The A20 Dual Carriageway becomes the M20 Motorway - geograph

The Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) is a series of 15 volumes that provide standards, advice notes and other documents relating to the design, assessment and operation of trunk roads, including

motorways A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, and, with some amendments, the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

. It also forms the basis of the road design standards used in many other countries. DMRB volumes form part of a suite of technical documents produced by

National Highways National Highways, formerly the Highways Agency and later Highways England, is a State-owned enterprise, government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving Roads in England, motorways and major A roads in England. It al ...

, which comprises: * Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) * Manual of Contract Documents for Highway Works (MCHW) * Asset Maintenance and Operation Requirements (AMOR) which supersedes the Network Maintenance Manual and Routine and Winter Service Codes, and its predecessor the Trunk Road Maintenance Manual

Overview

The volumes within the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges are: Volume 0 – Introduction and General requirements
Volume 1 – Highway Structures: Approval Procedures and General Design
Volume 2 – Highway Structures: Design (Substructures and Special Structures), Materials
Volume 3 – Highway Structures: Inspection and Maintenance
Volume 4 –

Geotechnics Geotechnical engineering is the branch of civil engineering concerned with the engineering behavior of earth materials. It uses the principles of soil mechanics and rock mechanics for the solution of its respective engineering problems. It al ...

and Drainage
Volume 5 - Assessment and Preparation of Road Schemes
Volume 6 - Road Geometry
Volume 7 - Pavement Design and Maintenance
Volume 8 -

Traffic Signs Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of or above roads to give instructions or provide information to road users. The earliest signs were simple wooden or stone milestones. Later, signs with directional arms were introduce ...

and

Lighting Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aesthetic effects. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources like lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylig ...

Volume 9 - Traffic Control and Communications
Volume 10 - Environmental Design
Volume 11 - Environmental Assessment
Volume 12 - Traffic Appraisal of Road Schemes
Volume 13 - Economic Assessment of Road Schemes olume Withdrawnbr /> Volume 14 - Economic Assessment of Road Maintenance olume Withdrawnbr /> Volume 15 - Economic Assessment of Road Schemes in Scotland The individual volumes contain technical requirements and guidance on a wide range of highway related topics, necessary to deliver works on the Strategic Road Network

Specific Subjects

Scheme appraisal

In terms of scheme appraisal, the cost-benefit and

environmental impact assessment Environmental Impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the term "environmental imp ...

methods set out in DMRB provide important inputs into the approach used to appraise new road schemes, including the former

New Approach to Appraisal The New Approach to Appraisal (also NATA) was the name given to a multi-criteria decision framework used to appraise transport projects and proposals in the United Kingdom. NATA was built on the well established cost–benefit analysis and env ...

Safety barriers (road restraint systems)

The approach to safety barriers was revised in 2005/06 from a prescriptive approach to a risk assessment-based system (Road Restraints Risk Assessment Process (RRRAP)). TD 19/06 - "Requirements for Road Restraint Systems" was issued and the safety barrier drawings in Volume 3 of the Manual of Contract Documents for Highways Works were withdrawn, to be replaced by Highways Agency accepted EN 1317 Road Restraint Systems list.

Timeline

When the DMRB was originally published in 1992 it only covered roads in England and Wales. Its remit was subsequently extended to include roads in Scotland and Northern Ireland. DMRB is managed by

on behalf of the agencies responsible for trunk roads in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, however the requirements given may be subject to regional variations. In 1992 it was published as loose leaf set of documents in lever arch files. In 2002 the DMRB was made freely available on the internet at. Paper copies in the lever arch folders continued to be available to purchase as well as copies available on compact discs.

2015 review

In 2015 as part of the Protocol attached to the licence for Highways England Ltd to be the Strategic Highways Company, there was a requirement to review the structure, usability and content of the DMRB by March 2020. Highways England appointed WSP to assist with thought leadership on what these changes should be. Between April 2015 and March 2016 a wide ranging stakeholder consultation and developed a number of recommendations. The first of the new format documents were published in June 2018.

Use in Republic of Ireland

Rather than create a separate design manual for roads in the Republic of Ireland, the UK's Design Manual for Roads and Bridges has also applied in the Republic of Ireland since 2001, with an additional addendum inserted by the

National Roads Authority The National Roads Authority (NRA) ( ga, An tÚdarás um Bóithre Náisiúnta) was a state body in Ireland, responsible for the national road network. The NRA was established as part of the Roads Act 1993 and commenced operations on 23 December ...

to cater for local conditions in the country. In this form it is known as the ''NRA Design Manual for Roads and Bridges'' or ''NRADMRB''. The Irish version incorporates Volumes 1,2, 4-8 and part of Volume 9 of the UK DMRB.

References

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External links

National Highways
National Highways home page

Design Manual for Roads and Bridges
– PDF versions of the individual volumes in the manual
Manual of Contract Document for Highway Works
– Contains the Specification and Notes for Guidance to be used in connection with Works on the motorway and trunk road network.
Traffic Systems and Signals Plans Registry
A technical archive of traffic systems and signs documents, originally hard copy only, now made available online. The site contains Highways England Documents that start MCE, MCF, MCG, MCH MCS, MCX, TR, TRG TRH. Site is free, but you have to register (or at least provide an email address).

- Requirements for management of maintenance of the motorway and trunk road network. Department for Transport
Manual for Streets
- replaces Design Bulletin 32 (DB32) which deals with residential and non-trunk road design and layout.
Traffic Signs Manual
- Complete manual, including Chapter 8 - Roadworks and temporary situations (2006).
Traffic Advisory Leaflets
- Downloads of advice covering subjects such as provision for pedestrians and cyclists, traffic modelling and calming. Road transport in the United Kingdom Road transport in Ireland Impact assessment Technical communication 1992 establishments in the United Kingdom