CE 318 HIGHWAY ENGINEERING

Geometric Design of Highways (HW-6)

Name: ____________________________

Please complete the following problems on engineering paper:

1) A rural collector highway is to be constructed in rolling terrain with an ADT of 650 vehicles
per day. Determine:

a) minimum design speed

b) recommended lane width
c) preferable shoulder width
d) maximum grade
e) maximum length of crest and sag vertical curves
f) maximum superelevation
g) maximum degree of curve (assume fs = 0.15)

For part e: Determine k from Table 16.5 for crest curve and use Table 16.7 for sag curve.
For part g: Use equation 16.24 to find the minimum radius. Use e = 0.08’/’.

2) A +2 percent grade on an arterial highway intersects with a -1 percent grade at station (535 +
25) at an elevation of 300.00 feet. If the design speed of the highway is 65 mph, determine
the stations and elevations of the BVC and EVC, the elevation of each even 100-foot station
and the high point of the curve. Use Table 16.5 to find k to compute the length of the crest
vertical curve. Round up to the nearest 100-foot.

3) Determine the minimum length of a sag vertical curve if the grades are -4% and +2%. The
design speed is 70 mph. Consider the SSD, comfort and general appearance criterion.
Assume a perception-reaction time of 2.5 seconds and a deceleration rate of 11.2 ft/sec2.

4) A circular curve connects two tangents that deflect at an angle of 48°. The point of
intersection of the tangents is located at station (948 + 67.32). If the design speed of the
highway is 60 mph, compute the curve properties for the curve, i.e. R, D, L, C, E, M and the
PC Station and PT Station. Assume e = 0.08’/’ and fs = 0.12.