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Introduction for Geometric Design of Highways

Presentation · March 2016

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.3884.5207

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GEOMETRIC DESIGN
Prepared by:
Dr . Osama Ibrahim

28-2-2016
 Highway cross section elements

a. Carriageway
b. Shoulder
c. Roadway width
d. Right of way
e. Building line
f. Control line
g. Median
h. Camber/ cross slope
i. Crown
j. Side slope
k. Kerb
l. Guard rail
m. Side drain
n. Other facilities
 Cross slope or camber

It is the slope provided to the road surface in the transverse direction to drain off the rain water from the road surface.
a. To prevent the entry of surface water into the sub grade soil through pavement.
b. To prevent the entry of water into the bituminous pavement layer.
c. To remove the rain water from the pavement surface as quick as possible and to allow the pavement to get dry soon after the
rain.
d. It is expressed as a percentage or 1 V: N h.
e. It depends on the pavement surface and amount of rainfall.

- Shape of the cross slope:

- Parabolic shape(fast moving vehicle).

- Straight line.

- Combination of parabolic and straight line.

 Importance of geometric design

• The geometric design of a highway deals with the dimensions and layout of
visible features of the highway such as alignment, sight distance and intersection.
• The main objective of highway design is to provide optimum efficiency in traffic
operation with maximum safety at reasonable cost.
 Geometric design of highways deals with
following elements :
1- Cross section elements
2- Sight distance considerations
3- Horizontal alignment details
4- Vertical alignment details
5- Intersection element.
 Design Controls and criteria
1- Design speed
2- Topography
3- Traffic factors
4- Design hourly volume and capacity
5- Environmental and other factors
Design speed: different speed standards have been assigned for different class of
road. Design speed may be modified depending upon the terrain conditions.

• Topography: Classified based on the general slope of the country.

Plane terrain <10%
Rolling terrain 10-25%
Mountainous terrain 25-60%
Steep terrain >60%
Traffic factor
1- Vehicular characteristics and human characteristics of road users.
2- Different vehicle classes have different speed and acceleration characteristics,
different dimensions and weight.
3- Human factor includes the physical, mental and psychological characteristics of
driver and pedestrian.

Design hourly volume and capacity

1- Traffic flow fluctuating with time
2- Low value during off-peak hours to the
highest value during the peak hour.
It is uneconomical to design the roadway for peak traffic flow.
Environmental factors

1- Aesthetics
2- Landscaping
3- Air pollution
4- Noise pollution
SIGHT DISTNCE

Sight distance available from a point is the actual distance along the road surface,
which a driver from a specified height above the carriageway has visibility of
stationary or moving objects. OR It is the length of road visible ahead to the driver
at any instance.
 Types of sight distance

1. Stopping or absolute minimum sight distance (SSD)

2. Safe overtaking or passing sight distance (OSD)
3. Safe sight distance for entering into uncontrolled intersection.
4. Intermediate sight distance.
5. Head light sight distance.

Stopping sight distance:

The minimum sight distance available on a highway at any spot should be of sufficient length to stop a vehicle traveling at design
speed, safely without collision with any other obstruction.

Over taking sight distance:

The minimum distance open to the vision of the driver of a vehicle intending to overtake slow vehicle ahead with
safety against the traffic of opposite direction is known as the minimum overtaking sight distance (OSD) or the safe
passing sight distance.
Sight distance at intersection:
Driver entering an uncontrolled intersection (particularly unsignalised Intersection) has sufficient visibility to enable him to take
control of his vehicle and to avoid collision with another vehicle.

Intermediate sight distance:

This is defined as twice the stopping sight distance. When overtaking sight distance cannot be provided, intermediate sight
distance is provided to give limited overtaking opportunities to fast vehicles.

Head light sight distance:

This is the distance visible to a driver during night driving under the illumination of the vehicle head lights. This sight distance is
critical at up-gradients and at the ascending stretch of the valley curves.
 Stopping Sight Distance
SSD is the minimum sight distance available on a highway at any spot having sufficient length to enable the driver to stop a
vehicle traveling at design speed, safely without collision with any other obstruction.
It depends on:

a. Feature of road ahead

b. Height of driver’s eye above the road surface(1.2m)

c. Height of the object above the road surface (0.15m).

Criteria for measurement

1. Height of driver’s eye above road surface (H)
2. Height of object above road surface (h).
 Factors affecting the SSD

a. Total reaction time of driver

b. Speed of vehicle
c. Efficiency of brakes
d. Frictional resistance between road and tyre
e. Gradient of road
Total reaction time of driver:

It is the time taken from the instant the object is visible to the driver to the instant the brake is
effectively applied, it divide into types
a- Perception time
b- Brake reaction time.
 Perception time:
It is the time from the instant the object comes on the line of sight of the driver to the instant he
realizes that the vehicle needs to be stopped.
Brake reaction time:
The brake reaction also depends on several factor including the skill of the driver, the type of the
problems and various other environment factor. Total reaction time of driver can be calculated by
“PIEV” theory.
“PIEV” Theory: Total reaction time of driver is split into four parts:
P-perception, I-intellection, E-Emotion, V-Volition.
Perception: It is the time required for the sensation received by the eyes or ears to be transmitted
to the brain through the nervous system and spinal cord.
Intellection: It is the time required for understanding the situation.
Emotion: It is the time elapsed during emotional sensation and disturbance such as fear, anger or
any other emotional feeling such as superstition etc, with reference to the situation.
Volition: It is the time taken for the final action

Total reaction time of driver may be vary from 0.5 sec to 4 sec
 Analysis of SSD
The stopping sight distance is the sum of lag distance and the braking distance.
Lag distance: It is the distance, the vehicle travelled during the reaction time If
‘V’ is the design speed in m/sec and
‘t’ is the total reaction time of the driver in seconds,

Braking distance: It is the distance travelled by the vehicle after the application of brake

For a level road this is obtained by equating the work done in stopping the vehicle and the
kinetic energy of the vehicle.
Work done against friction force in stopping the vehicle is F*L= f .W.L,
where W is the total weight of the vehicle.
The kinetic energy at the design speed of v m/sec will be ½ m. v²
Two-way traffic single lane road: SSD=2*SSD
In one-way traffic with single or more lane or two-way traffic with more than single lane: Minimum SSD= SSD.
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