Lecture 4

WIDENING ON CIRCULAR CURVE

The extra width of a carriageway that is required on a

curved section of highway above that required on a tangent
section.

Advantage of the Widening:

1. A vehicle turning about a curve occupies extra space.
2. The rear wheels follow the front wheels on a shorter
radius, and this has the effect of increasing the width of
the vehicle in relation to the lane width of the roadway.
3. There is a tendency to drive a curved path longer than the
actual curve. Thus, on right turning curves the vehicle
shifts toward the inside edge of the pavement, creating a
need for additional pavement width.
l

r R

R Wrd ….(1)
R  l  (r  d)
2 2 2
….(2)
l 2

W per lane
2R
or
nl2
W
2R

1
where:
W = extra width (m).
R = radius of outer wheels (m).
r = radius of inner wheels (m)
d = lateral width of wheel (m).
l = length of wheel base (m) = 15 m for the design
vehicle.
n = number of lanes.

EX: Calculate the total width of pavement on a horizontal

curve given the following data:- design speed 70 Km/hr,
pavement width 7m, superelevation 1/15, coefficient of side
friction 0.14, longest wheel base length 12m.

Sol:
nl2
W
2R
V2
ef 
127R
1 (70)2
15  0.14  127R  R  186.69m Use R = 187 m
2(12)2
W
2(187)
 0.77m Use W = 0.8 m
 Total width of pavement = 7+0.8 = 7.8m