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7-Geometric Design and Vertical Curves

Geometric design and vertical alignment involve determining specific highway design elements like the number of lanes, lane width, median type, and grades. Vertical alignment aims to provide proper drainage and safety by transitioning between roadway grades using vertical curves. Vertical curves can be crest or sag curves and are typically designed as equal tangent parabolic curves defined by the initial and final grades, curve length, and other parameters.

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107 views

7-Geometric Design and Vertical Curves

Geometric design and vertical alignment involve determining specific highway design elements like the number of lanes, lane width, median type, and grades. Vertical alignment aims to provide proper drainage and safety by transitioning between roadway grades using vertical curves. Vertical curves can be crest or sag curves and are typically designed as equal tangent parabolic curves defined by the initial and final grades, curve length, and other parameters.

Uploaded by

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

Vertical Alignment
Introduction
• It 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,
– and radii required for vehicle turning.
• All these elements and the
performance characteristics of
vehicles play an important role.
• 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
Two Dimensional View

Z 1. Plan View Horizontal Alignment

2. Profile View Vertical Alignment


Vertical Alignment
• The objective of vertical alignment is
– to determine the elevation of highway
points to ensure proper roadway
drainage and
– an acceptable level of safety.
• 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
Sag and Crest Vertical
Curves

2
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 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 circular curve is used to connect
the horizontal straight stretches of
road, a parabolic curve is usually
used to connect gradients in the
profile alignment.
• It provides a constant rate of change
of slope and implies equal curve
lengths. +

+ - +

Level -
+
CREST 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 of


the curve at a point ‘x’ along the
curve from the beginning of the
vertical curve (PVC).
‘C’ is the elevation of the PVC since
x=0 corresponds the PVC
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.
PVI

PVC PVT

PVC PVT

PVI

PVC PVC
PVT
PVI

PVC
PVT
PVT
• 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;
A
y x 2
8
200 L
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 in eq. 8
A L 2
ym  ( )
200 L 2
AL
ym 
800
A
yf  * L2
200 L
AL
yf 
200
• First derivative can be used to
determine the location of the low
point, the alternative to this is to use
a k-value which is defined as

L
k
A
where ‘L’ is in feet and ‘A’ is in %.
• This value ‘k’ can be used directly to
compute the high / low points for
crest/ sag vertical curves by
x=kG1
where ‘x’ is the distance from the
PVC to the high/ low point. ‘k’ can
also be defined as the horizontal
distance in feet required to affect a
1% change in the slope.

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