TITLE:
Assessing Gravel Roads Condition to Examine Trends and Behaviors of Gravel Roads in Rural Areas in Kyela District
AUTHORS:
Paul Sango, Mwajuma I. Lingwanda, Gislar Kifanyi
KEYWORDS:
Unpaved Road Condition, Road Material, Gravel Road, Road Distresses
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.10 No.11,
November
16,
2022
ABSTRACT: Gravel roads are an economical choice where traffic volume is low. Many
gravel roads were constructed in rural areas in the Kyela district and they
were well-served for many years. Besides the gravel roads, the main challenge
faced is the issue of unpaved road condition deterioration by the behaviors of road materials. The study selected three gravel
rural roads with a total of 31.24 kilometers as constructed roads to
gravel standard. The aim of this study
was to assess gravel roads condition to examine trends
and behaviors of gravel roads in rural areas. A descriptive analysis was
conducted to determine trends and behaviors of gravel roads. The methods
used to collect data were observation and physical measurement. The results show that there was more than one road distress identified and
assessed on each study road. It was noted that all the study roads had
excellent to poor distress conditions associated with poor road materials and
lack of maintenance. This study recommended that road authorities improve the
current condition by avoiding the use of poor road materials in order to reduce surface deterioration associated.