Highway engineering is the process of design and construction of efficient and safe
highways and
roads. It became prominent in the
20th century and has its roots in the discipline of
civil engineering. Standards of highway
engineering are continuously being improved. Concepts such as grade, surface texture, sight distance and minimum radii of bends in addition to interchange design are all important elements of highway
engineering. With the exception of the
U.K., most Western countries such as the
United States,
Japan and
Germany have extensive well developed highway networks.