Chapter Three

Geometric Design of Highways

Section 1: Vertical Alignment

Section 2: Horizontal Alignment

1
 Introduction

• Major factors of consideration:

– driver behavior
– traffic performance
• Major elements involved:
– vertical and horizontal alignment
– cross-sectional elements
– intersection and interchanges
• Major input:
– design speed: vertical and horizontal curvatures
– design hourly traffic volume: required capacity
2
 Functional Classification of Highways

• Highway classification establishes a hierarchy

of road types on the basis of traffic service and
land access.
– Mobility: continuous travel
– Accessibility: direct access to abutting property
• Local streets are designed for accessibility
• High-level facilities such as highways are for
high-speed continuous movement.

3
4
 Highway functional classification
Rural Urban
Principal arterials: Principal arterials:
 Freeways  Interstate freeways
 Other  Other freeways /expressways
 Others
Minor arterials Minor arterials
Collectors: Collector Streets
 Major
 Minor
Local roads Local streets
• Local roads and streets are designed for light, low-speed traffic.
They are closely spaced and often designed to discourage
through traffic.
• Freeways are designed for high traffic levels at high speeds.
They are sparsely spaced and designed to facilitate high traffic
levels between major activity centers. 5
 Vertical Curve

Grade Maximum grades (%) for urban arterials

Type of Design Speed (mph)
• Maximum grade is not a Terrain
complete design control. 30 40 50 60
Level 8 7 6 5
The length of a grade Rolling 9 8 7 6
should also be Mountainous 11 10 9 8
considered. The Source: AASHO

maximum length of a Maximum grades (%) for freeways

designated upgrade, Type of Design Speed (mph)
termed the critical Terrain
50 60 70
length, is one on which a Level 4 3 3
loaded truck can operate Rolling 5 4 4
without an unreasonable Mountainous 6 6 5
Source: AASHO
reduction in speed 6
 Vertical Alignment

• The vertical alignment defines the profile of a road

along its center line.
• The objectives:
– roadway drainage
– an acceptable level of safety
• The task:
– provides a transition of roadway elevation between two
grades
• Types:
– crest vertical curves
– sag vertical curves
7
Types of vertical curves

8
Terms:
 G1:the initial roadway grade or initial tangent grade
 G2: the final roadway (tangent) grade
 A = G2 - G1 (expressed in percent): the difference in
grades
 L: length of the vertical curve measured in a
horizontal plan
 PVC: initial point of the vertical curve
 PVI: the point of intersection between the two
grades
 PVT: the final point of the vertical curve 9
It is a common practice to arrange half of the curve
before the PVI and half after. The curve is then called
equal tangent vertical curves.

Referencing: the profile views correspond to all

highway points even if a horizontal curve occurs with
a vertical curve. Each highway point is uniquely
defined by stationing and elevation. The length of the
highway along horizontal alignment of its centerline
is expressed in terms of 100-ft stations from a
reference point.
10
 elevation

Stationing

Referencing

11
 Vertical curve fundamentals

A parabolic function is chosen. It provides a constant

rate of change of slope and implies equal curve
tangents.

Its general form:

y  ax  bx  c
2

y = roadway elevation; x = stations from the

beginning of the vertical curve (from PVC);
c = elevation of PVC, since x = 0 corresponds to PVC.

dy
 2ax  b
dx 12
At PVC, x = 0,

dy
b  G1
dx
Note that:
2
d y
2
 2a
dx

The average rate of change of slope:

G 2  G1
2
d y
2

dx L

Therefore:
G 2  G1 G 2  G1
2a  or a 
L 2L 13
Proof of equal tangent vertical curve

14
15
 PVI

PVC

PVC

PVT

PVT

L/2 L/2

L
16
 Example
A 600-ft equal tangent sag vertical curve has the PVC at
station 170+00 and elevation 1000 ft. The initial grade is -
3.5 percent and the final grade is 0.5 percent. Determine
the elevation and stationing of the PVI, PVT, and the
lowest point on the curve.
Equal tangent curve => PVI is 300 ft or 3 stations from
PVC. PVT is 6 stations from PVC. Therefore the
stationings of PVI and PVT are 173+00 and 176+00,
respectively.

The elevations of:

PVI: 1000 - 3.5 ft/station (3 stations) = 989.5 ft
PVT: 989.5 + 0.5 ft/station (3 stations) = 991.0 ft 17
 Example

The lowest point occurs when the first derivative of the parabolic
function is zero (only when the grades change from +ve to –ve or
vice versa).
𝑑𝑦
= 2𝑎𝑥 + 𝑏 = 0
𝑑𝑥
0.5 − −3.5
𝑏 = 𝐺1 = −3.5, 𝑎 = = 0.33
2 6
𝑑𝑦
= 2 0.33 𝑥 − 3.5 = 0 𝑜𝑟 𝑥 = 5.3 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠
𝑑𝑥

The stationing of the lowest point: 175+30. The lowest point:

𝑦 = 0.33(5.3)2 −3.5 5.3 + 1000 = 990.72 𝑓𝑡

Note the units. The same problem can be solved by using ft

(instead of station) and the decimal equivalent of percent. 18
 Additional properties of vertical curve

Offset Y: vertical distance from the initial tangent

to the curve (important for design and
construction)
Offset Ym: mid-curve offset
Offset Yf: offset at the end of the vertical curve
A: change in slope G1-G2 (a positive #) or
simply the absolute value of G1-G2
A
Y  x
2
( Y  G1 x  ax 2  bx )
200 L
AL G 2  G1
Ym  Y  G1 x  x  G1 x
2

800 2L
AL A
Yf  Y  x
2

200 2L 19
20
 K-value

L
K  , expressed in ft/%: the horizontal
A
distance, in feet, required to introduce a 1-percent
change in slope.

K specifies the vertical curvature of the curves.

Provided that the high or low points do not occur at
the curve ends (i.e. PVC or PVT), the high/low points
for crest/sag vertical curves are given by:
x  K G1
where x is the distance from PVC to the high/low
point 21
25

20

15

10

22
 Minimum and desirable stopping-sight
distance
• Objective: minimize construction costs while
providing an adequate level of safety.
• Level of safety: providing sufficient sight distance to
enable them to safety stop their vehicles in response to
objects obstructing their forward motion.

• Stopping Distance
• Sight Distance
• Longer curve needs longer sight distance

23
 Stopping Sight Distance

Stopping Sight Distance (SSD) = vehicle stopping

distance (braking distance) + distance traveled during
perception / reaction time.
𝑉12
𝑆𝑆𝐷 = + 𝑉1 𝑡𝑟
2𝑔 𝑓 ± 𝐺

𝑉1 : initial vehicle speed

𝑔: gravitational constant
𝑓: coefficient of braking friction
𝐺: grade
𝑡𝑟 : perception/reaction time

24
 Stopping Sight Distance

• To provide worse-case stopping-sight distance, f is selected

to be representative of: poor driver skills, low braking
efficiencies, wet pavements.
• tr is taken to be a conservative estimate of 2.5 seconds
• V1: design speed or maximum safe speed that a highway
can handle assuming near worst-case conditions. Or
average vehicle running speed from observations; it ranges
from 90-95% of the highway’s design speed.
• Minimum SSD: SSD derived from average running speed
• Desirable SSD: SSD derived from design speed
• According to the above SSD equation, Table 3.1 shows the
values for G=0. 25
26
27
28
 Stopping-Sight Distance and Crest
Vertical Curve Design
Length of the curve L is critically related to SSD.
Longer L provides more SSD but is more expensive.
According to Figure 3.5, the minimum length of a
curve, Lm, to provide the required SSD S is

2
200 𝐻1 + 𝐻2
𝐿𝑚 = 2𝑆 − 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑆>𝐿
𝐴
𝐴 𝑆2
𝐿𝑚 = 2 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑆<𝐿
200 𝐻1 + 𝐻2

29
 To find slope of sight line that will make S a minimum
S = ab + bc + cd
(worse case scenario):

g represents the difference between

the gradient of the sight line and the
gradient G1.
33
AASHTO standards specify H1 = 3.5 ft and H2 = 0.5 ft.
Substituting these values:

1329
L m  2  SSD  for SSD > L
A
A  SSD
2

Lm  for SSD < L

1329
The above two equations could be cumbersome to
use.
34
Below is an easier approximation.

Using the relation: L=KA, where K is the horizontal

distance, in feet, required to introduce 1 percent
change in the slope.
Table 3.2 provides the needed K value of each design
speed. With K known, L can be determined.
 One approximation: Table 3.2 assumes that G=0.
 Low values of A can give curve lengths that are
unrealistically low (or even negative). Therefore, it
is a common practice to set minimum curve length
between 100 to 300 ft depend on local conditions. A
common alternative is to set minimum curve
lengths at three times the design speed. 35
36
 Example

• A highway is being designed to AASHO

standards with a 70-mph design speed and, at
one section, an equal tangent vertical curve
must be designed to connect grades of +1.0
percent and -3.0 percent. Determine the
minimum length of vertical curve required
assuming provisions are to be made for
minimum SSD and desirable SSD.

37
 Solution

Minimum SSD uses an average running speed of 58 mph

(Table 3.1). Using the conservative worst-case value of G(-
3.0%), the SSD is:
𝑉12
𝑆𝑆𝐷 = + 𝑉1 𝑡𝑟
2𝑔 𝑓 ± 𝐺
58 × 1.47 2
= + 58 × 1.47 × 2.5 = 664.66 𝑓𝑡
2 ∙ 32.2 0.28 − 0.03
If we assume that SSD < L, then
𝐴 × 𝑆𝑆𝐷2 4 × 664.662
𝐿𝑚 = = = 1329.64 𝑓𝑡
1329 1329
Since 1329.65 > 664.66, the assumption that SSD < L is valid.

38
 For desirable SSD, the design speed of 70 mph is used.
𝑉12
𝑆𝑆𝐷 = + 𝑉1 𝑡𝑟
2𝑔 𝑓 ± 𝐺
70 × 1.47 2
= + 70 × 1.47 × 2.5 = 914. 92 𝑓𝑡
2 ∙ 32.2 0.28 − 0.03
If we assume that SSD < L, then
𝐴 × 𝑆𝑆𝐷2 4 × 914.922
𝐿𝑚 = = = 2519.42 𝑓𝑡
1329 1329
Since 2519.42 > 664.66, the assumption that SSD < L is valid.

39
 Example

• Solve the last example using the K-values listed in

Table 3.2

From the last example, A = 4. For minimum SSD, K =

290 (Table 3.2) at a design speed of 70 mph.
𝐿𝑚 = 𝐾 𝐴 = 290 ∗ 4 = 1160 𝑓𝑡
(close to 1143.11 ft, the value that would be obtained
by using G = 0 in the SSD computation)
For desirable SD, K =540 (Table 3.2), giving
𝐿𝑚 = 𝐾 𝐴 = 540 ∗ 4 = 2160 𝑓𝑡
(close to 2146.26 ft, SSD with G = 0)
Table 3.2
40
 Example

• If the stationing of the PVI for the curves

connecting the grades in the last example is
arbitrarily set at 100+00 whether considering
minimum or desirable SSD curve lengths,
determine the stationing of the PVC, PVT, and
curve high points for both minimum desirable
curve designs.

41
 Solution

Since the curve is equal tangent, one-half of the curve

will occur before the PVI and one-half after, with L =
1160,
PVC is at 100+00 - L/2 = 100+00-(5+80) = 94+20
PVT is at 100+00 + L/2 = 100+00+(5+80) = 105+80
The stationing of the high-point,
x = KG1 = 290 (1) = 290 ft
or at station, 94+20 + 2+90 =station 97+10
Similarly, for desirable curve design, the PVC can be
shown to be at station 89+20, PVT at station 110+80
and the high point at station 94+60. 42
 Stopping-Sight Distance and
Sag Vertical Curve Design

Sight distance limited at night by the headlight sight

distance, which is a function of the height of the
headlight and the inclined upward angle of the
headlight beam.
200 𝐻 + 𝑆 tan 𝛽
𝐿𝑚 = 2𝑆𝑆𝐷 − 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑆𝐷 > 𝐿
𝐴
𝐴 ∙ 𝑆𝑆𝐷2
𝐿𝑚 = 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑆𝐷 < 𝐿
200 𝐻 + 𝑆𝑆𝐷 tan 𝛽

43
44
 Sag curve design

According to AASHO design standards, headlight

height is taken to be 2.0 ft and an upward angle of 1
degree. The above two equations become:
400  3.5 SSD
L m  2 SSD  for SSD > L
A
A  SSD
2

Lm  for SSD < L

400  3.5 SSD

• The design procedure is similar to crest curve.

• Table 3.3 provides a quick approximation. However, G = 0
is assumed in determining SSD.
• Minimum lengths follow the same limits as in crest curves 45
46
Observer and object on a sag vertical curve

47
48
49
50
51
 F or th e sag cu rve:
A0
a  ;b  0
2 Ls
A
y 
2
x
2 Ls

Crest curve A A Ls
yf  Ls 
2

2 Ls 2
F or th e crest cu rve:
0 A
a  ;b  A
2 Lc
Sag curve
A
y  x  Ax
2

2 Lc
A A Lc
yf  Lc  A Lc 
2

2 Lc 2
52
Table 3.3 Table 3.2 53
Speed up

Slow down

54