Page 49 - SST Class 05

1. Means of Land Transport

The transports which run on the land surface are called the means of land transport.
They can be divided into two broad types : roadways and railways .

Roadways
It is easy to build roads in the plains, but difficult to build them on hills and in deserts.
Thus, roads can be built just about anywhere. They play the important role as a means
of transport. They are necessary even for other means of transport. For example, a
railway station, seaport or airport needs to be linked to other places by road.

Roads connect villages, towns, cities and countries. Their quality and breadth depend
on the purpose for which they are used. A road can be kuchcha or pucca . A kuchcha

road is a narrow, muddy road. Many of rural roads are kuchcha. On the other hand, a
pucca road is metalled covered with tar or mortar.
In addition to the material used for building a road, its breadth also depends on its
importance. A rural road is normally narrow or one-lane road, while a highway can

have two or more lanes. In India, there are a few expressways which have 16 lanes.
When there are two or more lanes

for going and two or more lanes for
coming, like in a highway, the right
lanes are used for speedy travel
while the left lanes are used for
slow transports.

A good network of roads is
essential for every country to
achieve progress. With time, traffic A flyover An expressway
has intensified in all places. To ease traffic at crossings and busy roads, flyovers, foot-
over bridges and subways have been built. Flyovers are often built over railway
crossings, road squares, busy markets and other roads so that speedy traffic can run

smoothly.
Highways : A highway normally connects major cities. It is an important, broad and
long road. It can be state highway or national highway . A state highway connects the
cities within a state while a national highway connects major cities of the country.

Mostly a national highway has four or more lanes. Now, we can find highways having
as many as 16 lane—eight for going and eight for coming. These are named differently
in different places, like freeways , expressways etc.

International Highways : Mostly, highways connect cities within the country, but
there are several major highways which connect different countries. The Pan-American
Highway connects Alaska in North America to Chile in South America and the Burma-

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