 PC = Point of curvature. It is the beginning of curve.

 PT = Point of tangency. It is the end of curve.

 PI = Point of intersection of the tangents. Also called vertex
 T = Length of tangent from PC to PI and from PI to PT. It is
known as subtangent.
 R = Radius of simple curve, or simply radius.
 L = Length of chord from PC to PT. Point Q as shown below
is the midpoint of L.
 Lc = Length of curve from PC to PT. Point M in the figure is
the midpoint of Lc.
 E = External distance, the nearest distance from PI to the
curve.
 m = Middle ordinate, the distance from midpoint of curve to
midpoint of chord.
 I = Deflection angle (also called angle of
intersection and central angle). It is the angle of intersection
of the tangents. The angle subtended by PC and PT at O is
also equal to I, where O is the center of the circular curve
from the above figure.
 x = offset distance from tangent to the curve. Note: x is
perpendicular to T.
 θ = offset angle subtended at PC between PI and any point in
𝟏𝟏𝟒𝟓. 𝟗𝟏𝟔 𝑰 the curve
𝑹= 𝑻 = 𝑹 𝐭𝐚𝐧  D = Degree of curve. It is the central angle subtended by a
𝑫 𝟐 length of curve equal to one station. In English system, one
station is equal to 100 ft and in SI, one station is equal to 20
𝑰 𝑰 m.
𝑬 = 𝑹 (𝐬𝐞𝐜 − 𝟏) 𝒎 = 𝑹 (𝟏 − 𝐜𝐨𝐬 )
𝟐 𝟐  Sub chord = chord distance between two adjacent full
stations.
𝑰 𝝅𝑹𝑰 𝟐𝟎𝑰 Sharpness of circular curve
𝑳𝑪 = 𝟐𝑹 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝑳𝑪𝑼 = = The smaller is the degree of curve, the flatter is the curve and
𝟐 𝟏𝟖𝟎 𝑫
vice versa. The sharpness of simple curve is also determined by
radius R. Large radius are flat whereas small radius are sharp.
Elements of compound curve
 PC = point of curvature
 PT = point of tangency
 PI = point of intersection
 PCC = point of compound curve
 T1 = length of tangent of the first curve
 T2 = length of tangent of the second curve
 V1 = vertex of the first curve
 V2 = vertex of the second curve
 I1 = central angle of the first curve
 I2 = central angle of the second curve
 I = angle of intersection = I1 + I2
 Lc1 = length of first curve
 Lc2 = length of second curve
 L1 = length of first chord
 L2 = length of second chord
 L = length of long chord from PC to PT
 T1 + T2 = length of common tangent measured
from V1 to V2
 θ = 180° - I
 x and y can be found from triangle V1-V2-PI.
 L can be found from triangle PC-PCC-PT
 Elements of Reversed Curve
 PC = point of curvature

 PT = point of tangency

 PRC = point of reversed

curvature
 T1 = length of tangent of the first

curve
 T2 = length of tangent of the

second curve
 V1 = vertex of the first curve

 V2 = vertex of the second curve

 I1 = central angle of the first curve

 I2 = central angle of the second

curve
 Lc1 = length of first curve

 Lc2 = length of second curve

 L1 = length of first chord

 L2 = length of second chord

 T1 + T2 = length of common

tangent measured from V1 to V2