CE 3113 –Transportation Engineering

Spring 2021

HW #2

1. (32 pts) A horizontal curve has a point of intersection station at 53+25, a radius of 1200 ft
and an intersection angle of 110º. Find the following:
a. Degree of curve
b. Tangent distance
c. Length of curve
d. Station at point of curvature
e. Station at point of tangent
f. Length of middle ordinate
g. External distance
h. Length of long chord

2. (8 pts) Compute the minimum length of a crest vertical curve to provide the maximum
stopping sight distance for a design speed of 60 mph at the intersection of a +2.5% grade
with a -1.3% grade. Round up to the nearest 50-ft interval.

3. (8 pts) Compute the minimum length of a crest vertical curve for a design speed of 40 mph at
the intersection of a +3.0% grade with a -1.2% grade. The vertical curve must provide at least
600 ft of passing distance. Round up to the nearest 50-ft interval.

4. (20 pts) An equal tangent sag vertical curve joins a -2.5% grade with a +3.0% grade.
Assume the position of the headlights are 0.60 m above the roadway with a 1º divergence of
the light beam from the longitudinal axle of the vehicle. The PVI of the grades is at metric
station 5+750 (elevation = 0 m) and the design speed is 120 km/hr. Assume the sight distance
is equal to the stopping sight distance. Note, an equal tangent curve means the tangent
distance from the PVI to the PVC is equal to the tangent distance from the PVI and PVT.
Determine:
a. Rate of vertical curvature
b. Design length of the vertical curve
c. Station and elevation of PVC
d. Station and elevation of PVT
e. Station and elevation of the lowest point on the curve

HW #2 CE 3113 January 11, 2021

References (Problems retrieved and/or modified from):
Kuhn, Beverly Thompson (2019) Transportation Engineering: A Practical Approach to
Highway Design, Traffic Analysis, and Systems Operations. McGraw Hill Education.
Problems 2-3.
Levinson, D., Liu, H., Garrison, W., Hickman, M., Danczyk, A., Corbett, M., and Dixon, K.
(2014) Fundamentals of Transportation. Problem 4. Link:
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Fundamentals_of_Transportation Date accessed: June 26,
2020.

HW #2 CE 3113 January 11, 2021