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Geometric Design

Elements of GD
Cross section elements Sight distance considerations Horizontal alignment details Vertical alignment details Intersection elements

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Cross-Section Elements
Travel lanes Shoulders Medians Roadside barriers Guardrails Side Slopes Curb and Gutter (in urban areas)

Design Control and Criteria

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Functional classification Projected traffic volumes and composition Design speed Design vehicle Vehicle mix Topography Right-of-Way (ROW) Costs and Available Funding Driver performance factors Social and environmental impacts

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1. Functional Classification
Principal arterials Minor arterials Major collectors Minor collectors Local roads and streets

2. Projected traffic volume

Determine critical number of vehicles that will use the designed facility. Traffic Elements:
a. b. c. d. e. f. Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) or Average Daily Traffic (ADT) k factor (represents the percentage of traffic occurring during the peak hour during an average weekday Design Hourly Volume (DHV) (represents the 30th highest hourly volume) during a year Directional Distribution (D) Percentage of Trucks and heavy vehicles Design Flow rate (V) Peak 15-minute flow rate

Relationships
DHV = ADT (k) V = DHV/PHF

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2. Projected traffic volume

American Association of State Highway and Transport Officials (AASHTO) recommends:
a. k value of 8 to 12 percent for urban facilities and 12 to 18 percent for rural facilities. b. Directional distribution for rural roads is generally 55 to 80 percent with an average value of 6.Directional distribution for urban roads is generally assumed to be 50. c. The compositon of heavy vehicles (T) in the traffic stream during the design hour typically varies from 5 to 10 percent but in some cases can be as high as 25 percent

3. Design Speed
A selected speed to determine the various geometric features of a roadway Design Speeds range from 20 mph to 70 mph in increments of 10 mph. Design Speed depends on the functional classification of the highway (expected traffic volume), the topography of the area and the adjacent land use. Freeways are designed for 60 to 70 mph speeds. Design speeds are selected to achieve a desired level of operation and safety on a highway. With improvements in traffic control and vehicular technology, the design speeds are increasing with time. Rolling and Mountainous terrains have different design speeds. When the highway type or topography warrants a change in design speed, the speed is changed gradually. School, residential areas etc. typically have lower design speeds.

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4. Design Vehicle
Design vehicles are selected to represent all vehicles on the highway. The vehicle type selected is typically the largest vehicle likely to use the highway with considerable frequency. The weight, physical dimensions, and operating characteristics of the design vehicle will be used to establish the geometric features of the highway

5. Vehicle Mix
Vehicle mix may dictate special considerations e.g. special bicycle lanes, HOV lanes, Bus lanes, etc.

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6. Topography
Alignment
Rivers, built-up areas, mountains, etc.

Gradient
Permissible maximum 3%

7. Right-of-Way (ROW)
Available ROW>=Required ROW Required ROW =
Travel lanes + Shoulders + Medians + Roadside barriers + Guardrails + Side Slopes + Curb and Gutter (in urban areas)

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8. Costs and Available Funding

Estimate construction cost and compare with available funding IRR, NPV, B/C ratio, etc.

9. Driver performance factors

A. Sight Distance
Length of road visible ahead of the driver of a vehicle. Sight distance at any point should be as long as possible but never less than the minimum stopping distances Stopping sight distance Stopping sight distance is the minimum distance required to stop a vehicle traveling near the design speed before it reaches as stationary object in the path

1.

2. Passing sight distance Passing sight distance is the minimum distance required by a vehicle traveling near the design speed for overtaking another vehicle

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Stopping Sight Distance

Factors
PIEV time Driver eye height Object height Vehicle operating speed Pavement coefficient of friction Deceleration rate Roadway grade

PIEV Time
PIEV= Perception, Identification/Intellection, Emotion/Judgment, Volition or reaction
Perception: Seeing the object along with other objects Identification: Identification and understanding the stimuli Emotion/Judgment: Deciding the course of action (e.g. stop, overtake, move laterally, blow horn, etc.) Volition: Execution of the decision

Typical PIEV values:

Urban 2.25-2.5 sec Rural 2.5 sec

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Factors affecting PIEV

Complexity of the situation Gravity of the event Drivers age and cognitive abilities Mental/psychological conditions Roadway setting Speed

Calculating Stopping Sight Distance

S= Sight distance available over crest of vertical curve L= length of vertical curve A= algebraic difference in grades (%) h1=height of eye of average driver (typically 1.07m/3.5 ft) h2= height of object
S<L: S>L: =
2 100(21+22) 2 100(21+22) 2

= 2

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Calculating Passing Sight Distance

S= Sight distance available over crest of vertical curve L= length of vertical curve A= algebraic difference in grades (%) h1=height of eye of average driver (typically 1.07m/3.5 ft) h2= height of eye of average vehicle (typically = 1.30 m/ 4.25 ft)
S<L: S>L: =
2 100(21+22) 2 100(21+22) 2

= 2

Problem
Calculate the minimum stopping sight distance if the sight distance available over crest of vertical curve is 8ft, length of vertical curve is 5ft, difference in grades is -5% and the object height is 2ft. What is the minimum passing sight distance for the same location?

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10. Safety
Principles
Design for all users Reduce conflicts Encourage appropriate speed and behavior by design
Speed humps, rumble strip, narrowing

Avoid surprises and confusion

Signs

Create forgiving road

11. Social and environmental impacts

Social impacts
Relocation due to land-acquisition Disturbance during construction period

Environmental impacts
Particularly critical near schools, hospitals
Noise
Noise barriers, low-noise surfacing on roads, noise insulation in homes

Air quality

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RHD Design Process

1. Define basic parameters

Determine the design year traffic volume (usually the traffic in the 10th year after opening) The type of terrain The High Flood Level and other basic parameters.

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2. Select design type

3. Check if all elements fall within design

speed standard/ one step below
Check if all the elements in the trial alignment conform to the design speed standards for the road (or section as appropriate).

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3. Check if all elements fall within design

speed standard/ one step below
Check site constraints
If this is not possible consideration must be given to either redesigning the problem element or installing very prominent signing, safety barriers, etc. Greater care and consideration is needed before relaxing standards on high flow / high speed roads Reduction in standards should only apply to stopping distances and curvature. Carriageway and shoulder widths should not be reduced because this could seriously affect capacity and safety.

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4. Check consistency with approach speed estimates

Ensure that actual speeds do not differ by more than about 15km/h on successive sections of the road.
When estimating actual speeds take account of the geometry as well as the speed characteristics of the preceding few kilometres sometimes called the speed environment. Actual speeds on a 500m radius curve in a 80km/h speed environment may be close to 80km/h but speeds on the same radius curve in a 60km/h environment will be very much lower. Long straights can induce very high speeds that may be well in excess of the overall design speed for the road Design speeds of the first curves at the ends of such long straights should not be more than 10km/h below the estimated speeds on the straights.

5. Check the Economic Assessment

The full economic assessment of the project will have been done at the feasibility study stage. During the design process any alignment options that could improve the economic returns will need to be investigated. Once the design is firmed up check that the project cost has not altered sufficiently to significantly affect the economic return. If the economics of the project are not good then the project will have to be reviewed.

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Problem
Design a two lane two way straight highway section using the following info:
Projected volume: 1000 PCU/ peak hr Plain terrain with design speed =80kmph Available sight distances are 600m

Horizontal Alignment
Combination of tangent and curved components
Straight Circular curve Transition curve

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Components of Circular Curve

BC - point of curvature PI - point of intersection EC - point of tangency T - length of tangent (BC - PI) M - Middle ordinate L - length of curvature D - external angle (in degrees)

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Length of Curve
L = R / 57.3, R=Radius, =deflection angle
Note that for a given external angle the length of curve is directly related to the radius In other words, the longer the curve, the larger the radius of curvature

Minimum Radius
Radius constrained by forces acting on the occupants of a vehicle negotiating a curve and the resulting comfort level of the occupants.
function of the velocity (V), the allowable side friction (f) and the degree of superelevation (e) Relationship: (0.01e+f)/(1-0.01ef) = V2/gR f in fraction, e in %

Minimum radius->max velocity, max superelevation and max side friction

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Maximum Superelevation
The practical factors limiting superelevation are
Weather Low Speed High CG/Loose suspension of some cars

Therefore, the emax is selected based on the climate, and the likelihood of slow moving traffic Recommended Values for emax
Absolute maximum value recommended (expect on gravel roads) is 12% Maximum value in areas with snow and ice is 8% Maximum value in areas where slow traffic is likely (urban areas) is from 4% to 6%

No superelevation is recommended in urban areas where congestion is expected

Maximum Side Friction

The allowable side friction is selected to be comfortable and safe for all car occupants. Typical values: 0.17 at 30 kph, 0.10 at 110 kph

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Intersection/Junction Design
Serve a special function in accommodating travel in opposing or conflicting directions Intersections have a disproportionate effect on the overall safety (over 41% of arterial accidents) and capacity of highways

Major Design Objects

Vehicle occupants safety Pedestrian safety and comfort Effective traffic flow Match with surrounding land use Environmental and aesthetic fit

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Horizontal Element
Angle of Intersection
The angle of intersection should be approximately equal to 90 degrees. An angle of intersection of greater than 60 degrees is considered acceptable

Problems with acute angle include

Larger pavement area Visibility problems (blind spot for trucks, difficult to check for vehicles on cross-road) Longer exposure for crossing/veh and ped

Horizontal Element
Intersections should not be on sharp horizontal curves Problems include
Reduced sight distance Operational Difficulties (divided driver attention since driver is concentrating on tracking, less friction available for braking, adverse superelevation for turning) Construction and Design Difficulties (matching superelevation to cross-section of intersecting roadway)

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Profile
The grade at an intersection should be less than 3% for both intersecting roadways Problems with steeper grades:
Reduce discharge rate - affect flow through intersection Greater sight distance needed at intersection (Since acceleration rates decrease) Greater vehicle control problems Construction and design challenge of matching crosssections

The design of the cross-section in the intersection is achieved by carrying the cross-section of the major road through the intersection

Radius of Turn
The radius needed is a function of the design vehicle and the desired speed of turn and the context. Three different designs are used
simple curve simple curve with taper compound curve

The compound curve provides a much closer fit to the vehicle path and therefore uses much less pavement area. Curve with taper is not as good a fit as compound curve but sometimes used because it is simpler to design. Compound curve maybe symmetrical or asymmetrical.

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Urban
Generally smaller radii than for corresponding rural roads due to
Lower speeds Space limitations Additional available space where there are parking lanes Effect of large radius on pedestrian

Most cities use from 1.5 to 9 meters (most common, 3 to 4.5 meters).

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Intersection Sight Distance

One of the most important design feature at the intersection is the amount of sight distance There should be enough sight distance for vehicles approaching the intersection and enough sight distance for vehicles already in the intersection AASHTO uses the concept of sight triangles of assessing the sight distance requirements in the vicinity of an intersection. The sight triangle maybe either an
approach sight triangle departure sight triangle

Approach Sight Traingle

The approach sight triangle allows vehicle approaching the intersection sufficient time to see the vehicle on the intersecting roadway and to take appropriate action. The length of the legs of the triangle is a function of the expected speed on the road in question The approach sight triangle is required where the intersection is has no control or a yield control on the minor road. It is not needed where the intersection is controlled by signs or signals.

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Departure Sight Traingle

Provide sufficient distances for the driver on the minor road to depart from a stopped position and to enter or cross the major roadway The departure sight triangle is needed at each location where departure is controlled by stop, yield or signal control (for example, if the road is a four-way stop, departure sight triangle is checked for each quadrangle of the intersection)

Types of At-grade Intersections

Cross T Roundabout/ Rotary/ Traffic Circle

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Interchanges
Grade separated intersections Advantages?

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Interchanges
Grade separated intersections Advantages
Control Access road Bottleneck location Hazardous location Natural Topography (Fall Creek) Bikeway/Pedestrian way Access to isolated area

Types
Diamond Cloverleaf Trumpet

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Diamond
Simplest, most common and least costly type of interchange Generally used to connect freeway to a local road Off ramp from the freeway terminates with an at-grade intersection at the minor road (not applicable if minor road is limited access) Inexpensive - little ROW required and only one, simple structure

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Cloverleaf
Collector-distributor road can be used to alleviate weaving problem

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Trumpet

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