I will give u an awesome rate if you finish this Problem 6

I will give u an awesome rate if you finish this !!!!!

Problem 6. (10 points) Mr. Askalot, a newly grad highway engineer, needs to decide whether the new freeway, I-999, he is designing in Austin, TX, should overpass or underpass the existing I-35 freeway. The new freeway will carry nearly twice as much traffic as the existing I-35. The location is heavily populated, and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is not willing to budget a significant amount to make the viaduct look good. However, TxDOT is neither willing to disturb the locals during construction. Can you help Mr. Askalot make a decision? State all your assumptions and possible considerations.

Solution

We need to consider a lot of factors and assumptions for making the decision as the existing road, being in a heavily populated area will already be having a heavy amount of traffic and so the area under construction cannot be kept disturbed for much time. As the budget is not very high, cost -benefit analysis is required as well.

Here is a list of some of the major factors to be considered in order to decide the better one easily -

Traffic volume - This point is of very much importance because the situation given clearly states that the new freeway will carry nearly twice as much as existing traffic. A traffic twice as of a traffic of a heavily populated area demands for a superior structure in case of a overpass and with the budget constraint applied, underpass will do a better job. Further, if the existing freeway is not very wide with building in the immediate vicinity, it is better to have underpass to beat the bottle neck traffic at only the required area than everywhere. However, in a wider and less densed area, flyover may be considered.

Time- Overpass take more time to construct than an underpass because the design of an underpass is simpler than a overpass. Also, looking at the population in the problem, and unwillingness of authorities to disturb people for a longer duration, an underpass fits the best.

Cost- The cost of constructing an overpass is usually higher than the the cost of constructing an underpass because of its design comlpexity as compared to the underpass design. More materials are used and more is the cost. Seeing the traffic which will be double the existing one, the design and material cost cannot be compromised and thus constructing an underpass will be less costly. Also, amount to make the viaduct look good is also not required in an underpass.

Structural Design based on traffic- A superior structure is required assuming that the traffic is very high, and it willl be more in case of an overpass, thus an underpass can be prefered.

Disturbance- The time taken for the construction of an overpass is more than the time taken for underpass. Futher, overpass will require a lot more concreting work (even in the night time). Not distrubing the locals is another condition specified in the problem, so an underpass will be preferred.

Traffic conditions after construction- Traffic in the underpass and above is way better than the traffic below flyovers due to open space which is already existing.

Aesthetic view- An overpass which is not good looking ( due to budget constraint ) will give an unaesthetic view to the loacality. This is not the case with an underpass.

For pedestrian crossing the road, there still will be an option left to construct a overbridge in case of an underpass.

These considerations, which are mainly based on the criterions given in the problem suggest the building of an underpass.