Geometric Design of Highways

Highway Alignment is a three-dimensional problem

– Design & Construction would be difficult in 3-D so highway
design is split into three 2-D problems
– Horizontal alignment, vertical alignment, cross-section
Austin, TX
Near Cincinnati, OH
 Components of Highway Design

Horizontal Alignment
Plan View

Vertical Alignment

Profile View
 Horizontal Alignment
Today’s Class:
• Components of the horizontal alignment
• Properties of a simple circular curve
Horizontal Alignment

Tangents Curves
Tangents & Curves

Tangent

Curve

Tangent to
Circular Curve

Tangent to
Spiral Curve to
Circular Curve
Layout of a Simple Horizontal Curve
R = Radius of Circular Curve
BC = Beginning of Curve
(or PC = Point of Curvature)
EC = End of Curve
(or PT = Point of Tangency)
PI = Point of Intersection
T = Tangent Length
(T = PI – BC = EC - PI)
L = Length of Curvature
(L = EC – BC)
M = Middle Ordinate
E = External Distance
C = Chord Length
Δ = Deflection Angle
 Properties of Circular Curves
Degree of Curvature
• Traditionally, the “steepness” of the curvature is defined by either the radius
(R) or the degree of curvature (D)
• In highway work we use the ARC definition
• Degree of curvature = angle subtended by an arc of length 100 feet
 Degree of Curvature
Equation for D

Degree of curvature = angle subtended by an arc of length 100 feet

By simple ratio: D/360 = 100/2*Pi*R

Therefore

R = 5730 / D

(Degree of curvature is not used with metric units

because D is defined in terms of feet.)
 Length of Curve

By simple ratio: D/ Δ = ?

D/ Δ = 100/L

L = 100 Δ / D

Therefore

L = 100 Δ / D
Or (from R = 5730 / D, substitute for D = 5730/R)

L = Δ R / 57.30

(D is not Δ .)
Properties of
Circular Curves

Other Formulas…

Tangent: T = R tan(Δ/2)

Chord: C = 2R sin(Δ/2)

Mid Ordinate: M = R – R cos(Δ/2)

External Distance: E = R sec(Δ/2) - R

 Spiral Curve
A transition curve is sometimes used in horizontal alignment design
It is used to provide a gradual transition between tangent sections and circular curve sections.
Different types of transition curve may be used but the most common is the Euler Spiral.

Properties of Euler Spiral

(reference: Surveying: Principles and Applications, Kavanagh and Bird, Prentice Hall]
 Characteristics of Euler Spiral
Degree of Curvature of a spiral at any point is proportional to its length at that point

The spiral curve is defined by ‘k’ the rate of increase in degree of curvature per
station (100 ft)

In other words,

k = 100 D/ Ls
 Characteristics of Euler Spiral
Degree of Curvature of a spiral at any point is proportional to its length at that point

The spiral curve is defined by ‘k’ the rate of increase in degree of curvature per
station (100 ft)

In other words,

k = 100 D/ Ls
 Central (or Deflection) Angle of Euler Spiral

As with circular curve the central angle is also important for spiral
Recall for circular curve

Δc = Lc D / 100

But for spiral

Δs = Ls D / 200

The total deflection angle for a

spiral/circular curve system is

Δ = Δc + 2 Δs
 Length of Euler Spiral

Note: The total length of curve (circular plus spirals) is longer

than the original circular curve by one spiral leg
 Example Calculation – Spiral and Circular Curve

The central angle for a curve is 24

degrees - the radius of the circular curve
selected for the location is 1000 ft.

Determine the length of the curve (with no spiral)

L = 100 Δ / D or
L = Δ R / 57.30 = 24*1000/57.30 = 418.8 ft
R = 5730 / D >> D = 5.73 degree
 Example Calculation – Spiral and Circular Curve

The central angle for a curve is 24

degrees - the radius of the circular curve
selected for the location is 1000 ft.

If a spiral with central angle of 4

degrees is selected for use,
determine the
i) k for the spiral,
ii) ii) length of each spiral leg,
iii) iii) total length of curve
Δs = 4 degrees
Δs = Ls D / 200 >> 4 = Ls * 5.73/200 >>
Ls = 139.6 ft
k = 100 D/ Ls = 100 * 5.73/ 139.76 = 4.1 degree/100 feet
Total Length of curve = length with no spiral + Ls = 418.8+139.76 = 558.4 feet