Chapter Introduction

Transport engineering or transportation engineering is the science of safe and efficient movement of people and goods. It is a sub-discipline of civil engineering. Transportation contributes to the economic, industrial, social and cultural development of any country. Transportation is vital for the economic development of any region since every commodity produced, whether it is food, clothing, agricultural products, industrial products or medicine, needs transportation at all stages from production to distribution. In the production stage, transportation is required for carrying raw materials like seeds, manure, coal, steel, oil, etc. In the distribution stage, transportation is required from the production centres, namely, farms and factories to the marketing centres and later to the retailers and consumers for distribution.