CEP333 | HIGHWAY AND RAILROAD ENGINEERING

CHAPTER 5
ROUTE SURVEYS

MODULE 21: LAYOUT OF HORIZONTAL CURVES

Deflection Angle Method and Incremental Chords (Transit and

Tape or Theodolite and Tape)

Deflection Angle – is the angle measured at the PC from the back tangent to the desired
point on the curve.

Chord – is a straight line between two points on the curve.

Geometric Principles
1. The angle between a tangent and a chord, measured at the point of tangency, is
equal to one-half of the central angle or angle subtended by the chord.

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2. The angle between two chords that intersect on the circumference of a circle is equal
to one-half of the central angle or angle of arc subtended between them.

Examples
1. Set-up the field notes for staking out the following curve at full station intervals using
deflection angle method.

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𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛:

1145.916 1145.916
𝑅= = = 114.59 𝑚
𝐷 10°
𝐼 74°46′
𝑇 = (𝑅)𝑇𝑎𝑛 ( ) = (114.59)𝑇𝑎𝑛 ( ) = 87.56 𝑚
2 2

𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑃𝐶 = 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑥 − 𝑇

𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑃𝐶 = (2 + 047.64) − 87.56 = 1 + 960.08

20𝐼 20(74°46′ )
𝐿= = = 149.53 𝑚
𝐷 10°

𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑃𝑇 = 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑃𝐶 + 𝐿 = (1 + 960.08) + 149.53 = 2 + 109.61

𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑃𝑇 = (1 + 960.08) + 149.53 = 2 + 109.61

𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑨𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 1 + 980

𝐿1 = (1 + 980) − (1 + 960.08) = 19.92 𝑚

𝐿 𝐿1
=
𝐼 𝑎1

𝐿1 (𝐼) 19.92(74°46′ ) 9°58′

𝑎1 = = = = 𝟒°𝟓𝟗′
𝐿 149.53 2

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 2 + 000

𝐿2 = (2 + 000) − (1 + 980) = 20 𝑚

𝐷 10°
𝑎2 = 𝑎1 + = 4°59′ + = 𝟗°𝟓𝟗′
2 2

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𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 2 + 020

𝐿3 = 20 𝑚

𝐷 10°
𝑎3 = 𝑎2 + = 9°59′ + = 𝟏𝟒°𝟓𝟗′
2 2

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 2 + 040

𝐿4 = 20 𝑚

𝐷 10°
𝑎4 = 𝑎3 + = 14°59′ + = 𝟏𝟗°𝟓𝟗′
2 2

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 2 + 060

𝐿5 = 20 𝑚

𝐷 10°
𝑎5 = 𝑎4 + = 19°59′ + = 𝟐𝟒°𝟓𝟗′
2 2

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 2 + 080

𝐿6 = 20 𝑚

𝐷 10°
𝑎6 = 𝑎5 + = 24°59′ + = 𝟐𝟗°𝟓𝟗′
2 2

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 2 + 100

𝐿7 = 20 𝑚

𝐷 10°
𝑎7 = 𝑎6 + = 29°59′ + = 𝟑𝟒°𝟓𝟗′
2 2

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 2 + 109.61

𝐿8 = (2 + 109.61) − (2 + 100) = 9.61 𝑚

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𝐿 𝐿8
=
𝐼 𝑎8

𝐿8 (𝐼) (9.61)(74°46′ ) 4°48′

𝑎8 = = = = 2°24′
𝐿 149.53 2
𝑎8 ′ = 𝑎7 + 𝑎8 = 34°59′ + 2°24′ = 𝟑𝟕°𝟐𝟑′

𝐶ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔:

𝐼 74°46′
𝑎8′ = = = 𝟑𝟕°𝟐𝟑′
2 2

𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 (𝑰𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔)

𝐶1 = 2(𝑅)𝑆𝑖𝑛(𝑎1 ) = 2(114.59)𝑆𝑖𝑛(4°59′ ) = 19.91 𝑚

10°
𝐶2 = 𝐶3 = 𝐶4 = 𝐶5 = 𝐶6 = 𝐶7 = 2(114.59)𝑆𝑖𝑛 ( ) = 19.97 𝑚
2
𝐶8 = 2(114.59)𝑆𝑖𝑛(2°24′ ) = 9.60 𝑚

STATION CHORD (INCREMENTAL CHORD) DEFLECTION ANGLE

1+960.08

1+980 19.91 m 4°59’

2+000 19.97 m 9°59’

2+020 19.97 m 14°59’

2+040 19.97 m 19°59’

2+060 19.97 m 24°59’

2+080 19.97 m 29°59’

2+100 19.97 m 34°59’

2+109.61 9.6 m 37°23’

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𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐷𝑒𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐴𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑀𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙/𝐹𝑢𝑙𝑙 𝐶ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠 (𝑈𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛)

𝐷𝑒𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐶ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠:

𝑐1 = 2𝑅𝑆𝑖𝑛(𝑎1 ) = 2(144.59) sin(4°59′ ) = 19.91 𝑚

𝑐2 = 2𝑅𝑆𝑖𝑛(𝑎2 ) = 2(144.59) sin(9°59′ ) = 39.73 𝑚

𝑐3 = 2𝑅𝑆𝑖𝑛(𝑎3 ) = 2(144.59) sin(14°59′ ) = 59.25 𝑚

𝑐4 = 2𝑅𝑆𝑖𝑛(𝑎4 ) = 2(144.59) sin(19°59′ ) = 78.32 𝑚

𝑐5 = 2𝑅𝑆𝑖𝑛(5) = 2(144.59) sin(24°59′ ) = 96.80 𝑚

𝑐6 = 2𝑅𝑆𝑖𝑛(𝑎6 ) = 2(144.59) sin(29°59′ ) = 114.53 𝑚

𝑐7 = 2𝑅𝑆𝑖𝑛(𝑎7 ) = 2(144.59) sin(34°59′ ) = 131.40 𝑚

𝑐8 = 2𝑅𝑆𝑖𝑛(𝑎8 ) = 2(144.59) sin(37°23′) = 139.14 𝑚

STATION TOTAL/FULL CHORD DEFLECTION ANGLE

1+960.08

1+980 19.91 m 4°59’

2+000 39.73 m 9°59’

2+020 59.25 m 14°59’

2+040 78.32 m 19°59’

2+060 96.80 m 24°59’

2+080 114.53 m 29°59’

2+100 131.40 m 34°59’

2+109.61 139.14 m 37°23’

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