DERIVING GLOBAL COORDINATES OF ANY SPIRAL-CURVE-SPIRAL ASSEMBLY

Subir Kumar Podder, Consultant (Highways), LEA Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi

ABSTRACT
While references are available on the local coordinates (with respect to a tangent), the global coordinates for a Spiral-Curve-Spiral assembly in a horizontal alignment is important for working engineers willing to have them derived without resorting to advanced geometric design tool. Basic coordinate geometry together with basic transformation techniques, as described here, can be used to derive such global coordinates readily.

well as IRC:73-1980. Tables are presented, in both the aforesaid references, giving a ready reference for the applicable minimum values2. DESIRABLE VALUES - Rc AND Ls (c) However the desirable values for both

radius and length (of spiral) need not always be the minimum prescribed values. These are dictated by elements described under (d), (e), (f), (g), (h) and (i) next. (d) The deviation angle is the basic

1.

INTRODUCTION

For highway alignments, horizontal curves should consist of either a circular curve flanked by transitions at both ends or two transition curves connected to each other. The ideal transition curve is a spiral, and is thus recommended1. While finalizing an alignment the issues that designers have to account for, in relation to such a combination, can perhaps be better described in the following chronological sequence: GEOMETRIC ELEMENTS (a) For a spiral it is most important to

governing element, specific to the case being analysed. (e) For a particular , each combination of

curve radius (Rc) and transition length (Ls) corresponds to discrete values for tangent distance (Ts) and apex distance (Es). (f) Whether the resultant (for any

combination of Rc and Ls) tangent distance Ts is permissible or not is dependent on the available PI distances (distances of the straights or tangents that precedes or succeeds the PI where the particular Spiral-Curve-Spiral

appreciate that its geometry is independent of the many other factors that a designer has to consider for finalizing an alignment. Its geometry is contingent only on (a) its length and (b) the radius it finally has to deliver (radius of the circular curve). MINIMUM VALUES OF Rc AND Ls (b) Factors dictating minimum lengths of

assembly is being applied). In essence, the PI distance determines the maximum Ts value3 as shown in Fig-1 below.

transitions (spirals) and also minimum radius are discussed in detail both in IRC:38-1988 as

Clause 7.5 of IRC: 38-1988 may be referred to.

Table 17 of IRC:73-1980 and Table 9 of IRC:381988 3 Apart from the Ts for the case (PI point) being analysed, the Ts for the Spiral applied to the preceding or succeeding PI point govern the applicability of a particular Rc-Ls combination.

DERIVING GLOBAL COORDINATES OF ANY SPIRAL-CURVE-SPIRAL ASSEMBLY

Subir Kumar Podder, Consultant (Highways), LEA Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi

GETTING SPIRAL COORDINATES (j) Continuing from (a) above, for a given Rc

and Ls the co-ordinates of the spiral gets derived from equations explicitly given in IRC: 38-1988. These are reproduced in Section 3 next. Figure-1: Illustration of maximum possible Ts (g) The resultant apex distance Es, on the other hand, is critical in the sense that it either (I) tends to shift the alignment too far from the straights and hence leads to undesirable impact on adjacent properties abutting the highway, or (II) allows to avoid locked-in restrictions or constraints that would require the alignment to be shifted away from the tangent so as to avoid undesirable impacts. (h) Having the boundary conditions known However it is important to appreciate that, as evident from Figure-2, such co-ordinates are just Local Coordinates derived considering the tangent (or straight) as the X-axis. On the other hand, working engineers designing the alignment would be requiring Global

Coordinates for them to lay-out on ground. The subsequent sections of this paper is attributable to equations that working engineers may resort to in order to derive such global coordinates for the entire Spiral-Curve-Spiral assembly without having to depend on advanced highway-design tool. This gets detailed next.
2.

(from applicable site conditions) viz. , PI distances, and Es together with the applicable minimum values of Rc and Ls, the designer decides on values for Rc and Ls to be adopted in order to suit any specific case. (i) IRC: 38-1988 provides definite equations

THE RELEVANCE ITS SPECIFICS

While references are available on the local coordinates (with respect to a tangent), the global coordinates for the Spiral-Curve-Spiral assembly for a horizontal alignment is important for working engineers willing to have them without resorting to advanced design software. Basic coordinate geometry together with basic

to calculate resultant Ts and Es for a specific Spiral-Curve-Spiral assembly. These are

reproduced in Section 3 next.

transformation techniques, as detailed here, can be used to derive such global coordinates.

DERIVING GLOBAL COORDINATES OF ANY SPIRAL-CURVE-SPIRAL ASSEMBLY

Subir Kumar Podder, Consultant (Highways), LEA Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi

the following constituents of a Spiral-Curve8

Spiral assembly for any particular PI:

6 4 2 0 0 50 100 150 200

a) the SPIRAL-IN; b) the Circular Curve; and c) the SPIRAL-OUT. The aforesaid global requirements of a working engineer are explicitly depicted in Figure-4 next.

Figure-2: Local coordinates of a Spiral As evident from Figure-2 above, the local coordinates that the basic equations (as given in IRC:38-1988) of the spiral give correspond to a tangent distance (Ts) along the X-axis with tangent point, T.P. at (0,0). However the requirement of a working engineer is rather having the global coordinates, as has been indicated in Figure-3 below, with T.P. elsewhere, say (-1137.132,-63.713).
-60 -1000 -65 -70 -75 -80 -85 -90

Figure-4: Global coordinates and elements of a SPECIFIC Spiral-Curve-Spiral assembly

It is to be noted herein that the lengths for SPIRAL-IN necessarily and be SPIRAL-OUT equal. If need not the

-1400

-1300

-1200

-1100

different,

corresponding lengths of Ts will also be different. While Rc remains the same, Lc will be different too. It is emphasised here that such different Ts lengths for IN and OUT spirals do not complicate the derivation of global coordinates that this

Figure-3: Global coordinates for a spiral In fact, the requirements are not restricted to that of global-coordinates for a single spiral, the SPIRAL-IN. Instead, the requirements of a working engineer are global coordinates for all

paper delves into. It is essentially because the derivations are primarily based on simple transformation equations and basic equations of a circle and a spiral.

DERIVING GLOBAL COORDINATES OF ANY SPIRAL-CURVE-SPIRAL ASSEMBLY

Subir Kumar Podder, Consultant (Highways), LEA Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi

However for the purpose of simplicity, the paper restricts itself to a simple case of equal Ls lengths for both the IN and OUT spirals.
3.

The geometric relationships for a spiral are

= L2 / 2Rc Ls Y = L (/3 /42+ /1320 /75600) X = L (1-2/10+4/2166/9360) Ts = K + (Rc + s) tan/2 Es = (Rc + s) sec/2 Rc
3 5 7

....... (2) ....... (3) ....... (4) ....... (5) ....... (6)

BASIC SPIRAL EQUATIONS

Figure-5 below highlights the basic components of a spiral. The relevant geometric relationships, extracted from IRC:38-1988 are reproduced next. The symbols for constituent parameters, as shown in the figure, are also that the IRC:38-1988 uses.

s = Ls (/123/336+5/158407/1209600) ....... (7) K = Ls (0.5-2/60+4/21606/131040+8/12377920) ....... (8) where, (Radian) = L2 / (2 Rc Ls) Y = The Y-coordinate of any point on the spiral with T.P. as the origin, the straight T.P.-P.I. as the X-axis and the Yaxis at right angle to T.P.-P.I. at T.P. Ts = Tangent Distance, the distance of the straight between the apex (P.I.) and the tangent point of the curve (T.P.) Es = Apex Distance, the shortest distance from the apex to the circular curve; S = Shift, the displacement of a circular curve from the straight to provide room to introduce a transition curve between it and the straight, the distance of P.C. from the straight T.P.-P.I. K = The distance along the straight from T.P. to P.C.

Figure-5: Basic spiral constituents (Adapted from IRC :38-1988) The geometric equations pertaining to any particular spiral is fundamentally based on the following characteristic
L x R= a constant = A = Ls x Rc
2

Rc = Radius of the circular curve (also the radius of a transitional curve at the point where maximum designed super-elevation is reached); Ls = Transition Length, the full length of the transition curve connecting a straight length of a road with a curve; P.C. = The point on the circular curve produced nearest to the straight; 180o = Intersection Angle, the internal angle of intersection between the tangents at the two ends of a curve. This is the supplement of the deviation angle, .

....... (1)

where, L= distance, along the spiral, at any point (X,Y) measured from the tangent point, T.P.; and R= radius at that particular point (X,Y).

The aforesaid descriptions of the different constituents, for the purpose of consistency with IRC:38-1988, are extracted from its Section 2 Definitions and Notations.

DERIVING GLOBAL COORDINATES OF ANY SPIRAL-CURVE-SPIRAL ASSEMBLY

Subir Kumar Podder, Consultant (Highways), LEA Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi

Equations 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 above correspond to equations 21A, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27 and 28 (of IRC:38-1988) respectively. However the

5.

LOCAL COORDINATES OF THE SPIRAL-IN TRANSITION

Continuing from the equations presented above, for any particular Ls and Rc, the local coordinates (with T.P. as the origin, the straight T.P.-P.I. as the X-axis and the Y-axis at right angle to T.P.-P.I. at T.P.) can be derived easily

aforesaid equations find specific mention as the subsequent sections of this paper make use of these particular ones.
4.

DESIGNERS PRIMARY CONSIDERATIONS

using equations (2), (3) and (4). For example, corresponding to Ls = 150m, and Rc = 500m the local co-ordinates calculated using the aforesaid equations will be as given next.
L X Y 0 0 0 16.667 16.667 0.010 33.333 33.333 0.082 50.000 49.999 0.278 66.667 66.661 0.658

Continuing from discussions in 1(e), 1(f) and 1 (g) above, for a particular combination of spiral length and circular curve radius say Ls = 150m, and Rc = 500m, a design engineers foremost requirements are an appreciation of Ts and Es. Both these relate to acceptance of the

combination duly considering (a) available distances between the successive P.I. points, (b) local constraints that the designed alignment has to address. While gets defined by the tangents (or straights), for any particular Ls and Rc, the corresponding values for Ts and Es can be calculated using equations (5) and (6). For example, with = 1.047 radian (= 60o), corresponding to Ls = 150m, and Rc = 500m the values are Ts = 364.677m, Es = 79.506m. Provided these satisfy the fixed controls and the designers site constraints / requirements, the designer moves to the determination of the coordinates of the spiral-curve-spiral assembly.

L X Y

83.333 83.315 1.286

100.000 99.956 2.222

116.667 116.571 3.527

133.333 133.146 5.262

150.000 149.663 7.488

Herein above, the full length of the spiral is divided into 10 equal segments and then their corresponding local coordinates have been determined.
6.

TRANSFORMATION PRINCIPLES THEIR RELEVANCE TO THE CASE

Transformation Principles are necessary to transform a set of co-ordinates from one cartesian system to another. The first application in regard to of Transformation of

Principles

determination

coordinates, which this paper focuses on, is for the local coordinates of the SPIRAL-OUT transition.

DERIVING GLOBAL COORDINATES OF ANY SPIRAL-CURVE-SPIRAL ASSEMBLY

Subir Kumar Podder, Consultant (Highways), LEA Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi

It must be appreciated that determining local coordinates for the SPIRAL-IN transition was relatively simple as the tangent there followed the X-axis. However it is not so for the SPIRAL-OUT transition. Here in comes the application of Transformation. This gets discussed in Section-8 below. The second application of Transformation Principles comes when global coordinates for the total Spiral-Curve-Spiral assembly are derived. This gets discussed collectively in sections 11, 12, 13 and 14 next. However the basic principles get discussed first, in Section-7 next.
7.

angle , which may be given or derived from known co-ordinates in both systems:
e' = e cos - n sin n' = e sin + n cos ....... (11) ....... (12)

where e',n' = new co-ordinates: e, n = original co-ordinates:

= angle of rotation (radian)

However when considered together, for a given set of transformation parameters the resulting expression is
e' = k (e cos ) - k (n sin ) + E n' = k (e sin ) + k (n cos ) + N

These formulae work for all cases. If no scale factor is required, substitute k = 1. If no rotation is needed then substitute = 0. If no translations are required E & N = 0.

BASIC TRANSPORMATION PRINCIPLES

8.

LOCAL COORDINATES OF THE SPIRAL-OUT TRANSITION

Although transformation generally caters to three different aspects namely translation, rotation and scaling, but for the subject that this paper specifically addresses scaling has no relevance. When considered independently Translation, as the term itself signifies, relates to a change of origin. For a change of origin by factors E and N:
e' = e + E n' = n + N ....... (9) ....... (10)

The derivation of the Spiral-Out is illustrated in Figure-6 below. The steps that are involved are: (a) Mirror the Spiral-In (against the X-axis); (b) Translate the mirrored-spiral, with its origin at A to B (indicated in the figure): Correlating with the details presented in Section-7 above, the point B has the coordinates E,N (with that for A as 0,0,) (c) Rotate it (along the arrow shown in the figure) till the imaginary line (B-b1) merges with the line BC. Mirroring, as stated under step (a) above, allows achieving the desired Spiral-Out after translation

where e',n' = new co-ordinates; e, n = original coordinates; E & N = shift factors. When considered independently Rotation, on the other hand, pertains to rotation of axis about an

DERIVING GLOBAL COORDINATES OF ANY SPIRAL-CURVE-SPIRAL ASSEMBLY

Subir Kumar Podder, Consultant (Highways), LEA Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi

and subsequent rotation as stated under steps (b) and (c) above. Mirroring of the Spiral-In coordinates, as presented following:
L X Y 0 0 0 16.667 16.667 -0.010 33.333 33.333 -0.082 50.000 49.999 -0.278 66.667 66.661 -0.658

coordinates of B are essentially (E, N). From Figure-6,

E= Ts cos + Ts N= Ts sin ....... (13) ....... (14)

earlier

in

Section-5,

yields

the

With = 1.047 radian (= 60o) and Ts = 364.677m (as considered earlier under Section-4), using the aforesaid relations (13 & 14)
E = 547.0164, N = 315.82006

L X Y

83.333 83.315 -1.286

100.000 99.956 -2.222

116.667 116.571 -3.527

133.333 133.146 -5.262

150.000 149.663 -7.488

With the aforesaid co-ordinates of point B shown in Figure-6, the translated co-ordinates by applying equations 9 & 10 to the mirrored coordinates derived above are thus
L X Y 0 547.0164 315.8201 16.667 563.6834 315.8101 33.333 580.3494 315.7381 50 597.0154 315.5421 66.667 613.6774 315.1621

L X Y

83.333 630.3314 314.5341

100 646.9724 313.5981

116.667 663.5874 312.2931

133.333 680.1624 310.5581

150 696.6794 308.3321

Rotation Continuing from the discussions on Rotation in Section-7, from Figure-6

= + 180o

With = 1.047 radian (= 60o), = 4.1887902 (in radians) the rotated co-ordinates by applying equations 11 & 12 to the translated equations Figure-6: Basic Derivation of Spiral-Out Translation - As evident from the figure and the
L 0 547.0164 315.8201 16.667 538.6742 301.3915 33.333 530.2785 286.9939 50 521.7765 272.6589 66.667 513.1158 258.4193

derived above are thus

afore-stated steps, the coordinates of B (with that for A as 0,0) is the primary requirement. This would yield the desired Translation.

X Y

83.333 504.2451 244.3097

100 495.1147 230.3668

116.667 485.6768 216.6303

133.333 475.8861 203.1432

150 465.7002 189.9522

Continuing from the discussion in Section-7 above and with co-ordinates of A as (0,0), the

X Y

DERIVING GLOBAL COORDINATES OF ANY SPIRAL-CURVE-SPIRAL ASSEMBLY

Subir Kumar Podder, Consultant (Highways), LEA Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi

These are also the local co-ordinates of the Spiral-Out as shown in Figure-6.
9.

X Y

181.5 13.358

213 21.307

244.5 31.494

276 44.070

307.5 59.237

LOCAL COORDINATES OF THE CIRCULAR CURVE & ITS LENGTH

X Y

339 77.272

370.5 98.562

402 123.654

433.5 153.369

465 189.021

Continuing with the end points of the Spiral-In (derived in Section-5) and that for the Spiral-Out (derived in Section-8), the circular curve extends between the following co-ordinates:
X= 149.663, Y = 7.488 X= 465.7002, Y = 189.9522

Before moving on to determination of the global co-ordinates of the Spiral-Curve-Spiral assembly it is appreciated that the following deserves special mention. Derivation of the circles centre does not necessarily require the aforesaid translation & rotation. In fact, two known points of the circle can always be derived using the relations given in IRC-381988. While the end of Spiral-In (i.e. X= 149.663, Y = 7.488) gives one point, the other

However the primary requirement in determining the intermittent co-ordinates is obviously the radius of the circle (a,b). Given that the circle gets defined by the general equation
(x a)2 + (y b)2 = R2 (15)

Knowing co-ordinates of two points on the circle suffice the derivation of its radius. Using the coordinates given above, together with equation (15), the center of the circle (of R=radius=500m) comes out to be:
a= 74.9736, b = 501.878

point is P.C. (= the point on the circular curve produced nearest to the straight) as was defined earlier in Section-3. The known points are thus:
X= 149.663, Y = 7.488 X= 465.7002 (=K), Y = 189.9522 (=S)

The aforementioned values of K and S get determined respectively. Its emphasis being essentially the spiral and its stake-out, the IRC-38-1988 did not delve into the determination of the circles centre (a,b). With the co-ordinate of the centre determined and that two points at the ends of the arc are also known, the central angle (or the subtended angle using equations (8) and (7)

With the circle-centre as well as its extents known, getting co-ordinates of intermittent points involves simple calculation using equation (15). For simplicity, the abscissa could be those corresponding to 10 equal distances between X= 149.663 and X=465.7002 (the circles extents, as mentioned above). The local co-ordinates of the circle are thus

DERIVING GLOBAL COORDINATES OF ANY SPIRAL-CURVE-SPIRAL ASSEMBLY

Subir Kumar Podder, Consultant (Highways), LEA Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi

at the centre by the arc) can easily be established as shown next.

Also the local coordinates of the T.P. & PI are (0,0) and (364.677,0) respectively. It is to be appreciated that from Section-4 Ts=364.677, and hence the local coordinate of PI is (364.677,0). Plotting these points yields the following S-C-S assembly, presented as Figure-7:

350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Figure-7: The S-C-S Assembly (with localcoordinates)

10.

LOCAL CO-ORDINATES OF THE SPIRAL-CURVE-SPIRAL ASSEMBLY

11.

Putting together the co-ordinates derived above, for the Spiral-IN in Section-5 the circular-curve in Section-9 the Spiral-OUT in Section-8

GLOBAL COORDINATES FOREWORD

Continuing from the discussions earlier in Section-6, the determination of the Global Coordinates as was presented in Figure-4 is essentially the second
4

application

of

the

Transformation Principles . the local coordinates of the S-C-S assembly are as given under in Table 10.1 next:
Table 10.1 Local Coordinates of the S-C-S Assembly X Y X Y 1 0.00 0.00 16 339.00 77.27 2 16.67 0.01 17 370.50 98.56 3 33.33 0.08 18 402.00 123.65 4 50.00 0.28 19 433.50 153.37 5 66.66 0.66 20 465.00 189.02 6 83.32 1.29 21 465.70 189.95 7 99.96 2.22 22 475.89 203.14 8 116.57 3.53 23 485.68 216.63 9 133.15 5.26 24 495.11 230.37 10 149.66 7.49 25 504.25 244.31 11 181.50 13.36 26 513.12 258.42 12 213.00 21.31 27 521.78 272.66 13 244.50 31.49 28 530.28 286.99 14 276.00 44.07 29 538.67 301.39 15 307.50 59.24 30 547.02 315.82

While the details of the application pertinent to the case presented in Figure-3 are presented in the subsequent sections, it is appreciated that the requirements of the Working Engineers can be any one of the four types presented in Figure-8 (for refer Section-13):

The first application has been the derivation of the local coordinates for the Spiral-OUT, as presented in Section-8 above

DERIVING GLOBAL COORDINATES OF ANY SPIRAL-CURVE-SPIRAL ASSEMBLY

Subir Kumar Podder, Consultant (Highways), LEA Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi

Figure-8:

Potential

Global

Coordinates
Figure-9: Basic Assemblies

Requirements Evidently therefore, the one in Figure-3 (b) ROTATE the assembly so that the T.P.-PI line (along the X-Axis) corresponds to the desired bearing (i.e. rotated by an angle , as in Figure-8). gets As carried before, out the using

corresponds to Type-3 shown in Figure-8 above. Likewise that for the First Application detailed in Section-8 above, the steps that are involved in this second application for determining the required Global Coordinates are as presented next: (a) MIRROR the S-C-S assembly given in Figure-7 so as derive the basic assembly for each individual type (described in Figure-8). These basic assemblies are shown in Figure-9.
It is to be appreciated that (i) (ii) (iii) The Basic Type-1 is the one derived above and given in Figure-7; The Basic Type-2 gets derived by mirroring Type-1 about the Y-Axis; The Basic Type-3 gets derived by mirroring Type-2 about the X-Axis; The Basic Type-4 gets derived by Type-1 mirroring about the X-Axis;

ROTATION

equations 11 & 12. (c) Finally the TRANSLATION gets applied, employing equations 9 & 10, to derive the targeted Global Co-ordinates of the Spiral-Curve-Spiral assembly. The details are presented in the subsequent sections.
12.

GLOBAL COORDINATES STEP 1: MIRRORING

Continuing with that stated in Section-11, the targeted case i.e. the one presented in Figure-3 corresponds to Type-3 shown in Figure-8. Accordingly therefore, amongst the options given

(iv)

DERIVING GLOBAL COORDINATES OF ANY SPIRAL-CURVE-SPIRAL ASSEMBLY SPIRAL SPIRAL

Subir Kumar Podder, Consultant (Highways), LEA Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi L

under Section-11(a), the basic mirrored type is Basic Type-3. Therefore on mirroring the coordinates given in Table-10.1 change to the ones shown in Table10.2 next.
Table 10.2 Mirrored Coordinates of the S-C-S Assembly S X 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 0 -16.67 -33.33 -50 -66.66 -83.32 -99.96 -116.57 -133.15 -149.66 -181.5 -213 -244.5 -276 -307.5 Y 0 -0.01 -0.08 -0.28 -0.66 -1.29 -2.22 -3.53 -5.26 -7.49 -13.36 -21.31 -31.49 -44.07 -59.24 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 X -339 -370.5 -402 -433.5 -465 -465.7 -475.89 -485.68 -495.11 -504.25 -513.12 -521.78 -530.28 -538.67 -547.02 Y -77.27 -98.56 -123.65 123.65 -153.37 153.37 -189.02 189.02 -189.95 189.95 -203.14 203.14 -216.63 216.63 -230.37 230.37 -244.31 244.31 -258.42 258.42 -272.66 272.66 -286.99 286.99 -301.39 301.39 -315.82 315.82

13.

GLOBAL COORDINATES STEP 2: ROTATION

In continuation with the discussions in Section 11(b) above, the bearing of the base axis (i.e. the T.P.-PI line) determines the extent of rotation. In PI fact, knowing two coordinates of the line suffices determining the gradient, and hence the rotation angle. For instance, if the gradient5 (m) is 0.1 then the rotation angle is = tan-1 (m) = tan-1 (0.1) = 0.10 (radians) = 5.7106o. Employing equations 11 & 12, the rotation can thus be applied to the set of points in Table 10.2 above. The resultant rotated coordinates for the set of points are furnished in Table10.3 next.
Table 10.3 Rotated Coordinates of the S-C-S Assembly S X 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 0.000 -16.586 -33.157 -49.724 -66.264 -82.778 -99.243 -115.640 -131.966 -148.172 -179.270 -209.822 -240.153 -270.245 -300.079 Y 0.000 -1.669 -3.396 -5.254 -7.290 -9.574 -12.155 -15.112 -18.483 -22.345 -31.354 -42.399 -55.662 -71.314 -89.543 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 X -329.629 329.629 -358.854 358.854 -387.701 387.701 -416.088 416.088 -443.884 443.884 -444.488 444.488 -453.315 453.315 -461.714 461.714 -469.730 469.730 -477.438 477.438 -484.860 484.860 -492.060 492.060 -499.092 499.092 -506.007 506.007 -512.880 512.880 Y -110.618 -134.937 -163.037 -195.744 -234.351 -235.346 -249.485 -263.882 -278.492 -293.272 -308.195 -323.226 -338.331 -353.494 -368.683

Plotting these points yields the following:

Applying the same principles as stated above, the mirrored coordinates of the T.P. & PI are (0,0) and (-364.677,0) respectively.

Plotting these points yields the following:

The gradient (m) here is essentially the coefficient in the general straight line equation y = m x + c

DERIVING GLOBAL COORDINATES OF ANY SPIRAL SPIRAL-CURVE-SPIRAL ASSEMBLY SPIRAL

Subir Kumar Podder, Consultant (Highways), LEA Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi L

Table 10.4 Global Coordinates of the S-C-S Assembly S X 1 2 3 4 5 -1137.132 -1153.719 -1170.289 -1186.856 -1203.396 -1219.910 -1236.375 -1252.772 -1269.098 -1285.304 -1316.402 -1346.955 -1377.285 -1407.377 -1437.212 Y -63.713 -65.382 -67.109 -68.967 -71.003 -73.287 -75.869 -78.825 -82.196 -86.058 -95.067 -106.112 -119.376 -135.028 -153.257 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 X -1466.761 -1495.986 -1524.834 -1553.220 -1581.016 -1581.620 -1590.447 -1598.846 -1606.862 -1614.570 -1621.992 -1629.192 -1636.224 -1643.139 -1650.012 Y -174.332 -198.650 -226.750 -259.457 -298.064 -299.059 -313.198 -327.595 -342.205 -356.986 -371.908 -386.939 -402.044 -417.207 -432.396

Applying the same principles as stated above, the rotated coordinates of the T.P. & PI are (0,0) & (-362.867,-36.286) respectively.
14.

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

GLOBAL COORDINATES STEP 3: TRANSLATION

In continuation with the discussions in Section 11(c) above, the translation requires the target global co-ordinates of any one of the set of points ordinates listed in Table 10.3 above. In fact, it can even be the global co-ordinate of the PI or T.P. Considering that the working engineer has a case with the global coordinate for PI as (-1 1500,-100), then the translation factors E & N (described in Section-7) turns out to be:
E = -1500 - (-362.867) = -1137.132 N = -100 - (-36.286) = -63.713

-1800

-1600

-1400

-1200

0 -1000 -100 -200 -300 -400 -500

Applying the same principles stated above, the translated coordinates (which are also the Final Global coordinates) of the T.P. & PI are ( (1137.132,-63.713) and (-1500, 1500,-100) respectively.
15.

Employing equations 9 & 10 together with the afore-derived E & N, translation gets applied. This gives the desired Global Coordinates of the S-C-S assembly. The resultant global coordinates . for the set of points are furnished in Table10.4 next.

CONCLUSION

A two-tier application of basic transformation principles allow derivation of global co-ordinates co of a spiral-curve-spiral assembly, without having spiral to resort to any advanced highway-geometrichighway design tool.

DERIVING GLOBAL COORDINATES OF ANY SPIRAL-CURVE-SPIRAL ASSEMBLY

Subir Kumar Podder, Consultant (Highways), LEA Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi

Simple spreadsheet can be developed, in line with the principles described here. It is appreciated that working engineers, at project sites, can develop their own customised spreadsheets to facilitate on-site modification requirements that otherwise often consume significant time (in absence of readily available design tools). It is also appreciated that, once developed, such spreadsheet will also allow the working engineers to delve into the required symbiosis of Ts and Es (for any combination of Rc and Ls) to account for locked-in site constraints hinted at the onset herein under sections 1 (f) and 1 (g). While this has to have a separate treatment, the aforesaid spreadsheet would definitely accelerate

understanding such trends that loci of Ts and Es do follow. Selection of Rc and Ls by the engineer, duly accommodating the on-site

considerations, will thus be better complemented. REFERENCES 1. IRC: 38-1988 Guidelines for Design of Horizontal Curves for Highways and Design Tables