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Verification of the coordination of horizontal alignment and profile at the

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VERIFICATION OF THE COORDINATION OF HORIZONTAL ALIGNMENT AND
PROFILE AT THE DRIVING SIMULATOR

By

Francesco Bella
Department of Sciences of Civil Engineering - Roma TRE University
via Vito Volterra n. 62 - 00146 Rome
Phone +39-6-55.17.34.16; fax +39-6-55.17.34.41
E-mail: bella@uniroma3.it

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Verification of the Coordination of Horizontal Alignment and Profile at the Driving

Simulator

ABSTRACT
The highway geometric design guidelines do not deal with the horizontal and vertical alignment’s joint design. The
guidelines adopt a simplified approach based on the independent design of both the horizontal and vertical
alignment followed by the check of the coordination of horizontal alignment and profile so as to avoid geometric
combinations which can cause undesirable optical effects and reduced safety. Suggestions regarding the horizontal
and vertical alignment’s coordination come from studies based on the drawing of the road’s perspective and by
methods of presentation of the combined alignment through computer animation. These methods are limited with
regards to the simulation of the perspective view of the highway from the driver’s viewpoint, during the dynamic
task of the driving. An experimental survey was carried out with an interactive driving simulator, considering the
high potentials of the driving simulation systems for the analysis of the effects of the combined alignment on the
driver’s behaviour. The objective was to verify whether Italian guidelines on the coordination of horizontal curves
combined with sag vertical curves and with crest vertical curves are sufficient to avoid a wrong perception of the
horizontal curvatures and to not affect the drivers’ choice of operating speed on horizontal curves. The statistical
analysis outcomes show that on the section at constant radius of the combined curves the V85 is less or equal than
that on the horizontal non-combined curves with the same radius. Results indicate that the suggestions by guidelines
on the coordination of horizontal curves overlapping with crest and sag appear to be acceptable.

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INTRODUCTION

It is widely made known that the curves represent the geometric element of the alignment characterised by the
greater risk of accidents.. Lamm et al. (1) state that more than 50 % of the overall accidents on rural highways took
place on curved sections. While Zegeer et al. (2) affirm that crash rates occurring on curves were reportedly 1.5 to 4
times those of similar tangents. Such phenomenon seems to be caused by a wrong perception of the alignment that
induces drivers to assume an inadequate behaviour compared to the geometric design of the curved section. In fact,
it has been indicated (3) (4) that drivers adopt an operating speed (V85) consistent with the “read” of the road
characteristics and that their wrong perception could induce them in anomalous behaviours and significantly reduce
road safety.
The probability to occur in drive perception errors increases as the complexity of the alignment increases
(5). Mori et al.(6), Bidulka et al. (7) affirm that perceptions errors could be significantly relevant in the conditions of
horizontal curves overlapped with sag vertical curves and with crest vertical curves. In this regard the highway
geometric design guidelines of all Countries adopt a simplified approach based on the independent design of the
horizontal alignment and of the vertical alignment followed by the check of the coordination of horizontal alignment
and profile so as to avoid geometric combinations which can bring to undesirable optical effects and a reduced
safety.

In particular the Italian guidelines (8), as a priority, invite to avoid the overlapping of horizontal and
vertical curves and, if not possible, they affirm the need to overlap the vertices and to design vertical and horizontal
curves with lengths of the same order of magnitude. These suggestions, common in the guidelines of most Countries
(9) (10), come from studies based on the drawing of the perspective of the road. This drawing method, however, is
heavily limited, with regards to the simulation of the perspective view of the highway to the driver during the
dynamic task of the driving, to encourage, recently, numerous studies on the visual perception of the road through
the use of the most advanced computer animation techniques. (7) (11) (12) (13) (14).

Potentially the interactive driving simulation methods seem to be more efficient than the computer
animation techniques. The interactive driving simulators, in fact, allow a realistic simulation of the road scenario in
a dynamic perspective based on the actions of the driver on the pedals and steering wheel of the vehicle during the
task of driving. Therefore, an experimental survey at the driving simulator was carried out in order to assess if the
Italian guidelines on the coordination of horizontal curves overlapping with crest vertical curves and sag vertical
curves (called combined curves) are able to determine:
• A driver’s behaviour that is not significantly different, in terms of speed and acceleration rate, from those
registered on the horizontal curve with the same radius on flat grade (called reference curve);
• A condition of risk on the section with the highest horizontal curvature (circular curve) of the combined curve
that is not significantly greater than the one that features the circular curve of the reference curve. In this regard
we consider that a greater risk corresponds to a higher operating speed (V85).
Two road alignments were designed to this purpose, one with flat longitudinal grade, the other with
numerous combined curves, but with the same horizontal alignment. Subsequently, they were implemented in virtual
reality. Thus thirty drivers carried out two driving sessions at the simulator (one for each road alignment) during
which the local speeds were recorded. At a second stage, based on the speeds registered on the horizontal combined
with vertical curves and on the correspondent reference curves, the operating speeds (V85) and the correspondent
acceleration rates were determined. The road alignments, the geometric features of the reference curves and
combined curves and the experimentation procedures are shown below, before discussing the outcomes of the
research.

THE SURVEYED GEOMETRIC CONDITIONS

Two two-lane rural roads, with only a different profile, were designed for the purposes of this research. One is flat
(called reference alignment), while the other has a longitudinal grade different to zero (called combined alignment).
The reference alignment was used as a reference through which the effects of combined curves on the other road
alignment could be assessed.

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The horizontal alignment, the same on both two-rural roads, is more than 30 km long. The values of the
circular curves’ radius range from 118m to 800m. The length of tangents range from 150m to 2200m, while the
deflection angle of horizontal curves range from 30° to 80°. The clothoids were used as transition curves. All the
geometric elements of the alignment are designed following the Italian design guide. The profile was defined
concerning the guidelines for the coordination of horizontal and vertical alignments. In particular, there are no
combinations of horizontal elements and vertical elements that could cause anomalous perspectives listed in the
guidelines. All vertical curves are designed to provide the stopping sight distance. As suggested also by Smith and
Lamm (15) the vertical curves are overlapped to tangents or are overlapped to horizontal curves so the vertices of
the two curves coincided and their length was the same order of magnitude. The longitudinal grades are not over
6%, while the radius of vertical curves range between 5000 m and 17850 m.

The combined alignment has 5 combined curves with sag (called sag combination) and 8 combined curves
with crest (called crest combination). The geometric parameters of these combined curves are shown in table 1;
while figure 1, as an example, shows the horizontal curve and the vertical curve of two combined curves.

DRIVING SIMULATION IN VIRTUAL REALITY

The experimentation in virtual reality was carried out using an advanced driving simulator of the Interuniversity
Research Center for Road Safety (CRISS). The simulation system of CRISS is widely described in several
previous researches (16) (17) (18) and we will omit here a further description. We only emphasize that the system
allows to simulate the driving conditions on the existing roads with a high degree of realism. They allow to
represent the infrastructure’s scenario, the traffic conditions, the configurations of horizontal and vertical
alignments, the cross section’s features, and to simulate the friction between tires and road surface and the
vehicle’s physical and mechanical characteristics.
In order to create a driving environment similar to the actual one, user interfaces (pedals, steering
wheels, gear lever) are installed on a real vehicle and the road scenario is projected onto three big screens: one in
the centre in front of the vehicle and two lateral ones angled at 60° with respect to the plane of the central screen.
This set up provides a realistic view of the road and surrounding environment. The scenario is updated
dynamically according to the travelling conditions of the vehicle, depending on the actions of the driver on the
pedals and the steering wheel. It is integrated with a sound system to reproduce the sounds of the engine. The
system allows to register 43 different parameters, recording the intensity of the actions of the drivers on the brake
and the accelerator pedals and on the steering wheels, and providing many other parameters describing travelling
conditions (vehicle barycentre, relative position with respect to the road axis, local speed and accelerations,
steering wheel rotation angle, pitching angle, rolling angle, etc.) at time or space intervals, respectively of a
fraction of a second or of a meter.

The experimentation was carried out using dry pavement conditions in good state of maintenance and with
the free vehicle on its own driving lane. Whereas, on the driving lane a modest traffic was distributed randomly for
the sole purpose of inducing the driver not to invade it. The simulated vehicle was a standard medium class car, both
for dimension and for mechanical performance, with an automatic gear. The data recording system acquired all the
parameters at spatial intervals of 5 m. 35 drivers were selected to perform driving at the simulator according to the
following characteristics: no experience with the driving simulator, at least five years of driving experience and an
average annual driven distance on rural roads of at least 3000 km. The sample used for the purposes of the survey
was of 30 people, because 3 drivers were not able to end the test because they felt sick during the test, and two, even
having completed the tests, experienced a degree of uneasiness that excluded them from the sample. The uneasiness
was noticed from the outcomes of the questions posed to the drivers after the test. The questionnaire on the
uneasiness perceived during the driving simulation consisted of 4 questions, each for a kind of uneasiness: nausea,
giddiness, weariness, other. Each question could be answered scoring 1 to 4, proportionally to the level of
uneasiness experienced: null, light, medium and high. The level “null” for all four kinds of uneasiness is considered
the condition of acceptability.

The procedure of the tests can be divided into the following steps:
1. communication to the driver about the general modalities of the driving (duration of the driving, use of the
steering wheel and pedals, automatic gear, etc.);

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2. filling in of a form with personal data;

3. setting the driver inside the car and adjustment of the driver’s seat;
4. training on a specific alignment for approximately 10 minutes;
5. carrying out the first driving;
6. car vacated by the driver for about 5 minutes in order to re-establish psycho-physical conditions similar to those
at the beginning of the test;
7. carrying out the second driving on a different road;
8. filling in of a questionnaire about the uneasiness perceived during the driving in order to eliminate from the
sample the driving tests carried out in anomalous conditions.
In order to limit the influence, on the data analysis, of the possible effects induced by the repeated drivings
on drivers (habit and tiredness), we chose to alternate the order of the drivings on the two roads. Figure 2 shows an
example of the visual representation of the road scenario as seen by the driver during the driving simulation on crest
combination n. 1.

DATA COLLECTION
We selected from the entire data measured during the driving simulation, the local speeds on sections within the
approach tangent and the departure tangent to each of the combined curves of the combined alignment. A similar
operation was carried out on the correspondent sections of the reference alignment. Figure 3, as an example, shows
the speed of a driver on a sag combination and on a crest combination and on the correspondent reference curves.
The speeds recorded in the typical points of the sections within the approach tangent and the departure
tangent were analysed . The typical points were identified in past researches (13) (19) and they were:
• point 1 was set out on the approach tangent at the curve, at 80m from the beginning of the clothoid, where the
drivers have a visual perception of the curve section that could induce them to change their speed;
• point 3, was the beginning of the circular curve on the end of the clothoid;
• point 5 was the midpoint of the horizontal circular curve;
• point 7 was the beginning of the clothoid at the end of the circular curve;
• point 9 was set out on the departure tangent, at 80m from the end of the clothoid, where the drivers may still be
affected by the curve section after travelling on it.
These points, considering the opportunity allowed by the simulation system to continuously acquire data
along the alignment, were integrated, in order to obtain a more detailed profile of the average operating speed, with
the following points:
• point 2, was located at the beginning of the clothoid preceding the circular curve;
• point 4 was set out on the section with a constant curvature, at 1/4 of the length of the circular curve;
• point 6 was is set out at 3/4 of the length of the circular curve;
• point 8 was the beginning of the clothoid succeeding the circular curve.
Figure 4 shows the scheme of a crest combination and the localization of the above mentioned measuring
points.

For each curve considered (5 sag combinations, 8 crest combinations and the correspondent reference
curves), in each of the nine typical points we calculated the values of the 85th percentile of the distribution of the
speeds (V85). Therefore, the acceleration value ai;i-1 correspondent to V85 was calculated in each section (i;i-1), in the
uniformly accelerated motion hypothesis.

For the sag combination n. 1, therefore, the accelerations ai;i-1 are given by
2 2
V 85 (i ) sag1 − V 85(i −1) sag 1
a (i;i −1) sag1 = (1)
2 D (i;i −1) sag1

where D (i;i-1)sag 1 is the length of the section (i;i-1) (with i from 2 to 9).

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Subsequently, for each kind of combined curve and for the correspondent reference curves, we determined:

• the average value of V85 in each of the nine points ( V 85 ( i ) );

• the average value of acceleration (ā (i;i-1)) in each of the section (i; i-1).

Figure 5 shows the values V 85 ( i ) and ā(i;i-1) for the crest combinations and the correspondent reference
curves. Figure 6 shows the values V 85 ( i ) and ā(i;i-1 for the sag combinations and for the correspondent reference
curves.

DATA ANALYSIS
Crest Combinations
The profile of the speed on the crest combinations shows a trend similar to that on the correspondent reference
curves. The driver achieves a visual perception of the horizontal curve starting from the tangent that induces him to
change his speed. He reaches the minimum value at point 3 for then starting to accelerate to reach the desired speed
on the departure tangent. The acceleration values appear higher on the crest combinations compared to the values
measured on the reference curves.
The speeds on the sections of approach and departure are affected by the longitudinal grades. They, in fact,
appear to be lower in the approaching section 1-3 (positive longitudinal grade), and higher in the exit section 7-9
(negative longitudinal grade). In fact, the speeds on the crest combinations in the approaching section 1-3 (positive
longitudinal grade) are lower than those on the reference curves in the approaching section 1-3. While the speeds on
the crest combinations in the departure section 7-9 (negative longitudinal grade) are higher than those on the
reference curves in the departure section 7-9.This confirms the outcomes of the previous research on the effects of
the longitudinal grades on the operating speed (20).

In the section at constant curvature, the speed on crest combinations are 2 kph to 5 kph lower except for
point 7 where the speed is higher than that on the reference curves, but only of 1 kph. The value is so low that it
reveals conditions of risk practically identical to those of the reference curves.
Sag combinations
With regards to the sag combinations we recorded a trend of the profile of the speed different from that on the
correspondent reference curves. The driver reduces his speed starting from point 2 (tangent) on both the sag
combinations and reference curves, while the deceleration phase on the reference curves finishes at point 4, on the
sag combinations it continues up until the midpoint of the curve (point 6), beyond which the acceleration phase
starts in order to reach the desired speed on the departure tangent. It is interesting to observe that the deceleration
rates on the sags reach their maximum value on the clothoid preceding the circular curve, while they decrease from
point 1 to point 4 on the reference curves. This appears to reveal the need for drivers to operate a more incisive
change in speed, considered too high up to that point, in order to travel the curve at constant radius.
Also for the sag combinations the speeds on the sections of approach and departure are affected by the
longitudinal grade.

On the section with a constant curvature, the speeds on the sag combinations are 2 kph to 5 kph lower than
those on reference curves, except for points 3 and 4 (respectively the beginning and 1/4 of the length of the circular
curve). For points 3 and 4 on sag combinations we registered speeds slightly higher (only approximately 2 kph) than
those measured on the reference curves. Also in this case, such as for the crest combinations, there are no
substantial increases of hazardous conditions compared to those that characterize the reference curves.

The statistical analysis of the driver’s behaviour

We carried out a test of hypothesis in order to assess if the different phases of acceleration/deceleration on crest
combinations and sag combinations compared to those on the correspondent reference curves are statistically
significant. A student bilateral t-test for matched samples was applied to the acceleration values registered on the

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crest combinations and on the correspondent reference curves in each section (i; i-1). The same test was carried out
for the sag combinations.
With regards to the crest combinations, the test was carried out on each section (i; i-1), at the level of
significance of 5%, with the following hypothesis:
• null hypothesis H0: the accelerations on crest combinations and on reference curves are equal, meaning that the
combined curve does not affect the accelerations adopted by the driver;
• alternative hypothesis H1: the accelerations on crest combinations and on reference curves are different; thus the
combined curve affect the accelerations adopted by the driver.
These hypotheses can be written as follows:

H0: µa(i;i−1)ref = µa(i;i−1)crest (2)

H1: µa(i;i−1)ref ≠ µa(i;i−1)crest (3)

where µa(I;1-1)ref and µa(I;1-1)crest are respectively the mean of the accelerations’ population on the section (i;i-
1) of the reference curves and the mean of the accelerations’ population on the section (i;i-1) of the crest
combinations.

Therefore, the average ( d a ( i ;i −1) ) and the standard deviation ( sd a ( i ;i −1) ) of the accelerations’ differences
between the crest combinations and the reference curves on section (i; i-1) were calculated through the following
functions

∑ (a (i;i −1)crest. j − a (i;i −1)ref . j )

1 n (4)
da =
( i ;i −1)
n j =1

(d (i;i −1)crest. j − d a(i;i −1))

n 2
∑ (5)
sd a = j =1
( i ;i −1)

n −1

where n is the number of data couples (eight in this specific case) and d(i;i-1)crest j is the difference of
accelerations on the section (i;i-1) of the crest combination j and of the correspondent reference curve.

The Student’s t statistic was calculated according to the following

d a ( i ;i −1)
t ( i ;i −1) = (6)
sd a ( i ;i −1)
n
In order to accept or to reject the null hypothesis t(i;i-1) was compared to the critical value of tα/2;(n-1) for n-1
degrees of freedom and at the level of significance α of 5%. Moreover we determined the confidence interval Iδ of
the average accelerations’ differences

sd a ( i ;i −1) (7)
Iδ = d a ( i ;i −1)
± t α / 2;n −1 ⋅
n

In the same way we worked on the sag combinations. The outcomes of the tests are shown in figure 7.

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The outcome of the tests shows that on crest combinations the null hypothesis is rejected only on sections
5-6, 6-7 and 7-8 and the values of the confidence intervals Iδ show that on these sections the accelerations on crest
combinations are higher than those on reference curves. Therefore at the level of significance of 5%, it is confirmed
that the driver on the crest combinations accelerates in the same way as on the correspondent reference curves,
except for the section coming out (section from point 5 to point 8) of the combined curves where the accelerations
are higher than those on the correspondent section of reference curves.

With regards to the sag combinations, the null hypothesis is rejected only in sections 4-5 and 5-6. On
section 2-3 the null hypothesis was accepted. Therefore the need of the driver observed before to operate a stronger
deceleration along the clothoid (section 2-3) to reduce the speed to traveling on the circular curve, was not
confirmed at the level of significance of 5%. Therefore, we must consider that the driver behaves in the same way
with regards to accelerations on the sag combinations and on the correspondent reference curves, except for the
central sections of the curve (sections 4-5 and 5-6). In these sections the values of the confidence interval Iδ show
acceleration rates on the sag combinations lower than those on the reference curves. This, nonetheless, does not
allow us to state that they are negative (as the average acceleration rates showed in figure 6 seem to emphasize). In
order to assess this, a one tail t-test was carried out formulating the null hypothesis H0: the acceleration is higher or
equal to zero; and the alternative hypothesis H1: the acceleration is less than zero. The test allowed to reject, at the
level of significance of 5%, the null hypothesis, and therefore to accept the alternative hypothesis according to
which the driver decelerated on the two sections considered. Thus it is confirmed that the driver holds a different
behaviour on the sag combinations compared to that on the correspondent reference curves: while on the reference
curves the deceleration phase ends in the first half of the circular curve, on the sag combinations the deceleration
continues after the midpoint of the curve.

The statistical analysis of the non increase of the hazardous conditions on the circular curves
In order to verify if the speeds slightly higher measured on points 3 and 4 of the sag combinations and in point 7 of
crest combinations compared to those measured on the same points of the correspondent reference curves, result to
be also non statistically significant, we carried out a one tailed t-test for matched samples. The test was made to the
following hypothesis:
• null hypothesis H0: in points 3 and 4, the sag combinations determine operating speeds less or equal to those
on the correspondent points of reference curves
µv sag
≤µ
vref
(8)

• alternative hypothesis H1: in points 3 and 4 the sag combinations determine operating speeds higher than those
on the correspondent points of the reference curves
µv sag
>µ
v ref
(9)

The same test was carried out for point 7 of the crest combinations. In the three points considered, the tests
proved that the null hypothesis H0 cannot be rejected. Therefore the alternative hypothesis H1, according to which
the operating speeds on the sections with a constant curvature of combined curves are higher than those on the
reference curves, cannot be accepted.

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

The experimentation at the advanced driving simulator of CRISS emphasized that on crest combinations the driver
adopts equal adjustment modalities of the operating speeds (phases of acceleration/deceleration) compared to those
adopted on the correspondent reference curves. The only significant statistical difference (levels of significance of
5%) was registered in the acceleration rates on the section coming out of the curve that were higher than those on the
correspondent reference curves.
On the sag combinations, we registered a different behaviour compared to that on the correspondent
reference curves: while on the reference curves the deceleration phase ends in the first half of the circular curve, on
the sag combinations the deceleration continues after the midpoint of the curve. Even though the deceleration rates
recorded on the clothoids preceding the circular curve show a potential influence of the combined curve in inducing

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the driver to a more incisive deceleration to travel through the circular curve, they did not result different (at the
level of significance of 5%) from those on the correspondent reference curves.

On sections with constant curvature, the operating speeds are lower (from 2 kph to 5 kph) on combined
curves compared to those recorded on the correspondent reference curves. Only in two points of the sag
combinations and on one point of the crest combinations, the operating speeds were slightly (only 1÷2 kph) higher,
and resulted also statistically non significant.

On the basis of the values obtained, and at the level of significance of 5%, on circular curves of combined
curves, designed according to the Italian guidelines on the coordination of horizontal and vertical alignment, we did
not determine hazardous conditions higher than those on the horizontal curves with equal radius.

Therefore, the experimentation carried out at the driving simulator appears to indicate that the suggestions
by Italian guidelines on the coordination of horizontal curves overlapping with crest and sag appear to be acceptable.
Further experimentations on a larger number of combined curves, on a few of which the guidelines on coordination
of crest and sag combination are not respected, are essential to ascertain the full effectiveness of the guidelines. The
research program is in a progress phase. Many two-lane rural road alignments have already been implemented at the
driving simulator in order to study the effects on driving performances (also with regards to lateral placement in the
lane) also of combinations of horizontal alignment and profile indicated by guidelines as poor solutions.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The research has been developed with the financial support of the Italian Ministry for University and Scientific
Research.

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11. Hassan, Y., Sayed, T. Use of Computer animation in quantifying driver percepition of three-dimensional road
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List of tables and figures

TABLE 1 The Geometric Features of the Combined Curves

FIGURE 1 Combined curves: a) sag combination n. 2; b) crest combination n. 3

FIGURE 2 The visual representation during the driving simulation on the crest combination n.1

FIGURE 3 The profiles of the speed of a driver: a) on the sag combination n. 1 and on the
correspondent reference curve; b) on the crest combination n. 1 and on the correspondent reference curve

FIGURE 4 Crest combination scheme

FIGURE 5 Average values of V85 (i) and of a(i;i-1) on crest combinations and on correspondent reference
curves

FIGURE 6 Average values of V85 (i) and of a(i;i-1) on sag combinations and on correspondent
reference curves

FIGURE 7 The outcomes of the Student statistic tests and the confidence intervals Iδ for the sag
combinations and for the crest combinations

3rd International Symposium on Highway Geometric Design June 29-July 1, 2005

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TABLE 1 The Geometric Features of the Combined Curves

Horizontal curve Vertical curve

N R Lc Lcl Lcirc La.t. Ld,t. γ Rv Lv ia id ∆i

1 500 616 180 256 150 2200 50 8694 696 3 -5 8

2 437 689 155 379 2200 150 70 9687 872 6 -3 9
combinations

3 400 629 210 209 600 250 60 8694 696 5 -3 8

Crest

4 800 619 200 219 250 280 30 8218 493 3 -3 6

5 800 619 200 219 280 250 30 8218 493 3 -3 6
6 400 629 210 209 250 600 60 8694 696 3 -5 8
7 437 689 155 379 150 2200 70 9687 872 3 -6 9
8 500 616 180 256 2200 150 50 8694 696 5 -3 8
1 700 1030 175 680 250 600 70 12870 1030 -3 5 8
combinations

2 600 465 150 165 250 250 30 7750 465 -3 3 6

Sag

3 600 465 150 165 250 250 30 7750 465 -3 3 6

4 700 1030 175 680 600 250 70 12870 1030 -5 3 8
5 437 536 155 226 150 400 50 17850 536 -3 0 3

R = radius of horizontal curve Rv = radius of vertical curve in m

Lc = length of horizontal curve in m = Lcl+Lcirc+Lcl Lv = lenght of veitcal curve in m
Lcl = length of clothoids in m ia = approach grade in percent
Lcirc = length of circular curve in m id = departure grade in percent
L a.t. = length of approach tangent in m
L d.t = length of departure tangent in m
γ = deflection angle

3rd International Symposium on Highway Geometric Design June 29-July 1, 2005

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FIGURE 1 Combined curves: a) sag combination n. 2; b) crest combination n. 3

3rd International Symposium on Highway Geometric Design June 29-July 1, 2005

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FIGURE 2 The visual representation during the driving simulation on the crest combination n.1

3rd International Symposium on Highway Geometric Design June 29-July 1, 2005

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a)
V [kph]
130 Sag combination n°1
Reference curve
120

110

100

90
appr. clothoid circular curve clothoid dep.
tangent tangent
80
0 200 400 600 800 1000 [m]

b)
V [kph]
130 Crest combination n° 1
Reference curve
120

110

100

90
appr. clothoid circular curve clothoid dep.
tangent tangent
80
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 [m] 800

FIGURE 3 The profiles of the speed of a driver: a) on the sag combination n. 1 and on the
correspondent reference curve; b) on the crest combination n. 1 and on the correspondent reference curve

3rd International Symposium on Highway Geometric Design June 29-July 1, 2005

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FIGURE 4 Crest combination scheme

3rd International Symposium on Highway Geometric Design June 29-July 1, 2005

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2
140 V85i [kph] ā (i;i-1) [m/s ]
0,6
V85 crest combinations
135
0,4
V85 reference curves

130 0,2

125 0,0
*
1-2 2-3 3-4 4-5 5-6 6-7 7-8 8-9
120 a crest combinations
-0,2
a reference curves
115 -0,4
appr. dep.
tangent clothoid circular curve clothoid tangent
110 -0,6
P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9

FIGURE 5 Average values of V85 (i) and of a(i;i-1) on crest combinations and on correspondent reference
curves

3rd International Symposium on Highway Geometric Design June 29-July 1, 2005

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2
140 V85 [kph] ā(i;i-1) [m/s ] 0,6
V85 sag combinations a sag combinations
135 0,4
V85 reference curves a reference curves

130 0,2

125 0,0
*
1-2 2-3 3-4 4-5 5-6 6-7 7-8 8-9
120 -0,2

115 -0,4
dep.
appr.
circular curve clothoid tangent
110 tangent -0,6
clothoid
P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9

FIGURE 6 Average values of V85 (i) and of a(i;i-1) on sag combinations and on correspondent
reference curves

3rd International Symposium on Highway Geometric Design June 29-July 1, 2005

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FIGURE 7 The outcomes of the Student statistic tests and the confidence intervals Iδ for the sag
combinations and for the crest combinations

3rd International Symposium on Highway Geometric Design June 29-July 1, 2005

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