The Engineering Behind Today's Modern Highways

When it comes to highways engineers need to consider the road requirements of today and the future.
Loukia Papadopoulos

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Highways take us where we need to go and they do so fast and efficiently. But have you ever considered how they are made? Engineering them is a complex process that has many steps and phases. First up is the planning phase.

Highways last for a very long time, so during this phase engineers need to consider the road requirements not only for today but for the future as well. In that sense, engineers need to function a bit like psychics.

Once this planning has been completed, the following step consists of handing off the concept to a team of surveyors, architects, and engineers to conceive the initial design.

This process takes many years as surveying teams use GPS-based scanning tools to carefully map out the land where the highway will be constructed and collect a huge amount of data that perfectly models the terrain. Once this lengthy process is completed, construction can begin.

In this phase, a contractor is selected through a bidding process, and the long arduous journey of actually building the highway begins. What goes into this stage? Four key phases that we outline and explain in our video. So don't wait any longer! Watch our video and find out what they are.

 

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