CIV 331

Highway Engineering

Course Instructor
Dr. Essam Dabbour, P. Eng.

Presentation 04
HIGHWAY ALIGNMENTS
[3-D VIEW]

2
HIGHWAY ALIGNMENTS
[2-D VIEW]

3
DESIGN OF VERTICAL CURVES

4
NEED FOR VERTICAL CURVES

5
TYPES OF VERTICAL CURVES

6
 NOTATION
• Curve point naming is as per the following:
– PVC: Point of Vertical Curvature
– PVI: Point of Vertical Intersection
(of initial and final tangents)
– PVT: Point of Vertical Tangency
• Curve positioning and length usually referenced in stations where
a station represents 1000 m or 100 ft (e.g., 1295.3 m  1 +
295.3).
• G1 is initial roadway (tangent) grade.
• G2 is final roadway (tangent) grade.
• A is the absolute value of the difference in grades (generally
expressed in percent)  A = |G2 – G1|
• L is the length of the vertical curve measured in a horizontal
plane.
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 FUNDAMENTALS

• Parabolic curves are generally used for design:

y = ax 2 + bx + c

y = roadway elevation
x = distance from PVC
c = elevation of PVC

• Also usually design for equal-length tangents (i.e., half of curve

length is before PVI and half after).

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 FIRST DERIVATIVE

• First derivative gives slope:

dy
 2ax  b
dx

• At PVC (x = 0):
dy
b  G1
dx

• G1 is initial slope (in ft/ft or m/m) as previously defined

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 SECOND DERIVATIVE

• Second derivative gives rate of change of slope:

d2y
2
 2a
dx
• However, the average rate of change of slope can also be
written as:

d 2 y  G2  G1 
2

dx L
• By substitution:

a
 G2  G1 
2L
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 EXAMPLE 1
An equal-tangent vertical curve is to be constructed between grades
of -2.0% (initial) and +1.0% (final). The PVI is at station (3 +
350.000) and at elevation 130.000 m. Due to a street crossing the
roadway, the elevation of the proposed roadway at station (3 +
415.000) must be at 131.000 m. Design the curve.

SOLUTION:

[see whiteboard or page 53]

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 CURVE-THROUGH-A-POINT PROBLEM
Sometimes vertical curves are designed so that the elevation of a
specific location (station) is met (e.g., to connect with another
highway or underpass another highway/railway with specific
clearance).

Proposed vertical curve overpasses an Proposed vertical curve underpasses an

existing highway/railway existing highway/railway
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 EXAMPLE 2

A vertical curve has its initial and final grades +3% and -2%,
respectively. Due to design requirements, the highest point
on that curve should be at station (2+305.00). If PVI is at
station (2+285.00) and elevation 26.55 m, calculate the
following:
a) The length of the curve.
b) Station and elevation of PVC.
c) Station and elevation of PVT.

SOLUTION:

[see whiteboard]
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 VERTICAL CURVE OFFSET
Offset, Y, is the vertical distance from initial tangent to the curve.

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 VERTICAL CURVE OFFSET

• For an equal tangent parabola:

A 2
Y x
200 L

– Y = offset (in m or ft) at any distance, x, from the PVC

– A and L are as previously defined
• It follows from the figure that:

AL
Ym  offset at the curve midpoint
800
AL
Yf  offset at the end the curve
200
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 ‘K’ Value
• The rate of change of slope at successive points on the curve is
constant, and
• Equals the algebraic difference between intersecting tangent
grades divided by the length of curve, or A/L in percent per ft (m)
• The inverse of the above function is L/A, which is the horizontal
distance required to effect a 1% change in gradient and is,
therefore, a measure of curvature:
L
K
A
• The K-value can be used directly to compute the high/low points
for crest/sag vertical curves (provided the high/low point is not at
a curve end) by:
xhl = K  |G1|

(Where x = distance from the PVC to the high/low point)

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 SSD ON VERTICAL CREST CURVES
• It is necessary, when designing vertical curves, to provide
adequate stopping-sight distance (SSD).
• Because curve construction is expensive, we want to minimize
curve length, subject to adequate SSD.
• Two different factors are important for crest curves
– The driver’s eye height in vehicle, H1
– Height of a roadway obstruction object, H2

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 CREST CURVE LENGTH TO SATISFY SSD
• The minimum length of curve, Lm, for a required SSD depends on
whether the length of the curve is larger or smaller than the
required sight distance:
A  SSD 2
Lm  for SSD  L

200 H1  H 2  2

Lm  2  SSD 

200 H1  H 2  2

for SSD  L
A

• Current AASHTO design standards (2004) use H1 (driver’s eye

height) as 1080 mm and H2 (object height) as 600 mm:
AxSSD 2
Lm  (for SSD  L)
658
658
Lm  2 xSSD  (for SSD  L)
A
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 ‘K’ VALUES TO SATISFY SSD
(CREST CURVE)
US Customary Metric
Stopping Rate of vertical Stopping Rate of vertical
Design a Design
sight curvature, K sight curvature, Ka
speed speed
distance distance
(mi/h) Calculated Design (km/h) Calculated Design
(ft) (m)
15 80 3.0 3 20 20 0.6 1
20 115 6.1 7 30 35 1.9 2
25 155 11.1 12 40 50 3.8 4
30 200 18.5 19 50 65 6.4 7
35 250 29.0 29 60 85 11.0 11
40 305 43.1 44 70 105 16.8 17
45 360 60.1 61 80 130 25.7 26
50 425 83.7 84 90 160 38.9 39
55 495 113.5 114 100 185 52.0 52
60 570 150.6 151 110 220 73.6 74
65 645 192.8 193 120 250 95.0 95
70 730 246.9 247 130 285 123.4 124
75 820 311.6 312
80 910 383.7 384
a
Rate of vertical curvature, K, is the length of curve per percent algebraic difference in
intersecting grades (A). K = L/A
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 EXAMPLE 3
A vertical curve has a design speed of 100 km/h (K = 52) and
it connects tangents that intersect at station (4+870) and
elevation 21.65 m. The curve’s initial grade is +1.5% and final
grade is -2.5%. Calculate the following:
a) Station and elevation of PVC.
b) Station and elevation of PVT.
c) Station of the highest point on the curve.

SOLUTION:

[see whiteboard]

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 SSD ON VERTICAL SAG CURVES
• Since SSD is unrestricted on sag curves during daylight hours,
nighttime conditions govern design (assuming that the road is not
illuminated).
• Thus, the critical concern for sag curves is the headlight sight
distance (i.e., the length of road illuminated by the vehicle’s
headlights), which is a function of the height of the headlight
above the roadway, H, and the inclined upward angle of the
headlight beam, relative to the horizontal plane of the car, b

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 MINIMUM LENGTH OF SAG CURVE
• Like crest curves, we need expressions for determining the
minimum length of sag curve required for adequate SSD:

A  SSD 2
Lm  for SSD  L
200 H  SSD tan  

200  H  SSD tan  

Lm  2  SSD  for SSD  L
A

• Current AASHTO design standards (2004) use H (headlight

height) as 600 mm and  (headlight angle) as 1°:
AxSSD 2
Lm  (for SSD  L)
120  3.5xSSD

120  3.5xSSD
Lm  2 xSSD  (for SSD  L)
A
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 ‘K’ VALUES TO SATISFY SSD
(SAG CURVE)
US Customary Metric
Stopping Rate of vertical Stopping Rate of vertical
Design a Design
sight curvature, K sight curvature, Ka
speed speed
distance distance
(mi/h) Calculated Design (km/h) Calculated Design
(ft) (m)
15 80 9.4 10 20 20 2.1 3
20 115 16.5 17 30 35 5.1 6
25 155 25.5 26 40 50 8.5 9
30 200 36.4 37 50 65 12.2 13
35 250 49.0 49 60 85 17.3 18
40 305 63.4 64 70 105 22.6 23
45 360 78.1 79 80 130 29.4 30
50 425 95.7 96 90 160 37.6 38
55 495 114.9 115 100 185 44.6 45
60 570 135.7 136 110 220 54.4 55
65 645 156.5 157 120 250 62.8 63
70 730 180.3 181 130 285 72.7 73
75 820 205.6 206
80 910 231.0 231
a
Rate of vertical curvature, K, is the length of curve per percent algebraic difference in
intersecting grades (A). K = L/A

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 UNDERPASS SIGHT DISTANCE ON SAG CURVES

• A structure passing over a sag curve may block a driver’s

line-of-sight over the full length of the curve.

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 UNDERPASS SIGHT DISTANCE ON SAG CURVES
• From properties of parabola for equal-tangent curve, the
following formulas determine the minimum length to satisfy
SSD:
A * SSD 2
Lm  for SSD  L
  H  H2 
800 H c   1 
  2 

  H  H2 
800 H c   1 
  2 
Lm  2 * SSD  for SSD  L
A

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 UNDERPASS SIGHT DISTANCE ON SAG CURVES
• Current AASHTO design standards (2004) use H1 (driver’s
eye height) as 2.4 m for a truck driver and H2 (object height)
as 600 mm:

A * SSD 2
Lm  for SSD  L
800 H c  1.5

800 H c  1.5
Lm  2 * SSD  for SSD  L
A

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 EXAMPLE 4
An equal-tangent sag curve is designed for a design speed 110
km/h (SSD = 220 m) with initial grade of -4%, a final grade of +3%,
and a length of 385 m. An overhead guide sign is being placed
directly over the PVI of this curve. Calculate the height above the
roadway where the bottom of the sign should be placed.

SOLUTION:

[see whiteboard or page 76]

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 EXAMPLE 5
A current roadway is climbing a hill at an angle of +3.0%. The roadway starts at
station 4+000 and elevation of 120 m. At station 5+000, there is an at-grade
railroad crossing that goes over the sloped road. Since designers are
concerned for the safety of drivers crossing the tracks, it has been proposed to
cut a tunnel through the hill to pass beneath the railroad tracks and come out
on the opposite side. A vertical crest curve would connect the existing roadway
to the proposed tunnel with a grade of (-0.5)%. The prospective curve would
start at station 4+650 and have a length of 800 meters. Engineers have stated
that there must be at least 10 meters of separation between the railroad tracks
and the road to build a safe tunnel. Assume an equal tangent curve. With the
current design, check whether this requirement is met.

SOLUTION:

[see whiteboard]

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 EXAMPLE 6
To help prevent future collisions between cars and trains, an at-grade crossing
of a rail road by a country road is being redesigned so that the country road will
pass underneath the tracks. Currently the vertical alignment of the county road
consists of an equal tangents crest vertical curve joining a 4% upgrade to a 2%
downgrade. The existing vertical curve is 240 meter long, the PVC of this curve
is at station 4+825 and elevation 28.75 m. The centerline of the train tracks is
at station 4+975. Your job is to find the shortest vertical curve length that
provides 5 meter of clearance between the new county road and the train
tracks, and to make a preliminary estimate of the cut depth that will be needed
at PVI to construct the new curve.

SOLUTION:

[see whiteboard]

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