Chapter III

Geometric design of Highways

Tewodros N.
www.tnigatu.wordpress.com
[email protected]
 Lecture Overview
• Introduction
• Appropriate Geometric Standards
• Design Controls and Criteria
• Design Class
• Sight Distance
• Design Vehicle
• Traffic Volume and
• Design Speed
• Geometric Design Elements
– Horizontal Alignment
• Straights (Tangents)
• Circular Curves
• Super elevation
• Transition Curves
• Widening of Curves
– Vertical Alignment
• Vertical Curves
• Length Of Vertical Curves
• Sight Distances At Underpass Structures:
• Grades and Grade Control
– Cross-Section
 Sight Distance
• Sight Distance is the distance visible to the driver of a
vehicle ahead of him
• Stopping sight distance
• Passing sight distance
• Meeting sight distance
• For highway safety, the designer must provide sight
distances of sufficient length so that drivers can control
the operation of their vehicles. They must be able to
avoid striking an unexpected object on the traveled way.
• Two-lane highways should also have sufficient sight
distance to enable drivers to occupy the opposing traffic
lane for passing maneuvers, without risk of accident.
 Stopping sight distance
• Stopping sight distance is the total distance traveled by a given vehicle
before stopping during three time intervals
• The time to perceive the hazard
• The time to react
• The time to stop the vehicle
• During the first two intervals, the vehicle travels at full speed, during the
third interval, its speed is reduced to zero, and must happen before
hitting an object or vehicle ahead.
• As speed increases the reaction time increases ????
speed (km/h) Perception- reaction
time (sec)
16 3.5
32 3.25
48 3.0
64 2.75
80 2.50
96 2.0
 Stopping sight distance
• Stopping Reaction distance
Dr = 0.278 Vt
• Braking distance
2
V
Db =
254( f ± G )
Db = braking distance
V = initial velocity when brakes are applied
f = coefficient of friction
G = grade (decimal)
 Stopping sight distance

V2
SSD = (0.278)(t )(V ) +
254( f ± G )

SSD = Stopping Sight Distance (meter)

= Dist. traveled during perception/reaction time + Braking Dist.
t = Driver reaction time, generally taken to be 2.5 seconds
V = Initial speed (km/h)
f = Coefficient of friction between tires and roadway
Note:
1. Safe SSD on upgrades is shorter than on downgrades
2. Min. SD should be adjusted where steep grades and high speed occur in
combination
 Stopping sight distance Cont…

Pavement condition Maximum Slide

Good, dry 1.00 0.80
Good, wet 0.90 0.60
Poor, dry 0.80 0.55
Poor, wet 0.60 0.30
Packed snow and Ice 0.25 0.10
Stopping sight distance Cont…

Practical Stopping Distance

700
Stopping Distance

600
500
400
Series1
300
200
100
0
0 20 40 60 80
Speed in MPH
Grade impacts on stopping

Varying Grade
Stopping Distance in Feet

600
500
400 2 percent grade
0 percent grade
300
-2 percent grade
200
100
0
0 20 40 60 80
Miles per Hour
 Friction impact on stopping
Varying Friction
Stopping Distance in Feet

1800
1600
1400
1200 Friction = 0.5
1000
Friction = 0.25
800
600 Friction = 0.1
400
200
0
0 20 40 60 80
Miles per Hour
 Impact of reaction time

Varying Reaction Time

800 2.5 second

Stopping
Distance

600 reaction time

1.5 second
400
reaction time
200 0.6 second
0 reaction time
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Miles per Hour
 Example

A driver of a car applied the brakes and

barely avoided hitting an obstacle on a
roadway section which has a 5 percent
gradient. The vehicle left skid marks 26
meters. Assuming that the coefficient of
friction is 0.6 and the driver was travelling
down the grade; determine whether the
problem was the speed limit of 70kph on
the section or driver violation of the speed
limit.
 Passing Sight Distance
• Minimum distance required to safely complete passing
maneuver on 2-lane two-way highway
• Allows time for driver to avoid collision with approaching
vehicle and not cut off passed vehicle when upon return
to lane
• Assumes:
1. Vehicle that is passed travels at uniform speed
2. Speed of passing vehicle is reduced behind passed vehicle as it
reaches passing section
3. Time elapses as driver reaches decision to pass
4. Passing vehicle accelerates during the passing maneuver and
velocity of the passing vehicle is about 16km/hr greater than that
of the passed vehicle
5. Enough distance is allowed between passing and oncoming vehicle
when the passing vehicle returns to its lane
 Passing Sight Distance

(1/3)d2

(2/3)d2

d1 d3 d4
 Passing Sight Distance
PSD = d1 + d2 + d3 + d4
d1 = distance traveled during perception/reaction
time and distance traveled while accelerating to
passing speed and when vehicle just enters the left
lane
at1
d1 = 0.278t1 (V − m + )
2
Where
t = perception/reaction time and the time for
acceleration, for example,70-85km/h, t=4 sec, for
100-110 km/h, t=4.5sec
V= design speed km/h
a = acceleration (km/hr/sec), for 70-110 km/h, a =2.4
 Passing Sight Distance
PSD = d1 + d2 + d3 + d4

d2 = distance traveled during overtaking time

d3 = clearance distance between the passing vehicle and the opposing
vehicle at the moment the passing vehicle returns to the right lane.
Usually d3 varies b/n 30 and 90m.
d4 = distance traveled by opposing vehicle during 2/3 of the time the
passing vehicle is in the left lane. (d4 usually taken as 2/3 d2 )

Design speed (Km/h) 50 60 70 85 100 120

Passing sight distance(m) 140 180 240 320 430 590

 Meeting Sight Distance

• Is the distance required to enable the drivers

of two vehicles traveling in opposite
directions to bring their vehicles to a safe
stop after becoming visible to each other.
• Meeting sight distance is normally calculated
as twice the minimum stopping sight distance.
 DESIGN VEHICLE
• Design Vehicle are vehicles with representative
dimensions and operating characteristics used to
establish highway design controls for
accommodating vehicles of a designated class.
• Design vehicles are used to define several
geometric features. Some examples are:
• Turning radii
• Vehicle height
• Driver Eye Height
For design purpose each design vehicles has larger
physical dimensions and a larger minimum turning
radius than in the class.
 DESIGN VEHICLE
• As per ERA Design Manual there are four general classes of design vehicles has
been established:
• 4*4 utility vehicle
• Single unit truck
• Single unit Bus
• Semi-Trailer Combination
The design vehicles are therefore, hypothetical vehicles, selected to represent a
particular vehicle class.
typically the 85th percentile or 15th percentile value of any given dimension.
 DESIGN VEHICLE

Dimensions and Turning Radius for a Single Unit Truck (DV2)

 TRAFFIC CHARACTERISTICS
• Traffic volume directly affects the geometric features
such as no. of lanes, widths, alignment, and grade.
• Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) is the average
of 24-hr counts collected every day in the year.
• Average Daily Traffic (ADT) is the average of 24-
hour counts collected over a number of days
greater than 1 but less than a year.
• Peak-Hour Volume: traffic volumes for an interval of
time shorter than a day more appropriately reflect
the operating conditions that should be used for
design.
 TRAFFIC CHARACTERISTICS
• Directional distribution: is an indication of the
tidal flow during the day.
– Directional distribution is relatively stable and
does not change materially from year to year.
• Traffic composition: Vehicles of different sizes
and mass have different operating
characteristics.
– The percentage of truck traffic during the peak hours
has to be estimated.
TRAFFIC CHARACTERISTICS
 TRAFFIC CHARACTERISTICS
• Design Speed: the highest continuous speed at which individual
vehicles can travel with safety on the road when weather
conditions are favorable, traffic volumes are low and the design
features of the road are the governing condition for safety.

Horizontal and vertical alignment, superelevation and sight distance. Other

elements such as lane width, shoulder width and clearance from obstacles are
indirectly related to design speed.
• The facility should accommodate nearly all reasonable demands
(speed) with appropriate adequacy (safety and capacity) but
should not fail completely under severe load, i.e. the extremely
high speeds maintained by a small percentage of drivers.
Thank You!