Lecture 5: Application of SD to

Alignment Design
TR 320 Highway Geometric Design
 Objective of the Lecture
• To demonstrate the application of the criteria
of sight distance to alignment design

The learner should be able to:

• To design horizontal and vertical curves to
satisfy SD criteria

2
 Safety Objective in alignment
design
• The design of the alignment must provide
adequate SSD at all points and PSD at intervals
to allow for efficient and safe operation
• This requires that the radii of horizontal
curves and the cross section on horizontal
curves be designed to provide required SD
• The design of Vertical curves must also satisfy
SD criteria

3
 Recall - Sight Obstructions
• On tangent roadway – the road surface at
some point on a crest vertical curve
• On horizontal curves:
– The surface of the roadway at some point on a
crest vertical curve
– A physical feature outside the travelled way in the
line of sight of the driver e.g. cut slope,
longitudinal barrier, foliage, a tree, a bridge
approach fill slope

4
SIGHT DISTANCE ON
HORIZONTAL CURVES

5
 Check design for SD
• Design may need to be adjusted on horizontal
curves to provide adequate Sight Distance on
if there are obstructions to sight on the inside
of curves
– By changing the radius / alignment
– By changing the cross section
– Reducing the design speed
• Each case must be evaluated by the designer

6
 Stopping Sight Distance
• The sight line is a chord of the curve
• The SSD is measured along the
centreline of the inside lane around
the curve
• See sketch and eq. on the
components for determining HSD

7
 Example
• Consider question B1 of the Tutorial
sheet/TR320 UE October 2009
• Work out the available Horizontal sightline offset
(see note below)
• Work out the required Horizontal sightline offset
(use formula, S from data sheet and given R)
• Compare the two and propose possible action if
necessary

8
• Note:
For sight restrictions due to cut slope on the
inside of a curve, for driver’s eye height of
1080 mm and object height 600 mm, use a
height of 840 mm (average) as the midpoint
of the sightline where obstruction to sight
occurs. - assuming level surface

9
 Passing sight distance
• Practical only on curves with very big
radius (PSD = 4 x SSD, same design
speed)

10
VERTICAL CURVE
DESIGN
(for SD Criteria)
11
 CREST CURVES
• Geometry – see sketch
• Formula – two cases – for S<L and S>L
• What if none of the cases hold? See example
in the tutorial sheet
• For crest curves the sight distance criteria is
the governing case, if not then consider
comfort and aesthetics!

12
 SAG CURVES
• Sight distance for sag curves on a horizontal
tangent is not governing design criteria during
the day time – see sketch!
• During the night time sight distance depends
on the height of the headlamp from the road
surface and the angel of upward divergence –
usually 1 degree. The SD is computed from the
formula (see formulae sheet) – two cases S<L
and S>L
13
 Example
• Consider the following case:
–Design speed 90 km/hr and a sag
curve with grades -5% and +6%
–Compute the minimum curve
length to provide adequate sight
distance for the design speed

14
 Additional considerations!
• For sag curves, in addition to SD criteria we
have to check for comfort, aesthetics and
drainage (discussed in future lecture)

15
Thank You

16