Appropriate roads for rural access

Abstract

Many rural villages still have inappropriate access consisting of earth tracks or at best gravel roads, neither of which necessarily provides all-weather access. These types of roads can have significant impact on the economic well-being of the affected communities and also result in unsustainable environmental impacts. The road networks cab be significantly improved by providing engineered gravel roads and optimizing the material selection for these roads. Although material replacement needs can be reduced, the result remains environmentally unsustainable. Low cost but appropriate techniques for upgrading these roads cost-effectively to sealed standards have been implemented in many countries recently. These techniques optimize the use of local materials, reduce the pavement thickness requirements and make use of thin but effective bituminous surfacings such as sand, Otta and graded aggregate seals. Examples of appropriate design, material selection and construction procedures are provided in the paper.