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Intro To Geometric Design and Vertical Alignment

The document discusses the principles of highway vertical alignment, including how vertical curves are used to transition between grades on a roadway. It explains how vertical curves are designed as parabolic shapes to provide a constant rate of change in slope. The length and grade differences determine parameters like curve equation coefficients and offsets that are important for designing vertical curves that meet safety and drainage needs.

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Ahsan Arfan
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54 views

Intro To Geometric Design and Vertical Alignment

The document discusses the principles of highway vertical alignment, including how vertical curves are used to transition between grades on a roadway. It explains how vertical curves are designed as parabolic shapes to provide a constant rate of change in slope. The length and grade differences determine parameters like curve equation coefficients and offsets that are important for designing vertical curves that meet safety and drainage needs.

Uploaded by

Ahsan Arfan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Geometric Design &

Vertical Alignment
Introduction
• Design of Highways includes the specific
design elements of a highway, such as
– the number of lanes,
– lane width,
– median type and width,
– length of freeway acceleration and
deceleration lanes,
– need for truck climbing lanes for highways
on steep grades,
– curve radii required for vehicle turning
– Alignment required to provide adequate
stopping and passing sight distances.
• Characteristics of vehicles play an
important role in the designing of
these elements
• Physical dimensions of vehicles
affect a number of design elements
such as the
– radii required for turning
– Height of highway overpass
– Lane width
Principles of Highway
Alignment
• The alignment of a highway is a three
dimensional problem with
measurement in x, y and z direction.
• It is a bit complicated, therefore the
alignment problem is typically
reduced to two dimensional
alignment as shown in figure on next
slide.
Highway Alignment in
Two Dimensional View

Z 1. Plan View Horizontal Alignment

2. Profile View Vertical Alignment


Vertical Alignment
• Specifies the Elevation of points along
the road way
• The elevation of highway points is
determined
 to ensure proper roadway drainage
 an acceptable level of driver safety & comfort.
• The primary objective of vertical
alignment lies in the transition of
roadway elevation between two
grades.
• This transition is achieved by the
means of a vertical curve. These
curves can be classified into;

– Crest Vertical Curves


– Sag Vertical Curves
Crest and Sag Vertical
Curves
Crest and Sag Vertical
Curves
Where

• G1 Initial roadway grade( initial tangent grade)


• G2 Final roadway grade
• A Absolute value of the difference in grades
• L Length of vertical curve measured in a
horizontal plane
• PVC Initial point of the vertical curve
• PVI Point of vertical intersection ( intersection
of initial and final grades)
• PVT Final point of the vertical curve
Vertical Curves
• Vertical curves are almost arranged
such that half of the curve length is
positioned before the PVI and half
after and are referred as equal
tangent vertical curves.

• A Parabolic curve is usually used to


connect gradients in the profile
alignment.
Vertical Curves

• It provides a constant rate of change


of slope and implies equal curve
lengths. +

+ - +

Level -
+
CREST VERTICAL CURVES -
Vertical Curves

- + -
-

+
-
Level
+
SAG VERTICAL CURVES
Vertical Curve
• For a vertical curve, the general form
of the parabolic equation is;
y = ax2 + bx + c 1

where,
‘y’ is the roadway elevation at
distance ‘x’ along the curve from the
beginning of the vertical curve (PVC)
in stations or ft.
‘c’ is the elevation of the PVC (since
x=0 corresponds the PVC) in ft
dy
b
dx

Slope of Curve
• To define ‘a’ and ‘b’, first derivative of
equation 1 gives the slope.

dy
 2ax  b 2
dx
• At PVC, x=0;
dy
 b
dx
or
dy
G  3
dx

G1  b

Where G1 is the initial slope.


• Taking second derivative of
equation1, i.e. rate of change of
slope;
dy 2
2
 2a 4
dx
• The rate of change of slope can also
be written as;
dy 2 G2  G1
2
 5
dx L
G2  G1
2a 
L

• Equating equations 4 and 5


G2  G1
2a  6
L

• or

G2  G1
a 7
2L
Fundamentals of Vertical
Curves
• For vertical curve design and
construction, offsets which are
vertical distances from initial tangent
to the curve are important for vertical
curve design.
• A vertical curve also simplifies the
computation of the high and low
points or crest and sag vertical
curves respectively, since high or low
point does not occur at the curve
ends PVC or PVT.
• Let ‘Y’ is the offset at any distance ‘x’
from PVC.
• Ym is the mid curve offset & Yt is the offset
at the end of the vertical curve.
• From an equal tangent parabola, it can be
written as;

where ‘Y’ is the offset in feet and ‘A’ is the


absolute value of the difference in
grades(G2-G1, in %), ‘L’ is length of
vertical curve in feet and ‘x’ is distance
from the PVC in feet.
Putting the value of x=L/2 & L in eq. 8
A L 2
ym  ( )
200L 2
AL
ym 
800
A
yf  * L2
200 L
AL
yf 
200
• Parabolic equation gives constant rate
of change of slope
• So the horizontal distance required to
change the slope by 1 % is

where
K = value i.e. the horizontal distance in ft required to affect a 1 %
change in slope of the vertical curve
L = length of curve is in feet and
A = Absolute value of the difference in grades expressed in %
• This value ‘k’ can be used directly to
compute the high / low points for
crest/ sag vertical curves by
xhl = K x lG1l

where ‘xhl’ is the distance from the


PVC to the high/ low point.

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