Guidelines for designing an access road for construction ?

[georam]

Are there guidelines for designing construction an access road ? This road will be a gravel road, and eventually will be used for permanent access to the site (such as a hydroelectric facility). Construction of the facilities will require lots of truck traffic and heavy (delivery of materials, concrete, steel, etc). What would be the recommended road width, maximum grades, sight distances, turning radius etc. It is not a highway, or paved road, so perhaps the highway design manual would not 100% applicable here ? Are Federal/provincial/state highway agencies regulate the construction of such roads?

Similarly, any guides for designing a logging road ? This would also be a private, non paved road, and intended to accomodate heavy vehicles.

Thanks for info.

 

[KAM_imported]

As far as subgrade design for an unpaved roadway is concerned, most of the large geotextile companies (Exxon, Phillips 66, Amoco, etc.) have detailed design procedures you can get for free which allow you to design unpaved roadways. Some will even furnish you with free software programs that allow estimation of gravel thickness over the fabric. Tensar (geogrid supplier) also has design manuals for the design of temporary roads and/or haul roads using biaxial geogrids for stabilization. Their website is

http://www.tensarcorp.com.