CE 304: Geometric Design
of Highways
Dr. Anjan Kumar S
Associate Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
E mail: sak@iitg.ernet.in
Background
• Current Status
• Second largest in the world (64 lakh km, 2023)
• Road Development Programmes
• National Highway Development Programme
• NHAI, NHIDCL,
• Bharathmala, Sagarmala
• National Rural Infrastructure Development
Agency
• PMGSY, CMGSY, etc.,
Source: NHAI
Classification
• Generic
• all-weather roads
• fair-weather roads
• Methods of classification
• traffic Volume: vehicle count: ex: vehicles per hour
• load transported or tonnage
• location and function
Classification
• Non-Urban Roads • Urban roads
I. Primary system
a) Expressways
b) National Highways • Arterial roads
II. Secondary system • Sub-arterial roads
a) State Highways
b) Major District Roads
• Collector streets and
III. Tertiary system or rural
a) Other district roads • Local streets
b) Village roads
Classification
• Expressways are a class of highways with superior facilities and design
standards and are meant as through routes catering to a high volume of
traffic.
• Divided carriageways for high-speed travel,
• with full control of access
• provided with metal beam crash barrier median throughout and
• grade separators at intersection locations.
Classification
• National highways (NH) are the important highways running through the length
and breadth of the country, connecting major ports, foreign highways, state capitals,
large industrial and tourist centres, etc., including roads required for strategic
movements for India’s defence.
• State Highways (SH) are arterial routes of a state linking district headquarters and
important cities within the state and connecting them with National Highways or
highways of the neighbouring states.
• Major District Roads (MDR) are important roads within a district, serving areas of
production and markets and connecting these with each other or the main highways.
• Other District Roads (ODR) are roads serving rural production areas and
providing them with outlets to market centres, taluka/tehsil headquarters, block
development headquarters, or other main roads.
• Village Roads (VR) connect villages or groups of villages with each other and to
the nearest road of a higher category.
Geometric Design
Geometric Design
• Deals with the dimensions and layout of VISIBLE features of the highway
• Horizontal
• Vertical
• Sight distance
• Intersections
“emphases on safety, comfort, efficiency”
• Cross section elements
• Sight distance considerations
• Horizontal alignment
• Vertical alignment
• Intersection
Controls and Criteria
• Topography of terrain
• Design speed
• Traffic Factors
• Design hourly volume and capacity
• Environmental factors
• Economy
Controls and Criteria
• Topography
• Terrain classification
Controls and Criteria
• Design speed
• Assigned based on importance of road
Design speed in kmph for various terrains
Road classification Plain Rolling Mountainous Steep
Ruling Min. Ruling Min. Ruling Min. Ruling Min.
Expressway 120 100 100 80 80 60 80 60
NH and SH 100 80 80 65 50 40 40 30
MDR 80 65 65 50 40 30 30 20
ODR 65 50 50 40 30 25 25 20
VR 50 40 40 35 25 20 25 20
Normally “ruling design speed” should be the guiding criterion for correlating the various geometric design features, “Minimum design
speed” may, however, be adopted in sections where land width, site conditions, including costs, do not permit a design based on the “ruling
design speed”.
Controls and Criteria
• Traffic Factors
• Vehicular Characteristics • Human Characteristics
• Dimensions • Perception-reaction time
• Weight • Psychological characteristics
• Operation characteristics • Value of time
• Design vehicle • Safety
• Design hourly volume • Comfort
• Vision
• Design driver
Controls and Criteria
• Environmental factors
• Aesthetics
• Visual quality is defined as the character of the visual scene in terms of its capability to be seen and understood by the user.
• Aesthetic quality is the character of the visual scene in terms of its qualities of beauty, such as form, proportion, line, mass, etc.
Controls and Criteria
• Environmental factors
• Aesthetics
• Visual quality is defined as the character of the visual scene in terms of its capability to be seen and understood by the user.
• Aesthetic quality is the character of the visual scene in terms of its qualities of beauty, such as form, proportion, line, mass, etc.
Controls and Criteria
• Environmental factors
• Aesthetics
• Visual quality is defined as the character of the visual scene in terms of its capability to be seen and understood by the user.
• Aesthetic quality is the character of the visual scene in terms of its qualities of beauty, such as form, proportion, line, mass, etc.
• Landscaping
• Air pollution
• Noise pollution
• Economics
• Financial feasibility
Cross section elements
• Cross sectional elements
Cross section elements
• Cross-sectional elements
• Carriageway (vehicular movement)
• Roadway (Carriageway + shoulder)
• Road land width or Right of way
• is the land acquired for road construction purposes and provision of utilities along the length of the road.
• Building Line
• Control Line
Cross section elements
• Width of carriageway
• Width of traffic lane
• Number of lanes
• Design vehicle !!!
“Largest vehicle likely to use the facility with reasonable frequency”
Sl. No Class of Road Carriageway width, m
1 Single lane road 3.75
2 Two lanes without raised kerbs 7.0
3 Two lane with raised kerbs 7.5
4 Intermediate carriageway 5.5
5 Multi-lane highways 3.5 (single lane)
Cross section elements
• Design Vehicle
Cross section elements
• Cross slope or camber
“Camber or cant is the slope provided to the road surface in the transverse
direction to drain of rain water from the road surface”
• Functions of Camber
• Inhibit of moisture intrusion
• Quick draining
Cross section elements
• Cross Slope
Cross section elements
• Cross slope
• Assigned based on surface type and rainfall
Camber
Sl. No. Pavement surface type
Heavy rainfall Low rainfall
1 Cement concrete and thick bituminous surface 1 in 50 (2%) 1 in 60 (1.7%)
2 Thin bituminous surface 1 in 40 (2.5%) 1 in 50 (2%)
3 Gravel roads 1 in 33 (3%) 1 in 40 (2.5%)
4 Earthen surface 1 in 25 (4%) 1 in 33 (3%)
Cross section elements
• Pavement Surface Characteristics
• Friction or skid resistance
• Tyre and surface
• Controls
• Operating speed
• Distance required to stop
• Counteracts the centrifugal force
• Factors
• Type of pavement surface
• Pavement condition
• Vehicle operating conditions
• Load, tyre profile, braking efficiency, SPEED
• Pavement unevenness
• Light reflecting characteristics
Cross section elements
• Medians / Traffic separators
• Functions
• To channelize traffic streams
• To shadow the crossing and turning traffic
• To segregate slow traffic
• To protect pedestrians
• 1.2 m
• 1.5 m
• 3m
• 5m
• 7.5 m
• 8 m …..??
Cross section elements
• Kerbs
• Indicates boundary between carriageway and median or walkway
• Three groups:
• Low kerb or mountable → 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝒎𝒎
• Semi – barrier type → 𝟏𝟓𝟎 𝒎𝒎
• Barrier type → 𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝒎𝒎
Cross section elements
• Road Margins
• Shoulders
• Provide structural stability
• Increases the capacity
• Emergency lanes
• Service lanes for breakdown vehicles
• Parking Lanes
• Bus Bays
• Drive ways
• Cycle tracks
“Safety cannot be implemented in stages ”
Cross section elements
• Typical Cross sections
Cross section elements
• Typical Cross sections
Cross section elements
• Typical Cross sections
Cross section elements
• Typical Cross sections
Cross section elements
• Typical Cross sections
Cross section elements
• Typical Cross sections
Cross section elements
• Typical Cross sections
Cross section elements
• Typical Cross sections
Cross section elements
• Typical Cross sections
Cross section elements
• Typical Cross sections
Questions?
