science and technology has enabled engineers to find solutions for many challenges. Now Makkah is one of the busiest cities in the world with millions of annual visitors and around 8.9 million local population. The development in roads and infrastructure is always necessary for people to travel safely and comfortably without over-traffic. Currently, there is only one main highway connecting Makkah to the north, and an alternative road is highly needed to take more vehicles in the future.
This report goes through all the different stages of a 115-KM road connecting Thuwal to the northern side of Makkah. This road will connect more areas for citizens going to Makkah in the future while also improving the overall road capacity for the growing number of pilgrims.
Different calculations are used in each chapter. Beginning with a planning process where the area is being examined and considerations are being listed. The main objective is to meet all design standards given by The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, (AASHTO). Traffic analysis calculations will show how much road capacity is required. Horizontal curves and vertical curves will be analyzed then designed using Autocad Civil 3d Technology. The soil of the area is investigated by laboratory data to find it’s unified classification according to AASHTO. Structural design such as pavements, intersections, and cross-sections are completed and finally, the total cost is estimated.
Project Objectives
The proposed road serves the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Western Region enormously, given the road whose conditions will be studied, which is the road to Jeddah, Makkah Al-Mukarramah, we will find the huge traffic volume, especially in important seasons such as the Hajj season, which, as a result of the disruption of the movement of goods and the movement of mutual transport between Factories, the state annually loses imaginary sums, also due to the enormous expansion of the city of Jeddah and Makkah Al-Mukarramah, a new road had to be linked to the two cities, as they are important cities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the movement between them is continuous and high, where Mecca is the holy capital in religion Islamic, and Jeddah is considered a very important Arab commercial port, so we find permanent expansion, and after studying the volume of traffic in the roads that serve traffic between the two cities, and this will be made clear in the future, a new road had to be served, serving traffic and traffic Business, and relieves pressure on this party during the Hajj and Umrah seasons, during Ramadan and others.
Also, from another perspective, we find the road creates an indirect line of movement for people traveling from the north of the kingdom to its west and south, which reduces their entry to the city of Jeddah and their participation in the congestion of its roads. , He will not have to enter directly into the city center of Jeddah, as the road passes through the eastern neighborhoods of it, and so on from the south of the kingdom to the north.
With regard to Jeddah International Airport, the road serves the one going to the airport from the city of Makkah Al-Mukarramah, and the city of Al-Taeq and the neighboring villages, directly to Jeddah International Airport, without entering in the middle of Jeddah.
Presentation