Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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CHAPTER THREE
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HIGHWAY DESIGN AND ENGINEERING
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For urban cross sections, cross section elements may include facilities like
pedestrians, cyclists, or other specialist user groups. These include curbs,
footpaths, and islands. For dual carriageways, cross sections will also
include medians.
Lane and shoulder widths should be adjusted to traffic requirements and
characteristics of the terrain. The cross-section may vary over a particular
route because these controlling factors vary. The basic requirements are,
however, that changes in cross-section standards shall be uniform within
each sub-section of the route and that any changes of the cross-section
shall be effected gradually and logically over a transition length. Abrupt or
isolated changes in cross-section standards lead to increased hazards and
reduced traffic capacity and complicate construction operations.
In certain cases, however, it may be necessary to accept isolated reductions in
cross-section standards, for example when an existing narrow structure has to
be retained because it is not economically feasible to replace it. In such cases a
proper application of traffic signs and road markings is required to warn
motorists of the discontinuity in the road.
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ROAD WIDTH
Road width should be minimized so as to reduce the costs of construction and
maintenance, whilst being sufficient to carry the traffic loading efficiently and
safely.
The following factors need to be taken into account when selecting the width of
a road:
i. Classification of the road: A road is normally classified according to its
function in the road network. The higher the class of road, the higher the level
of service expected and the wider the road will need to be.
ii. Traffic: Heavy traffic volumes on a road mean that passing of oncoming
vehicles and overtaking of slower vehicles are more frequent and therefore the
paths of the vehicles will be further from the center line of the road and the
traffic lanes should be wider.
iii. Vehicle dimension: Normal steering deviations and tracking errors,
particularly of heavy vehicles, reduce clearances between passing vehicles.
Higher truck percentages require wider traffic lanes.
iv. Vehicle speed: As speed increase, drivers have less control of the lateral
position of vehicles, reducing clearances, and so wider traffic lanes are needed.
LANE WIDTHS
A feature of a highway having great influence on safety and comfort is the width
of the carriageway. The wider 3.65m lane provides desired clearances between
large commercial vehicles on two-way rural highways.
Narrower lanes are appropriate on lower volume roads.
Tip: The carriageway width should be increased on low radius curves to allow
the swept paths of longer vehicles and the necessary tolerances flow a curve
path. Widening may occur in high fill embankments of tangent portion.
Auxiliary lanes at intersections often help to facilitate traffic movement.
SHOULDERS
A shoulder is that surfaced clear portion of the roadway cross section
immediately adjacent to the carriageway edge. They vary from no shoulder on
minor rural roads where there is no surfacing, to a 1.5-3.0m or greater
shoulder on major roads depending on the terrain and design classification.
Wider configurations cater to the need for parking lane in urban/peri-urban
areas where paved carriageway exists.
Shoulders serve a number of purposes- for example
Refuge for vehicles forced to make emergency stops
A recovery space for vehicles that inadvertently leave the carriageway or
deliberately do so during emergency evasive maneuvers
Temporary extra traffic lanes during road maintenances or carriageway
reconstruction
Assistance in achieving desired horizontal sight distances
Structural support to road pavement (usually by extending all or part of the
road base through the shoulder width)
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Where the carriageway is paved, the shoulder should also be sealed with a
single bituminous surface treatment. The followings are advantages of sealed
shoulder, it would:
Prevent edge ravelling and maintenance problems associated with parking
on a gravel shoulder,
Provide paved space for vehicular parking outside of the traffic flow,
Provide a better surface for vehicles experiencing emergency repairs,
Provide for the very heavy pedestrian traffic observed in the villages, traffic
that would otherwise, especially during inclement weather, use the roadway.
Tip: All of the above also indicate an improvement in terms of roadway safety.
The sealed shoulder width may increase to 3.5 meters in urban/peri-urban
areas where a provision for a parking lane is required. The degree of
urbanization determines whether a parking lane is required.
In cases where terrain is severe, the existing roadway width is narrow, and
where the shoulder width could only be maintained through an excessive
volume of earthwork – e.g. at escarpment conditions, standards can be reduced
through the Departure from Standard process.
Median
A road on which traffic in one direction of travel is separated from that in the
opposite direction is called a divided highway and dividing a strip in the middle
of the road way is known as median strip.
Positive segregation of traffic between opposing streams is essential for efficient
and safe movement of vehicles in the two directions. Median strips are required
on very busy roads, which have four or more lanes, especially in crowded cities.
Median strips from 3 to 9m wide are recommended. If these strips are narrow,
separation is provided by raised curbs and where greater space not available.
Central reservation or median strip on dual carriage ways has a number of
uses, including
Separating high-speed opposing traffic, thereby lessening the chances
of head-on collision
Providing opportunities for erring vehicles to recover when they
inadvertently leave carriageway
Providing a safe waiting place for pedestrians crossing a high speed
dual carriageway
Providing space for road furniture such as road signs and street
lighting
Wide median strips are to be preferred for the following reasons:
Chance of accidents resulting in head collusion are reduced,
Head light glare at night from opposite direction is less troublesome,
At intersections these provides a refuge for the cross traffic.
NORMAL CROSS FALL
Normal cross fall (or camber, crown) should be sufficient to provide adequate
surface drainage whilst not being so great as to make steering difficult. The
ability of a surface to shed water varies with its smoothness and integrity. On
unpaved roads, the minimum acceptable value of cross fall should be related to
the need to carry surface water away from the pavement structure effectively,
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SHOULDER
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Side drains should be avoided in areas with expansive clay soils such as
black cotton soils. Where this is not possible, they shall be kept at a
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Once a vehicle has left the roadway, an accident may occur. The end result
of an encroachment depends upon the physical characteristics of the
roadside environment. Flat, traversable, stable slopes will minimize
overturning accidents, which are usually severe. Elimination of roadside
furniture or its relocation to less vulnerable areas are options in the
development of safer roadsides. If a fixed object or other roadside hazard
cannot be eliminated, relocated, modified, or shielded, for whatever reason,
consideration should be given to delineating the feature so it is readily
visible to a motorist.
For adequate safety, it is desirable to provide an unencumbered roadside
recovery area that is as wide as practical on a specific highway section. The
cleared width should be a minimum of 15 meters each side from the edge of
the roadway for the higher road standards.
It should extend beyond the toe of the slope. Lateral clearances between
roadside objects and obstructions and the edge of the carriageway should
normally be not less than 1.5 meters.
Horizontal clearance to road signs, marker posts, etc. shall be a minimum of
1.0m from the edge of the carriageway.
RIGHT-OF-WAY
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Right of ways will be equidistant from the centerline of the road to the left
and to the right of the carriageway. It should always be determined and
shown on the final design plans of road projects.
Road reserve widths applicable for the different road classes are 50m, 30m,
and 20m for DS1-DS5, DS6 & DS7, and DS8-DS10 respectively. In
mountainous or escarpment terrain, a cut section may be of such depth
that the right-of-way width is exceeded from the top of cut on one side to the
other top of cut.
Tip: Reduced widths should be adopted only when these are found
necessary for economic, financial or environmental reasons in order to
preserve valuable land, resources or existing development or when
provision of the desirable width would incur unreasonably high costs
because of physical constraints. In such cases, it is recommended that
the right-of-way should extend a minimum of a nominal 3 meters from
the edges of the road works. However, where this occurs, it is advisable
to restrict building activity along the road to prevent overcrowding, to
preserve space for future improvements, and to provide for sight
distances at curves. The distance across the carriageway from building
line to building line should be a minimum of 15m.
For dual carriageway roads it may be necessary to increase the road reserve
width above the given values.
I. SIGHT DISTANCE
To promote adequate safety and also to have the maximum capacity on
roads, it is necessary that the road be open to view from all points from a
distance known as sight distance, sufficient for a driver to see ahead and
control the speed or adjust the path of the vehicle in order to avoid any
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dp+dr=0.278Vt, and
V2
d (0.278)(t )(V )
254 f g
d = distance (meter)
t = driver reaction time, generally taken to be 2.5 seconds
V = initial speed (km/h)
F = coefficient of friction between tires and roadway
g=the grade in decimal
Actual field tests have indicated that as speed increases the perception
reaction time decreases and vice versa.
Example:-calculate the SSD for a road designed at 50km/hr. assume co-
efficient of friction between the tyre and the road is 0.4and perception
reaction time (PRT) =3 sec.
a) When the road is leveled
b) When the road has 6% slopes.
STOPPING SIGHT DISTANCE: SINGLE LANE ROADS
Certain classes of roads only have a single lane, with passing pullouts. In
these circumstances, a stopping sight distance is required to enable both
approaching drivers to stop. This distance is the sum of the stopping sight
distance for the two vehicles, plus a 30-meter safety distance.
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Within the sight area, the terrain should be the same level or a level lower
than the roadway. Otherwise, for horizontal curves, it may be necessary to
remove obstructions and widen cuttings on the insides of curves to obtain
the required sight distance. Care must be exercised in specifying
passing/no-passing zones in areas where the sight distance may be
obscured in the future due to vegetative growth.
d1 = 0.278 t1 (v – m + at1)
2
Where
t1 = time of initial maneuver, s
a = average acceleration, km/h/s
v = average speed of passing vehicle, km/h
m = difference in speed of passed vehicle and passing vehicle, km/h
d2 = 0.278 vt2
Where
t2 = time passing vehicle occupies left lane, s
v = average speed of passing vehicle, km/h
d3 = safe clearance distance between vehicles at the end of the maneuver,
=it varies from 30-90
d4 = distance traversed by the opposing vehicle, which is approximately
equal to d2 less the portion of d2 whereby the passing vehicle is entering the
left lane, estimated at:
d4 = 2d2/3
Therefore, the minimum Passing Sight Distance (PSD) for design is
therefore:
PSD = d1 + d2 + d3 + d4
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HIGHWAY DESIGN AND ENGINEERING
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HIGHWAY DESIGN AND ENGINEERING
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HIGHWAY DESIGN AND ENGINEERING
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TANGENT SECTIONS
From an aesthetic point of view, tangent sections may often be beneficial in
flat country but are less so in rolling or mountainous terrain. From a safety
standpoint, they provide better visibility and more passing opportunities.
However, long tangent sections increase the danger from headlight glare and
usually lead to excessive speeding. In hot climate areas, long tangents have
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been shown to increase driver fatigue and hence cause accidents. This issue
needs to be addressed in the course of the horizontal design. According to
ERA, the maximum length of a tangent section should not exceed 4.0
kilometers.
On the other hand, short straights between curves in the same direction
should not be used because of the broken back effect. In such a cases where
reasonable tangent length is not attainable, the use of long, transition, or
compound curves should be considered.
Tip:
The unavoidable broken back effect may be improved by the
introduction of a sag curve.
The followings are guidelines concerning length of straights:
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CIRCULAR CURVES
Variables
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Many highway agencies use the concept of degree of curve (D) to define the
curve. Degree of curve D is defined to be that the central angle subtained by
100 ft (m) of arc (i.e. arc definition). In railway design, D is defined to be
the central angle subtended by 100ft (m) of chord (i.e. chord definition).
L 100
R
50
D 50
R
0.5D 0.5D
Fig.4-15; Relationship between the degree of curve (D) and the circle for
100 ft (m) arc stations.
From figure,
D0 3600 5729.58
Arc definition; = =>D =
100 2R R
Thus, L=100
D
Chord definition: sin [D/2] = 50/R
R = 50 Cosec [D/2]
Tip:
20
In condition when one station is 20m, shall multiply the above
100
relation.
Sub arc angle, di = angle subtended by an arc less than 100ft (m) xi.
di/xi = D/100
di = D* xi /100
di = D* xi /100 R
di xi < 100
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Sub chord angle, Ci = angle subtended by a chords less than 100ft (m)
yi
Sin Ci
2 2R
yi
C
yi 2 R sin( i )
2 R
For, R = 50Csc( )
2 Ci 2
2
yi 10Csc sin i
C
2
Ci 2
yi < 100
2) Radius of curve, R
5729.58
i. By Arc definition R=
D
ii. By chord definition, R =50Csc[D/2]
3) Tangent distance, T =R tan ( )
2
4) External distance, E R Sec 1
2
2R R
5) Length of curve, L= 100
360 180 D
6) Middle ordinate, M R 1 cos
2
7) Chord from BC to EC, C = 2R sin
2
8) Point of curvature (PC) station, PC = PI –T
9) Point of tangent (PT) station, PT =PC + L
Remarks
The use of degree curvature and chord length in the design of circular
curves primarily stems from the methods used in surveying to locate and
stake out the highway curves for construction. Typically, a surveyor would
place his instrument at a point on the tangent where the curve begins and
then incrementally turn angles equivalent to D and measure calculate chord
distance until the entire length of the curve was locate.
The length of the radius is not as useful in field stake-out activities because
the center of the curve is typically to locate a considerable distance from the
construction area.
Most curve problems are calculated from fields measurement ( and the
chainage of PI) and from design parameters (R). Given R (which is dependent
on the design speed) and , all others curve components can be computed.
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This is the process of establishing the centerline of the curve on the ground
by means of pegs at 10m to 30m intervals. In order to do this the tangent
and intersection points must first be fixed in the ground, in their correct
positions.
I2 2
0+000
T3 T4
Origion
T2
T1
I1 1
The straight OI1, I1I2, I2I3 etc, will have been designed on the plan in the first
instance. Appropriate curves will now be designed to connect the straight.
The tangent point of these curves will then be fixed, making sure that the
tangent lengths are equal, i.e. T1I1 = T2I1 and T3 I2 = T4I2.
The difference of the bearing of the straights Provides the deflection angle
( ) of the curves, which combined with the tangent length, enables chain
age and all setting out date.
The tangent and intersection points are set out from existing control survey
stations and the curves ranged between them using any one of the following
method:
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When S<L
I
S
M
BC Line of Sight EC
Forward Tangent
Back Tangent
R
R
/2
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When S>L
I
S
y
BC M EC
Z
Line of Sight
Forward Tangent
x R
Back Tangent
R-M R
/2
L[2S L]
M
8R
Super-elevation, e
• Is the raising of the outer edge of the road along a curve in-order to
counteract the effect of radial centrifugal force in combination with
the friction between the surface and tyres developed in the lateral
direction
• Maximum value is controlled by:
– Climatic conditions: frequency & amount of snow/icing
– Terrain condition: flat vs. mountainous
– Area type: rural vs. urban
– Frequency of very slow moving vehicles
• 0.1m/m is a logical maximum super-elevation
• Minimum super-elevation rate is determined by drainage
requirements
• UK emax: 0.07 (rural) & 0.05 (urban)
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V2
Rmin
127 e f s
where
R _ minimum radius (ft)
u _ design speed (mi/h)
e _ superelevation (ft /ft)
fs _ coefficient of side friction
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