The International Road Maintenance Handbook – Practical Guidelines for Rural Road Maintenance, is free for download from the web.
This handbook is the second in a volume of four, and focuses on unpaved roads. The handbook was produced in 1994, but most of the information is still valid. The handbook was originally aimed at site supervisors in developing countries (originally in Africa) where budgets are limited, technology lacking and traffic loads growing. Roads foresters will also get value out of the handbook.
The handbook has very straightforward instructions and makes very good use of drawings and pictures. It is also quite suitable as training material, even for on-the-job training. The main sections of the handbook are as follows:
- Grading – what grading is, defects, resources and maintenance methods.
- Labour based reshaping – routine and major reshaping.
- Dragging - what dragging is, defects, resources and maintenance methods.
- Patching – mobile gangs and labour based.
- Mechanised Regravelling - what regravelling is, defects, resources and maintenance methods.
- Labour and Tractor Regravelling - what regravelling is, defects, resources and maintenance methods.
Source: PIARC Road Maintenance Handbook, www.metschies.com/downloads/