Single lane road width in India as per IRC

Single lane road width in India as per IRC | single lane carriageway width for NH, SH, MDR, ODR & VR | width of shoulder for single lane road | width of Roadway for single lane.

Road construction department in India have set up Indian Road Congress (IRC). The Indian Roads Congress (IRC) is the Apex Body of Highway Engineers in the country give the guidelines, rule and regulation of several kinds of roads contraction. It is updated several times with new guidelines.

There is several kinds of Single Lane Road in india constructed by central and state government in urban and rural areas, such as National Highway (NH), state highway (SH), major district road (MDR), other District road (ODR) and village road (VR). It will be constructed in plain areas or mountain area & hilly area.

A single lane road or one-lane road is a road that permits two-way travel & traffics but it is not wide enough in most places to allow vehicles to pass one another (although sometimes two compact vehicles such as car can pass). The distance between passing places varies considerably, depending on the terrain and the volume of traffic on the road. A Single lane road consists of two main component carriageway for travelling & traffic and shoulder for vehicles to pass one another.

Width of a single lane road consist of carriageway width & margin width. Width of margin comprises width of pavement shoulder and unpaved shoulder. A carriageway generally consists of a number of traffic lanes together with any associated shoulder. Road margin is the portion of road beyond the carriageway.

Shoulder are provided along the road edge and on intended for accommodation of stop vehicles, serve as an emergency lane for vehicles and provide lateral support. Shoulder should be strong enough to bear the weight of fully loaded truck even in wet condition. Shoulder width should be required for giving working space, ideal width of shoulder should be 4.6 m and minimum is about 2.5 m. Width of shoulder also depending on available space and elevation of surface such as plain area mountain area or hilly area. In Mountain area it is quite difficult to construct a road so width of shoulder is minimised and their width is less than in plain area.

Carriageway width or width of pavement on which vehicles are going on depending on the width of traffic Lane and number of lane. Width of the traffic Lane depending on the width of the vehicles and the side clearance. Side clearance improve the operating speed and safety for vehicles.

As per IRC the maximum permissible width of a vehicle is 2.44m is allowed and desirable side clearance for single Lane road is about 0.68m on both sides. This require minimum of lane width 3.75m for a single Lane Road.

Single lane road width in India as per IRC

Single lane road width in India as per IRC
Single lane road width in India as per IRC

In India, as per IRC rules and guideline, width of a single Lane Road for carriageway is kept around 3.75 meter for National Highway, state highway, major district road, other District road and for rural village road it should be kept around 3 meter wide. Width of shoulder for single Lane road is kept about maximum of 4.6 m wide on both sides and minimum of 2.5 m wide, so maximum width of roadway (width of carriageway + width of shoulder) for single Lane Road is about 12 m wide and minimum of 7.5 meter depending on elevation of surface such as plain, mountain or hilly areas.

IRC specification for single Lane Road for National highway (NH) and state highway (SH)

● width of carriageway – 3.75 m
◆ shoulder width in plain area – 4.125 m (on both sides)
● shoulder width in mountain or hilly area – 1.25 m (on both sides)
● width of roadway in plain area is sum of width of carriageway & shoulder width = (2 × 4.125) + 3.75 = 12 meter
● width of roadway in mountain area is sum of width of carriageway & shoulder width = (2 × 1.25) + 3.75 = 6.25 meter.

IRC specification for single Lane Road for major district road (MDR)

● width of carriageway – 3.75 m
◆ shoulder width in plain area – 2.62 m (on both sides)
● shoulder width in mountain or hilly area – 0.50 m (on both sides)
● width of roadway in plain area is sum of width of carriageway & shoulder width = (2 × 2.62) + 3.75 = 9 meter
● width of roadway in mountain area is sum of width of carriageway & shoulder width = (2 × 0.5) + 3.75 = 4.75 meter.

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IRC specification for single Lane Road for others district road (ODR)

● width of carriageway – 3.75 m
◆ shoulder width in plain area – 1.875 m (on both sides)
● shoulder width in mountain or hilly area – 0.50 m (on both sides)
● width of roadway in plain area is sum of width of carriageway & shoulder width = (2 × 1.875) + 3.75 = 7.5 meter
● width of roadway in mountain area is sum of width of carriageway & shoulder width = (2 × 0.5) + 3.75 = 4.75 meter.

IRC specification for single Lane Road for others village road (VR)

● width of carriageway – 3 m
◆ shoulder width in plain area – 2.25 m (on both sides)
● shoulder width in mountain or hilly area – 0.50 m (on both sides)
● width of roadway in plain area is sum of width of carriageway & shoulder width = (2 × 2.25) + 3 = 7.5 meter
● width of roadway in mountain area is sum of width of carriageway & shoulder width = (2 × 0.5) + 3 = 4 meter.

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Width of a carriageway for single Lane Road

As per the guidelines of Indian Road Congress (IRC) for single Lane Road, width of the carriageway is about 3.75 meter wide for the National Highway (NH), state highway (SH), major district road (MDR) & others district road (ODR). Width of carriageway 7.5 m wide includes 2.44 m is maximum permissible width of vehicle and 0.68 m is their side clearance on both sides. For rural and village road width of carriageway is kept around 3 meter wide for single Lane Road. This is standard & ideal width of carriageway for single Lane Road.

Width of the shoulder for single Lane Road

As per the guidelines of Indian Road Congress (IRC) for single Lane Road, width of the shoulder is range between 0.5m to 4.125 m wide on both sides for NH, SH, MDR, ODR & VR road depending on certain condition elevation of soil surface, plain, mountain or hilly areas. In plain area for National and state highway, shoulder width should be adequate for giving working space, it should be 4.125 m wide on both side. In hilly or mountain areas it is quite difficult to construct Road so shoulder width is minimised and reduced to only about 0.5 m to 1.25 m wide on both sides.