Transportation Engineering -I

CE -341 , Credit -4
 Course contents (CE -341 , Credit – 4)
General: Introduction to transportation engineering:
Development of transportation systems & transportation in;
Elements of transportation system. The road/traffic system,
Transportation planning: planning concepts; collection, study
and analysis of basic data;
Highways: highway location and surveys; geometric design of
highways; elements of design, cross-section elements, curves
and sight distances; road intersections;
Traffic engineering: traffic studies, vehicle and traffic
characteristics, traffic control devices, parking and roadway
lighting; waterways and terminals.
Railways: general requirements, alignment, permanent way,
station and yards, signaling, points and crossings,
maintenance.
Text Books
1) Highway Engineering by Paul H. Wright, Radnor J.
Paquette
2) Highway Engineering by S.K. Khanna & C E G Justo
3)Railway Engineering by Rangawala & Rangawala
Reference Books
1) Transportation Engineering and Planning (3rd Edition)
by C.S. Papacostas & P.D. Prevedouros
2) Traffic Engineering and Transport Planning by L.R
Kadyali
3) Highway Engineering by L.R Kadyali
Course Objectives
• Transportation is the back-bone of a country. The primary
objective of this course is to introduce students to
transportation engineering principles for railways and
highways with the emphasis on safe and efficient
operation of roadways and railways.
• Learning both quantitative and computerized techniques
for planning, designing, and operating transportation
systems;
• Learning about road geometrics, design parameters for
both geometrics & pavement thickness etc.
• Understand how economics affect transportation decision
making.
• Basic idea about the railway track, point of crossing,
station & yard.
Course Outcomes
• Transportation is a core discipline within CE; students
will obtain a basic understanding of the requirements for
planning, design and operation of a transportation system.
• Students will be able to define a traffic problem,
collection of field traffic data, analyzing and interpreting
data, and finally preparing a master plan for a project.
• Students will be able to use the engineering design
process to develop highway designs for horizontal and
vertical alignments.
• Students will be able to apply calculus, statistics and
physics to the solution of highway design, traffic
engineering and transportation planning problems.
 Introduction to Transportation Engineering
Relationship between Transportation Engineering & other
branches of civil Engineering
Relationship between Transportation Engg. & Structural Engg.
Relationship between Transportation Engg. & Surveying
Relationship between Transportation Engg. & Water Resource Engg.
Relationship between Transportation Engg. & Geotechnical Engg.
Various types of transportation modes in Bangladesh
Land transportation- i) Highway ii) Railway- Tramline
Air transportation- i) Domestic ii) International
Water transportation- i) Domestic ii) International
Space transportation
Pipeline- oil, gas, water
Tunnel- i) Underpass- Metro line
Ropeway
Tele-communication- i) Telephone ii) E-mail iii) Fax iv) Cell phone
etc.
 Land Transportation

Highway Railway (Tram-line)

Air Transportation Water Transportation
Space Transportation Tele-communication
Tunnel Pipeline
Ropeway
Elements of Transportation System ( Ref. C. S. Papacostas)
A transportation system may be defined as consisting of the fixed
facilities, the flow entities and the control system that permit people
and goods to overcome the friction of geographical space efficiently
in order to participate in a timely manner in some desired activity.
Functional elements
a) Fixed facilities
are the physical components of the system that are fixed in space
constitute the network of links (e.g. roadway segments, railway
track, pipes) and nodes (intersection, interchanges, transit terminals,
harbors and airports) of the transportation system.
Their design includes soil and foundation engg. Structural design,
the design of drainage systems and geometric design, which is
concerned with the physical proportioning of the elements of fixed
facilities.
b) Flow entities and technology

Flow entities are the units that traverse the fixed facilities.

They include vehicles, container units, railroad cars etc.

c) Control system: consists of i) vehicular control and ii)

flow control

i) Geometric design, vehicular characteristics.

ii) Signing, marking, signal system and con-committing

rules of operation.
Classification of road system
i) Based on location: a. urban b. sub-urban c. rural
ii) Based on traffic volume: a. low volume road b. medium volume
road c. heavy volume road
iii) Based on service:
US Practice UK Practice Indian Practice Bangladesh Practice
Express/Free Primary Express/Free ways ……
ways distribution

Arterial roads: District Highways: Highways:

Major & Sub distribution National & State National & Regional

Collector street Local District road: District road:

system distribution MDR &ODR Feeder A & Feeder B

Local road Access road Village road Rural road:

system R1, R2, R3
 Classification and Geometric standards of Roads in Bangladesh
Category of roads Crest width Pavement Shoulder width on each
(m) width (m) side of road (m)
1. National Highways
a. Category A 12.20 6.70 2.75
b. Category B 12.20 5.50 3.26
2. Regional Highways
a. Category A 10.98 5.50 2.75
b. Category B 10.98 3.66 7.66
3

3. Feeder roads (Type A) 7.33 3.66 1.83

4. Feeder roads (Type B) 7.33 3.66 1.83
5. Urban roads No fixed standard. Design standards vary according to
traffic volume.
6. Rural roads
a. Type R1 4.89 3.05 0.92
(Upazila roads)
b. Type R2 3.66
(Union roads)
c. Type R3 2.44
(Village roads)
 The Road/Traffic System

Diagrammatic layout of Urban Street System

 ACCELERATE

• Express way: Their function is to expedite the traffic

movement. They help to remove through traffic from
other part of the street system.
• Arterial roads: is divided into two heads
i) Major arterial roads ii)Sub arterial roads
• The above two roads together with express ways serves
as principal network for thorough traffic movement.
They provide connection to the principal traffic
generators, like CBD, major employment centers, goods
distribution and transportation terminals in all portion of
the urban area.
• Collector streets- they serve dual purposes of
providing the means for local thorough traffic
movement within an area & giving access to
abutting property.
• Local streets- are divided according to area they
serve include- residential, commercial &
industrial street. In all the three phases, the major
function is to provide access.
*Service to thorough traffic movement is
deemphasized and affected by their alignment
street width & division into short section.
*CBD- Central Business District
Urban Road Pattern
The various road patterns may be classified as follows:
a) Rectangular or block pattern
b) Radial or star and block pattern
c) Radial or star and circular pattern
d) Radial or star and grid pattern
e) Hexagonal pattern
f) Minimum travel pattern
 Development of transportation systems &
transportation in Bangladesh
Important Transportation Systems
i) Roadways or highways
The transportation by road is the only mode, which could give
maximum service to one and all.
The other three modes have to depend on this transportation
for service to and from their respective terminals.
This mode can provide independent facility.
The road network is therefore needed not only to serve as
feeder system for other modes of transportation and to
supplement them, but also to provide independent facility for
road travel by a well planned network of roads throughout the
country.
ii) Railways
The transportation by railway track could be advantageous
between the stations for longer distances.
These railway tracks could serve as arteries for transportation by
land and the roads could serve as feeder system for
transportation to the interior parts and to the intermediate
localities between the railway stations.
iii) Waterways
Transportation by water is the slowest among the four modes;
but this mode needs minimum energy to haul unit load through
unit distance.
The transportation by water is possible between the ports on the
sea routes or along the rivers or canals where inland
transportation facilities are available.
iv) Airways
The transportation by air is the fastest amongst the four modes. It
provides more comfort and saves time between the airports.
Contributions of Transportation
Transportation contributes to the economical, industrial, social and
cultural development and safety aspects of any country. Such as
• Transportation is vital for economic development of any region
since every commodity produced whether it is food, clothing,
industrial products or medicine needs transport to all stages from
production to distribution.
• In the production stage, transportation is required for carrying
raw materials like seeds, manure, coal, steel etc.
• In the distribution stage, transportation is required from the
production centers viz. farms and factories to the marketing
places and later to the retailers and the consumers for
distributions.
• In the safety stage, transportation is essential for strategic
movement in emergency for defense of the country and to
maintain better law and order.
• In rural development, improvement in transportation in rural
areas there could be faster development in agricultural, cottage
industries, education, health care etc.
Characteristics/Services of road transport: It is an
accepted fact that all modes of transportation, road
transport is the nearest to the people. Briefly the services
of the road transport are-
• It provides door to door service.
• It gives maximum flexibilities for travel with reference to
route, direction, time and speed of travel etc. through any
type of vehicle.
• It serves as feeder system for other modes of
transportation i.e. the passengers and the goods have to be
first transported by road before reaching a railway station
or a seaport or an airport.
• It may provide independent facility for road travel by a
well-planned network of roads throughout the country.
• Road can be used by all sorts of vehicles like bullock
carts, rickshaws, cycles, scooters, cars etc.
• It requires a relatively small amount of investment for the
government.
• The road network alone could serve the remotest villages
of any country.
• Roads play an important role to cultural, agricultural,
enhancing land value, defense of any country etc.
 Trend of Road development & Bangladesh
Past
The oldest mode of travel obviously was on the footpaths.
First hard surface in Mesopotamia in 3500 BC. After
invention of wheel.
First road surface on which there is some authentic record is
that of Assyrian empire in 1900 BC.
First large scale road during the period of Roman Empire for
military operations known as Roman Roads. One of the
Roman roads is Appian Way was built in 312 BC(fig.2.1).
The cost of construction was very high.
Until the 18th century there is no evidence of any new road
construction except Roman road like construction. Pierre
Tresaguet (1716-1796), an inspector general of road in
France in 1764 AD. And his method of construction was
implemented in 1775 during the regime of Nepolean(fig.2.2).
Thomas Telford (1757-1834) a civil engineer in London, began his
work in early 19th century(fig.2.3).
John Macadam (1756-1836) a surveyor general of roads in England
developed a new concept of road construction, which was known by
the year 1827. This is the first method based on scientific thinking
and hence became very popular far and wide(fig.2.4).
Water Bound Macadam (WBM)- Water used as binding material in
macadam construction.
Tar Macadam- Coal tar used as binding material in macadam
construction in 1848 in England.
Sheet Asphalt- In 1858 in Paris . And it was used up to 1907(fig.5).
Bitulithic Pavements- First hot mix used in 1910 in U.S. (Topeka,
Kansas). 6% bituminous cement + graded aggregates (7.5cm to dust
for reducing air void) in the wearing course.
Present
• Flexible pavement or bituminous concrete road
Flexible pavements are those, which on the whole have low
or negligible flexural strength and are rather flexible in their
structural action under the loads.
The flexible pavement layers reflects the deformation of the
lower layer of the pavement or soil sub-grade is undulated,
the pavement surface also gets undulated(fig.6).
• Rigid pavement or cement concrete road
Rigid pavements are those, which possess note worthy
flexural strength or rigidity.
The stresses are not transferred from grain to grain to the
lower layers as in the flexible pavement layers(fig.7).
 Road development in this sub-continent
The excavation of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa have revealed the
existence of roads as early as 2500 to 3500 BC.

In 400 BC, Kautilya, the first prime minister of emperor Chandra

Gupta Mouray laid down the rules (Arthasastra) about regulating
the depth of roads for various purposes and for different kind of
traffic.

In 500 AD, emperor Ashoka had improved the roads and the
facilities for the travelers.

In the Patahan and Mugul period, roads were built running from
north-west to the eastern areas the Gangatic plains, linking also the
coastal and central parts in these periods, roads were greatly
improved.
At the beginning of British rule, the conditions of roads deteriorated
prior to the introduction of railways, a number of trunk roads were
metalloid and bridges were provided mainly on the remains of old
roads, which existed except for providing feeder roads to the railways.

After the 1st world war, increasing motor vehicles demanded a better
road network. in response to the resolution, an Indian road
development committee was as appointed by the government with
M.R. Joykar as chairman in 1927. According to the recommendation
of the Joykar committee, Central Road Fund was formed by the year
1929, the semi-official technical body called Indian Road
Congress(IRC) was formed in 1934.

The present IEB (Former EPEI) has been established in 1948.

BRRL , a road research related organization.
Road density values of some of the developed and developing
countries (1981/2012)
Country Rd. Density Country Rd. Density
(km/100km2 area) (km/100km2 area)

Afghanistan 3/6.5 New Zealand 35/35

Egypt 3/6.5 India 46/101
Nepal 5/12 USA 68/68
Australia 11/11 Hungary 94/212
Nigeria 12/21 Italy 97/162
Pakistan 13/33 France 146/187
Malaysia 14/30 Great Britain 153/162
Brazil 16/21 Netherlands 225/330
Greece 28/89 Japan 296/319
Greenland 0.007 Sudan 0.5
Bangladesh 45/166 The World 25
In Bangladesh, the basic road network under RHD,
according to RHD records is recapitulated as follows (1991)

Road Road Types (km) Total Length

Category Paved Partly Gravel Earth (91/2011)
paved
National 2728 52 - 54 2834/3479
Regional 1271 83 - 28 1382/4222
Feeder A 3560 2021 147 3014 8742/13248
Total 7559 2156 147 3096 12958/20949

An additional 2135 km of recently Feeder A roads were to be

added to the list. So accordingly the RHD network totaling
15115 km (1991).
 List of roads in Bangladesh

List of roads in Bangladesh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.htm

Transportation Planning Concepts, Collection, Study
& analysis of basic data
Highway planning: is a pre-requisition before taking up any highway
developmental program.
Objectives 05

To provide a most suitable type of road of maximum length

with the available funds.
To plan road system for future anticipated requirements by
constructing new roads and improving the existing ones.
To fix up date wise priorities for development of each road
link based on utility for phasing the road development program.
Phase development for road may be planned if adequate fund
is not available.
To work out financing system.
Need for planning
The need for highway is the result of four separate
demands, namely
Lost ground demand i.e. the backlog of construction
which has been postponed during the past 20 yrs. The
backlog may be due to lack of resources, materials,
manpower and equipment.
Replacements- old facilities are constantly wearing out &
need replacements
Expansion- this is necessary to accommodate an
increasing population & an increasing use of highway
travel.
Increasing quality of service- for moving faster, further,
easier & more comfortably.
Fig: Plan For
Regional
Express way
Planning surveys
Highway planning includes-
• Assessment of road length requirement for an area( it may be
district, state or the whole country)
• Preparation of master plan showing the phasing of plan in
annual and or five year plans.

Fact finding surveys: For assessing the road length

requirement, field surveys are to be carried out to collect the
data required for determining the length of the road system.
The field surveys thus required for collecting the factual data
may be called as planning surveys or fact finding surveys.
Various types of planning study/data collection
Economic studies
Financial studies
Traffic or road use studies
Engineering studies
Economic studies: The details to be collected include the following-
• Population and its distribution in each village, town or other locality
with the area classified in groups.
• Trend of population growth
• Agricultural and industrial products and their listing in classified
groups, area wise.
• Industrial and agricultural development and future trends.
• Existing facilities with regard to communication, recreation and
education etc.
• Per capita income.
Financial studies: The details to be collected include-
• Sources of income and estimated revenue from
taxation on road transport
• Living standards
• Resources at local level, toll taxes, vehicle
registration and fines.
• Future trends in financial aspects.
Traffic or road use studies: Following particulars to
be collected-
• Traffic volume in vehicles per day, annual average daily
traffic, peak and design hourly traffic volume.
• Origin and destination studies.
• Traffic flow patterns
• Mass transportation facilities
• Accidents, their cost analysis and causes
• Future trend and growth in traffic volume and goods
traffic; trend in traffic pattern
• Growth of passenger trips and the trend in the choice of
modes.
Engineering studies: The studies include
• Topographic surveys
• Soil surveys
• Location and classification of existing roads
• Estimation of possible developments in all aspects due to
the proposed highway development
• Road life studies
• Traffic studies- origin and destination studies
• Special problems in drainage, construction and
maintenance of roads.
Preparation of plans: The information collected during the fact
finding surveys should be presented in the form of plans. Usually
four plans/drawings are prepared showing the various details of the
area as listed below
Plan 1: General area plan showing almost all existing details viz.
topography, existing road network and drainage structures, rivers,
canals etc. towns and villages with the population; commercial
industrial or agricultural activities are also shown in the map.
Plan 2: This plan includes the distribution of population groups in
accordance with the categories made in the appropriate plan.
Plan 3: This plan shows the location of places with their respective
quantities of productivity.
Plan 4: This plan shows the existing road network with traffic flows
and desire lines obtained from origin and destination studies of
traffic.
Interpretations/analysis of data
The data collected could be interpreted and used for the
following important purposes
• To arrive at the road network, out of the several alternate
possible systems, which has the maximum utility.
• To fix up priority of the construction projects, so as to phase
the road development plan of an area in different periods of
time.
• To assess the actual road use by studying the traffic flow
patterns.
• Based on the traffic type and intensity and the performance
of existing types of pavement and cross drainage structures, a
new structure may be designed using the data.
• Comparison of the areas may be obtained on the basis of
their economic activities.
• On statistical basis, the data obtained in fact finding surveys
may be analyzed for the future trends in development of an
area.
Preparation of master plan & its phasing
• Master plan is the final road development plan for the
area under study.
• Based on the above plans, different possible networks of
new roads and improvement of some of the existing roads
are proposed.
• In each proposal the population and productivity of each
locality, the traffic flow, topography and all other details,
both existing and possible changes in future are kept in
view.
• If some target of road length has been fixed for the
country on the basis of area or population and production
or both, the same may be taken as a guide for deciding the
total length of the road system in each alternative
proposal.
• Plan formula for finding the road length are based on
population and areas divided into different categories,
depending on development achieved.
• The next step is to compare the various alternate
proposals of road systems in hand and to select the one
which may be considered as best under the plan period.
• In arriving at the best road system out of the alternate
proposals, it is desirable to make use of the concept of
saturation system based on U.S. system of highway
planning.
• After deciding the optimum road length for a plan
period, the final step is the phasing of the road
development plan by fixing up the priorities for the
construction of different road links.
Saturation system for finding best proposal
• The system by which optimum road length is calculated
for an area ,based on the concept of obtaining maximum
utility per unit length of road is known as saturation
system or maximum utility system .
The factors which are taken for obtaining the utility per unit
length of road are-
a) Population served by the road network
b) Productivity served by the road network
i) Agricultural products ii) industrial products
Steps for finding out road network having maximum utility
per unit length
Step 1: Population units
As for example: population <500, utility unit = 0.25
501 to 1000, utility unit = 0.50
1001 to 2000, utility unit = 1.0
2001 to 5000, utility unit = 2.0 etc.
Step 2: Productivity units
• One thousand tones of agricultural products may be
considered equivalent to one unit.
• Similarly the industrial products may also be assigned
some suitable utility units per unit weight.
• Coal, raw materials like ores etc. may be assigned lower
utility values than the industrial products.
Step 3: Utility units
• The total utility units of each road system is found by
adding the population units and productivity units.
• The total units are divided by the total road length of
each system to obtain the utility rate per unit length.
* This method is useful not only to chose the best layout
from the alternate proposals, but also to phase the road
development plan.Advantage of Saturation system.
* The only limitation of the system is the possible variation
in the relative weightage assigned to population and
productivity. Limitation or disadvantage of Saturation System
 Highway location & survey

Highway alignment
The position or the layout of the centre line of the
highway on the ground is called highway alignment.
The horizontal alignment includes- the straight
path, the horizontal deviations and curves.
The vertical alignment includes- Changes in
gradient and vertical curves.
A new road should be aligned very carefully as
improper alignment would result in one or more
of the following disadvantages:
• Increase in construction cost.
• Increase in maintenance cost.
• Increase in vehicle operation cost.
• Increase in accident rate.
• Increase in discomfort of the passengers.
Requirement:
Basic requirement of an ideal alignment between two
terminal stations should be -
• Short(optimum): it is desirable to have a short (or
shortest) alignment between two terminal stations.
• Easy: the alignment should be such that it is easy to
construct and maintain the road with minimum
problems.
• Safe: the alignment should be safe enough for
construction and maintenance from the view point of
stability of natural hill slopes, embankment and cut
slopes and foundation of embankment.
• Economical: the road alignment could be consider
economical only if the total cost including initial cost,
maintenance cost and vehicles operation cost is lowest.
Factors controlling highway alignment:
• Volume and type of traffic expected to use the
road
• Obligatory points to be touched and not to be
touched by the road.
• Topographical features of the area through
which roads has to traverse.
• Geometrical standards to be adopted.
• Canal, river, railway crossings.
• Floods in the area.
• Geological conditions.
• Places of availability of construction materials and
labour.
• Existing right of way.
• Avoiding road passing through a village or town.
• Political and other considerations.
• Monotony of the straight road.

In hill roads additional care has to be given for:

• Stability
• Drainage
• Geometric standards of hill roads
• Resisting length
Project surveying
It includes all field works & requisite calculations
together with maps, profiles, and other related
drawings involved in the planning & construction
of any engineering projects like railway, highway,
irrigation canals, sewer lines, tunnels etc with the
greatest economy & utility.

Highway or railway project: two types

• A new project
• Re –alignment or redesigning project
Map study: - collection of Survey department map for
proposed area.
It is possible to have an idea of several possible alternate
routes, so that further details of these may be studied
later at the field.
a) Avoiding valleys, ponds or lakes
b) Obligatory points
1. to be touched (Important village, existing bridges,
town, industry, agricultural production etc. )
or
2. not to be touched (Religious place, hospitals, grave
yard, marshy land, water logged area etc.)
Map
study
Reconnaissance survey:-
Instruments- prismatic compass, tape, hand level etc.
Along the proposed route. For each route, collecting the
following data:
• Valleys, ponds, lakes, marshy land, ridge, hills etc.
• Approx. values of gradient, radius of horizontal curves etc.
• No. & type of cross-drainage structures, max. flood level etc.
natural ground level
• Type of soil
• Sources of construction material and human labor
• Land value for acquisition of land
• Time required for construction
• Approx. amount of cutting and filling of earth work
• Slopes of hills

Proposed alignment may be altered after map study during

reconnaissance.
Preliminary survey: - It is conducted along all the alignment or
route recommended after reconnaissance survey.
Instruments: transit theodolite, levels, tape, chains, plane table,
tachometer, hand levels etc.
Following detailed information for each alignment should be
prepared.
• Length of all the routes
• Max. and Min. grades along all the routes
• Soil formation(type of soil)
• Quantity of earth work
• Information about marshy lands, water logged lands, peat soil
obstacles etc.
• HFL, LWL, U/S & D/S survey should be carried out at river
crossings
• Angle and location of railway crossing
• Availability of construction materials, labor, transport, water etc.
• Benefits of alignment to the population with special reference to
education, industrial and agricultural facilities.
After collecting all these details, a comparative study is to
be made enlisting merits and demerits of route. Finally
the cheapest route selected which will meet other
factors.

Final location & detailed survey:-

The alignment finalized at the design office after the
preliminary survey is to be first located on the field by
establishing the centre line. Next detailed survey should
be carried out for collecting the information necessary
for the preparation of plans and construction detailed
for the highway project.
Construction survey:-In this, every effort is made to
exercise proper survey for construction materials(like
sand, fagg. Cagg. bricks, water etc), labour, equipment
etc. at different stages of construction.
Re –alignment or redesigning project
Necessity of re-alignment: the re-alignment of existing
roads may be necessary in the following cases:
• Improvement of horizontal alignment design
elements, such as radius, super elevation, transition
curve, clearance on inner side of the curve of
shifting the curve to provide adequate sight
distance, elimination of reverse curves and
undesirable zig-zag, etc.
• Raising the level of the road
i) Subjected to flooding or
ii) Water logging during rainy season
• Weak and narrow bridges to be replaced by new
wide modern bridges
• Railway level crossing to be replaced by over
bridge or under bridge system to provide grade
separation.
• Strategic needs
• To avoid passing of main road through town or city,
bye- pass road may be necessary.
• Due to construction of new dam or weir, some
portion of the road has been submerged
Re-alignment
 Traffic survey (studies)

•Traffic Speed studies

•Traffic volume studies.
•Traffic Origin & destination (O&D) study.
•Traffic capacity study.
•Traffic flow characteristics.
•Parking study.
•Accident study.
1.Speed Studies:-

a) Spot speed: - is the instantaneous speed of a vehicle at a

specified location.

a (i) Time mean speed:- is the av. of the speed

measurements at one pt. in space over a period of the
time.

a (ii) Space mean speed:- av. of the speed measurement

at an instant of time over a space.

b) Travel speed: -Distance / Total journey time (only a h/w)

(Journey speed)
(Overall speed)
c) Running speed: - Distance/ Running time
= Distance / (Journey time – delay)

d) Design speed: - is the highest overall speed, an

individual can intake on the road with safety then other
conditions are favorable, traffic volume are low & the
geometric element of the road and other factors are not
affecting speed.
From spot speed studies, design speed for a particular
road can be find out. Design speed effects the super
elevation, friction, turning radius, sight distance etc.
The 95th percentile speed & 98th percentile speed are
frequent chosen at the design speed.
Finding spot speed:-
There are a number of methods to measure spot speed. The
spot speed may be obtained either by finding the running
speed of vehicles over a short distance of less than 50 m or by
finding the instantaneous speed while crossing section,
depending on the method of used.

Enoscope method
One of the simplest methods of finding spot speed is by using
enoscope which is just a mirror box supported on a tripod
stand. In its simplest principles, the observer is stationed on
one side of the road and starts a stopwatch when a vehicle
crosses that section. An enoscope is placed at a convenient
distance of say 30m.in such way that the image of the vehicle is
seen by the observer when the vehicle crosses the section
where the enoscope is fixed and at this instant the stop watch is
stopped. Thus the time required for the vehicles to cross the
known length is found and is converted to the speed in kmph.
The main advantage of this method is that it is simple and cheap
equipment and is easy to use.
Other equipment used for spot speed measurements are graphic
recorder, electronic meter, photo electric meter, radar, speed
meter and by photographic methods.

Spot speed vary with-

Time
Location
Environmental condition &
Traffic type & volume
Presentation of spot speed data
a) From the spot speed data of the selected samples,
frequency distribution tables are prepared by arranging
the data in groups covering various speed ranges
where arithmetic mean is taken which is known as
average speed.
b) A graph is plotted with the average values of each
speed group on the X-axis and the cumulative percent
of vehicles travelled at or below the different speeds
on the Y-axis
c) Then we find different types of percentile speeds i.e.
design speed, upper limit speed, mean speed & lower
limit speed.
Example
Speed No.ofveh.(frequency) Cumulative % fc
(kmph) Tracing in speed range. frequency(fc)

20-29.99 8 8 4
30-39.99 28 36 18
40- 60 96 48
50- 48 144 72
60- 28 172 86
70- 13 185 92.5
80- 7 192 96.0
90- 5 197 98.5
100- 2 199 99.5
110-119.99 1 200 100
Percentile speeds:-
• 98th percentile speed: that speed below which 98 percent of
the vehicles are passing the point on the highway or only 2
percent of the vehicles exceeds the speed at that speed. It is
used for geometric design of a road.
• 85thpercentile speed: that speed below which 85 percent of
the vehicles are passing the point on the highway or only 15
percent of the vehicles exceeds the speed at that speed.
This speed is adopted for the safe speed limit. It is used for
geometric design of a roads.

• 50th percentile speed: it is speed at which there are as many

vehicle are going faster as many vehicle going slower.

• 15th percentile speed: the 15th percentile speed represents

the lower limit speed.
Traffic volume studies
Traffic vol: - is defined as the no. of vehicles that pass a pt. along a
road way or traffic lane per unit time.
Objectives:-
• Helps in deciding its relative priority for improvement & expansion.
• Helps to evaluate existing facilities & planning for new
improvements.
• Helps to analysis traffic pattern & trend
• Helps in structural design of pavement & geometric design of the
rd.
• Helps in planning of one-way streets & other regulatory measures.
• Helps in designing of rd. intersection, light signal timing,
channelization & other control measures.
• Pedestrian vol. study is useful for designing sidewalks etc.
Counting of traffic vol.:- Mechanically or manually

Mechanically:–electric, magnetic, radar detector

Manually:–By this method it is possible to obtain data which can
not be collected by mechanical counters, such as vehicle
classification, turning movements and counts where the
loading condition or number of occupants are required.
• Traffic count for all types veh.
• Converted into PCU
• Traffic forecast for future design period.
PCU: it is the method of expressing various types of vehicles
having different characteristics in a common equivalent unit.
one car is considered one unit. Cycle , motor cycle, scooter
etc. cause less inconvenience to other traffic than a car and
hence it is considered equivalent to half car unit.
AADT:-annual average daily traffic - Total annual flow / 365
ADT: - avg. daily traffic – no. of vehicles that pass a particular
pt. on a road way during a period of 24 consecutive hrs
over a period of few days.
DHV: - is a future hourly vol. that is used for design. It is
usually the 30th highest hourly vol. of the design year for
rural area. 30th highest hourly vol. is the hourly vol. that will
be exceeded only 29 times in a year & all other hourly vol.
will be less than this value.
For urban road- DHV will be 15th highest hourly vol.
The highest or peak hourly volumes of the year will be too
high that it will not be economical to design the facilities
according to this volume. The high facilities designed with
capacity for 30th highest hourly volume in the assumed
year are found to satisfactory from both facility and
economic consideration. This is because the cost will be
less when compared to the peak hourly volume and
hence reasonable. There will be congestion only during
29 hours in the year. Thus the thirtieth highest hourly
volume is generally taken as the hourly volume for
design.

Assignment:-
i) 15th highest hourly vol.
ii) 30th highest hourly vol.
iii) 85th highest hourly vol.
No. of hour Cumulative no. of hour Traffic vol.in VPH
0 0 >1600
1 1 1500-1599
1 2 1400-1499
3 5 1300-1399
7 12 1200-1299
13 25 1100-1199
40 65 1000-1099
150 215 900-999
293 508 800-899
545 1053 700-799
850 1903 600-699
1250 3153 500-599
1640 4793 400-499
1500 6293 300-399
1010 7303 200-299
807 8110 100-199
650 8760 00-99
AADT=(1550*1+1450*1+1350*3+ - - - -150*807+50*650)/365=
10359 vpd= 10000 vpd
Traffic vol.as % AADT =(1600/10000)*100 =16%
Rate of flow: - the equivalent hourly rate at which vehicles pass a
given pt. on a lane of road way during the time interval less than
one hr.(usually 15 min)
5.00-5.15 250 veh.
5.15-5.30 300 veh. Rate of flow 300*4=1200 veh/hr
5.30-5.45 200 veh.
5.45-6.00 250 veh.

Peak hr. factor = hourly flow / Rate of flow = hourly flow/

4*(the peak 15 min flow in an hour = 1000 / 1200=.83
 Origin and destination studies
O-D survey is carried out mainly to determines number, origin &
destination of traffic for each zone under study.
• Plan the rd. network & other facilities for vehicular traffic.
• Plan the schedule of diff. modes of transportation.
• Improve the some of the existing facilities.
The various applications of O&D studies may be summed up as
follows:
• To judge the adequacy of existing routes and to use in planning
new network of roads.
• To plan transportation system and mass transit facilities in cities
including routes and schedules of operation.
• To locate expressway or major routes along the desire lines.
• To establish preferential routes for various categories of vehicle
including by
• To locate terminals and to plan terminal facilities.
• To locate new bridges as per traffic demands.
• To locate intermediate stops of public transport.
• To establish design standards for the road, bridges and culverts
along the route.
There are number of methods for collecting the O&D data. Some of
the methods, commonly adopted are:
• Road-side interview method
• License plate method
• Return post card method
• Tag –on-car method
• Home interview method
The choice of the method is made judiciously depending on the
objective and location.
Presentation of O-D survey:-
• For showing no. of trips between different zones.
• Desire lines are plotted which a graphical representation is
prepared in almost all O&D surveys.
• The relative magnitude of the generated traffic and geometrical
relationships of the zones involved may be represented by pie
charts, in which circles are drawn, the diameter being proportional
to the number of trips.
• Contour lines may be plotted similar to topographic contours.

Traffic flow characteristics:-

Traffic manoeuvres –
Diverging, merging, crossing & weaving manoeuvres are involved in
the traffic flow.
Diverging & merging from left side does not cause any problem but
from right side cause conflicts. Transfer a veh. From one traffic
lane to the adjacent lane & crossing are also caused conflicts.
Conflicts: the various types of conflicts at an intersection are
i) Crossing Conflicts
ii) Merging Conflicts
iii) Diverging Conflicts
iv) Weaving
v) stopping/Queuing
Traffic capacity: - is expressed as the maxm no. of vehicles in a lane or a
road that can pass a given pt. in unit time usually an hour i.e. vehicles
per hour per lane.

Basic capacity: - is the maxm no. of passenger’s cars that can pass a
given pt. on lane or rd. way during one hour under the most nearly
ideal road way & traffic condition which can possibly be attained.

Possible capacity: - is the maxm no. of vehicles that can pass a given pt.
on a lane or road way during one hour under prevailing roadway &
traffic condition.

Practical capacity: - is the maxm no. of vehicles that can pass a given pt.
on a lane as rd.way during one hour without traffic density being so
great as to cause unreasonable delay, hazard or restriction to the
drivers freedom to manoeuvres under the prevailing rd. way & traffic
condition.
Traffic density: - is the no. of vehicles occupying a unit length of
lane of road way at a given instant, usually expressed as vehicles
per kilometer.

Factors affecting practical capacity:-

• Lane width
• Lateral clearance
• Width of shoulders
• Commercial vehicles
• Alignment
• Presence of intersection-at grade
• Vehicular & driver characteristics

=====================================
 Traffic regulation
The traffic regulations should cover all aspects of control of vehicle,
driver and all other road users.
Traffic regulation & law cover the following four phases:-
• Driver controls:-these include driving licenses for light and heavy
motor vehicles, driver tests and minimum requirement, financial
responsibility and civil liability.
• Vehicle control:-the various regulations and controls on vehicles
are vehicle registration, requirement of vehicles, equipment and
accessories, maximum dimensions and weight and fitness and
inspection of vehicles.
• Flow regulations: - regulations of traffic flow have been laid down
such as direction, turning and overtaking etc.
• General controls:-some other general regulations and provisions
are made to report accidents and recording and disposing traffic
violation cases.
Traffic control measures:-
1)Traffic signs: the traffic signs should be backed by law in order to
make them useful and effective. Traffic signs have been divided into
three categories .

i) Regulatory sign: regulatory or mandatory signs are meant to

inform the road users of certain laws, regulations and prohibitions.
The regulatory signs are classified under the following sub-heads:
• Stop and give-way signs
• Prohibitory signs
• No parking and no stopping signs
• Speed limit and vehicle control signs
• Restriction end sign
• Compulsory direction control and other signs
The stop sign is intended to stop the vehicles on a road way.
It is octagonal in shape and red in colour with a white
border.
The Give way sign is used to control the vehicles on a road so
as to assign right of way to traffic on other roadways.
Prohibitory signs are meant to prohibit certain traffic
movements, use of horns or entry of certain vehicle class.
No parking sign is meant to prohibit parking of vehicles at
that place, the definition plate may indicate the parking
restriction with respect to days, distance etc.
No stopping sign is meant to prohibit stopping of vehicles at
that place; the scope of the prohibition may be indicated
on a definition plate.
Speed limit signs are meant to restrict the speed of all or certain
classes of vehicles on a particular stretch of a road.
Traffic Signs
The vehicle control signs are also similar to speed limit sign with
black symbols instead of the numerals.
Restriction ends sign indicates the point at which all prohibitions
notified by prohibitory signs for moving vehicles cease to apply.
Compulsory direction control signs indicate by arrows, the
appropriate directions in which the vehicles are obliged to
proceed, or the only directions in which they are permitted to
proceed.

ii) Warning sign: The warning signs are in the shape of equilateral
triangle with its apex pointing upwards. They have a white
background, red border and black symbols.
iii) Informatory signs: These signs are used to guide the road users
along routes, inform them of destination and distance and provide
with information to make travel easier, safe and pleasant. The
facility information signs are rectangular with blue back ground
and white/black letters/symbols.

The transverse location of the signs may be such that in the case of
roads with kerbs, the edge of the sign adjacent to the road is not
less than 0.6m away from the edge of the kerb.on roads without
kerbs (as on rural highways with shoulders) the nearest edge may
be 2.0m to 3.0m from the edge of the carriageway. The signs
should be mounted on sign posts painted alternately with 25cm.
black and white bands. The reverse side of all the sign plates
should be painted grey.
2) Traffic signal: Traffic signals are control devices which could
alternately direct the traffic to stop and proceed at intersections
using red and green traffic light signals automatically.
The signals are classified into the following types:

i) Traffic control signal

a) Fixed time signal
b) Manually operated signal
c) Traffic actuated (automatic) signal
ii) Pedestrian signal
iii) Special traffic signal
Advantages of traffic signals:
They provide orderly movement of traffic and increase the traffic
handling capacity of most of the intersections at grade.
They reduce certain types of accidents, notably the right angled
collisions.
Pedestrians can cross the roads safely at the signalized intersection.
The signals allow crossing of the heavy traffic flow with safety.
When the signal system is properly co-ordinated, there is a
reasonable speed along the major road traffic.
Signals provide a chance to crossing traffic of minor road to cross the
path of continuous flow of traffic stream at reasonable intervals of
time.
Automatic traffic signal may work out to be economical when
compared to manual control.
The quality of traffic flow is improved by forming compact platoons of
vehicles, provided all the vehicles move at approximately the same
speed.
Disadvantages of traffic signals:
The rear-end collisions may increase.
Improper design and location of signals may lead to violations of
the control system.
Failure of the signal due to electric power failure or any other
defect may cause confusion to the road users.
3) Road marking: Road or traffic markings are made of lines,
patterns, words, symbols or reflectors on the pavement, kerb, and
sides of islands or on the fixed objects within or near the roadway.
The various types of markings may be classified as,
• Pavement markings (tab 12.1, p-337, wright & paquette)
• Kerb marking
• Object marking
• Reflector unit markings.
Road marking
4) Island: Traffic islands are raised areas constructed within the
roadway to establish physical channels through which the
vehicular traffic may be guided.
Traffic islands may be classified based on the function as:
• Divisional islands: are intended to separate opposing flow of
traffic on a highway with four or more lanes.
• Channelizing islands: are used to guide the traffic into proper
channel through the intersection area. Channelizing islands
are very useful as traffic control devices for intersection at
grade, particularly when the area is large.
• Pedestrian loading islands: are provided at regular bus stops
and similar places for the protection of passengers.
• Rotary island: is the large central island of a rotary
intersection; this island is much larger than the central island
of channelized intersection
5)Road light: when the brightness of an object is more than that of
the immediate background, discernment is by reverse
silhouette.
Intersection
Forms of intersection,
Intersections are two types:
a) Unchannelized-
b) Channelized-
Intersection may be classified into two broad groups:

1) Intersection at grade: - these include all rd. which meet at more or

less than same level.
2) Grade separated intersection: - the intersecting roads are separated
by difference in level. Thus eliminating the crossing manoeuvres.

Basic requirements of intersection: -

The basic requirements of intersection at grade are:
At the intersection the area of conflict should be as small as possible
The relative speed and particularly the angle of approach of vehicle
should be small.
Adequate visibility should be available for vehicles approaching the
intersection
Sudden change of path should be avoided.
 Geometric features like turning radius and width of pavement
should be adequately provided.
Proper sign should be provided on the road approaching
intersection to warn the drivers.
Good lighting at night is desirable.
If the number of pedestrians and cyclists are large, separate
provision should be made for their safe passage in intersections
with high volume of fast moving traffic.

Advantages: - The advantages of channelized intersections may be

summed up as follows
By channelization vehicles can be confined to definite paths.
Angle of merging streams can be forced to be at flat angle so as to
cause minimum disruption.
Both the major and minor conflict areas within the intersection
can considerably be decreased.
Angle between intersecting streams of traffic may be kept as
desired in a favorable way.
Speed control can be established over vehicles entering the
intersection.
Refuse islands can be provided for pedestrians within the
intersection area.
Points of conflicts can be separated.
The channelizing islands provide proper place for installation of
signs and other control devices.
Rotary Intersections
A rotary intersection or traffic rotary is an enlarged road
intersection where all converging vehicles are forced to move
round a large central island in one direction before they can
weave out of traffic flow into their respective directions radiating
from the central islands.
Grade Separated Intersection:
Grade separated intersection design is the highest form of
intersection treatment. This type of intersection causes least
delay and hazard to the crossing traffic and in general is much
superior to intersections at grade from the point of view of traffic
safety and efficient operation.

Advantages of grade separation:

• Maximum facility is given to the crossing traffic.
• There is increased safety for turning traffic.
• There is overall increase in comfort and convenience to the
motorists and saving in travel time and vehicles operation cost.
• The capacity of the grade operated intersection can practically
approach that of the two cross road.
• Grade separation is an essential part of controlled access highway
like expressway and freeway.
• It is possible to adopt grade separation for all likely angles and
layout of intersecting roads.
• Stage construction of additional ramps is possible after the grade
separation structures between main roads are constructed.

Disadvantages of grade separation:

• It is very costly to provide complete grade separation and
interchange facilities.
• Where there is a limited right of way like built up or urban area or
where the topography is not favorable, construction of grade
separation is costly, difficult and undesirable.
• In flat or plain terrain, grade separation may introduce undesirable
crests and sags in the vertical alignment.
Interchanges: interchange is a system whereby facility is provided for
movement of traffic between two or more roadways at different
levels in the grade separated junction. Grade separated intersection
with complete interchange facilities is essential to develop a
highway with full control of access. Basically two types are met with:
a) With interchange:-veh. Moving in one direction of flow may transfer
by the use of connecting road ways. These are called ramps.
b) Without interchange:- over bridge or underpass.

The traffic at different levels moves separately without a provision for

an interchange between them.
a) Three leg interchange

i) T-interchange:
ii) Y-interchange:
iii) Partial rotary:
b) Four leg interchange

i) Diamond interchange:
ii) Half clover leaf interchange:
iii) Full clover leaf interchange:
iv) Rotary interchange:
v) Directional interchange:
c) Multi-leg interchange-rotary interchange. Fig 5.39(b),p-
360,khanna

Parking studies:- parking space is one of the major problem of

highway transportation in big cities.

i)Parking demand
ii)Parking characteristics
iii)Parking space inventory
Accident studies: - the problem of accident is very acute in highway
transportation due to complex flow patterns of vehicular traffic,
presence of mixed traffic and pedestrians. Traffic accidents may
involve property damages, personal injuries or even causalities.

Objectives: the various objectives of the accident studies may be

listed as
i) To study the causes of accident and to suggest corrective
treatment at potential location.
ii) To evaluate existing designs
iii) To support proposed design
iv) To carry out before and after studies and to demonstrate the
improvement in the problem.
v) To make computations of financial loss
vi) To give economic justification for the improvements suggested
by the traffic engineer.
Causes of accident:-
a)Drivers
b)Pedestrians
c)Passengers
d)Veh.defects
e)Rd. condition
f)Rd.design
g)Weather
h)Animal
i) Others

Measures for the reduction in accident rates:-

a) Engg.measures
i) Rd.design
ii) Preventive maintenance of vehicle
iii) Before & after studies
iv) Rd.lighting
b) Enforcement
i) Speed control.
ii) Traffic control devices.
iii) Training & supervision.
iv)Medical check.
v) Special precaution for commercial veh.
vi)Observance of law & regulation.

c) Educational measures
i) Education of rd. users.
ii) Safety drive.
Horizontal curves: A horizontal highway curve is a curve in plan
to provide change in direction to the central line of a road. When a
travers
vehicle transverse a horizontal curve, the centrifugal force acts
horizontally outwards through the centre of gravity of the vehicle.
The centrifugal force P is given by the equation:
P = Wv2/gR
Here, P = centrifugal force, kg
W = weight of the vehicle, kg
R = radius of the circular curve, m
v = speed of vehicle, m/sec
g = acceleration due to gravity = 9.8 m/sec2
The ratio of the centrifugal force to the weight of the vehicle, P/W is
known as the centrifugal ratio or the impact factor. The centrifugal
ratio is thus equal to v2/gR.
Following figure indicates the main elements of a circular
curve provided with spiral for transition at its two ends.
Super elevation
In order to counteract the effect of centrifugal force and to
reduce the tendency of the vehicle to overturn or skid, the
outer edge of the pavement is raised with respect to the inner
edge, thus providing a transverse slope throughout the length
of the horizontal curve.
This transverse inclination to the pavement surface is known
as super elevation or cant or banking.
The super elevation ‘e’ is expressed as the ratio of the height
of outer edge with respect to the horizontal width.
e = tanθ
Analysis of super elevation

for equilibrium condition,

Pcosθ = Wsinθ + FA + FB
The limiting equilibrium is reached when the full values of the frictional
forces are developed and the value of FA and FB reach their maximum
value of f*RB and f*RA respectively where “f” is the coefficient of lateral
friction and RA and RB are the normal reactions at wheels A and B.
Therefore Pcosθ = Wsinθ + f(RA + RB)
= Wsinθ + f(Wcosθ + Psinθ)
i.e. P(cosθ – fsinθ) = Wsinθ + f Wcosθ
Dividing by Wcosθ,
P/W (1-f tanθ) = tanθ + f
P/W = tanθ + f / 1-f tanθ
The value of co-efficient of lateral friction “f” is taken as
0.15 for design purposes. The value of tanθ due to super
elevation seldom exceeds 0.07 or about 1/15. Hence the value
of f tanθ is about 0.01. Thus the value of (1-f tanθ) in the above
equation is equal to 0.99 and may be approximated to 1.0
Therefore, P/W = tanθ + f = e + f
But P/W = v2/gR
Therefore e + f = v2/gR
If the speed of the vehicle is represented as V kmph, then e +
f = (0.278V)2/9.8R = V2/127R
Maximum super elevation
From the practical view point, it will be necessary to limit the
maximum allowable super elevation to avoid very high values
of “e”.
This is particularly necessary when the road has to cater for
mixed traffic, consisting of fast and slow traffic.
On hill roads not bound by snow, a maximum super elevation
up to 10% has been recommended.
On urban road stretches with frequent intersections, it may be
necessary to limit the maximum super elevations to 4%.
Minimum super elevation: The IRC recommendation giving
the radii of horizontal curves beyond which normal cambered
section may be maintained and no super elevation is required for
curves are given below
Steps for Super elevation design
Step 1: The super elevation for 75% of design speed (v m/sec or V
kmph) is calculated neglecting the friction
e = (0.75v)2/gR or (0.75V)2/127 R
i.e. e = V2/225R
Step 2: If the calculated value of “e” is less than 7% or 0.07 the value
so obtained is provided. If the value of “e” exceeds 0.07 then provide
the maximum super elevation equal to 0.07 and proceed with steps 3
or 4.
Step 3: Check the co-efficient of friction developed for the maximum
value of e = 0.07 at the full value of design speed,
f = (v2/gR – 0.07)
= (v2/127R – 0.07)
If the value of f thus calculated is less than 0.15 , the super elevation
of 0.07 is safe for the design speed. If not, calculate the restricted
speed as given in step 4.
Step 4: As an alternative to step 3, the allowable speed at the
curve is calculated by considering the design co-efficient of
lateral friction and the maximum super elevation i.e.
e + f = 0.07 + 0.15 = 0.22 = va2/gR = Va2/127R
Calculate the safe allowable speed,
va = √0.22gR = √2.156R m/sec
or va = √27.94R kmph
If the allowable speed, as calculated above is higher than the
design speed, then the design is adequate and provides a super
elevation of “e” is equal to 0.07.
If the allowable speed is less than the design speed, the speed
is limited to the allowable speed Va kmph calculated above.
Attainment of super elevation: The attainment of super
elevation may be split up into two parts:
a) Elimination of crown of the cambered section
b) Rotation of pavement to attain full super elevation
a) Elimination of crown of the cambered section
Method 1

The outer half of the cross slope is rotated about the crown at a
desired rate such that the surface falls on the same plane as the
inner half and the elevation of the centre line is not altered.

The outer half of the cross slope is brought to level or

horizontal at the start of the transition curve or at tangent point.

Subsequently the outer half is further rotated so as to obtain

uniform cross slope equal to the camber as shown in fig.
Method 2
This method is also known as diagonal crown method. The
crown is progressively shifted outwards thus increasing the
width of the inner half of cross section progressively.
This method is not usually adopted as a portion of the outer
half of the pavement has increasing values of negative super
elevation on to a portion of the outer half, before the crown is
eliminated.
b) Rotation of pavement to attain full super elevation:
There are two methods to attain the full super elevation-
• By rotating the pavement cross section about the centre line,
depressing the inner edge and raising the outer edge each by half the
total amount of super elevation, i.e. by E/2 with respect to the centre.
• By rotating the pavement cross section about the inner edge of the
pavement section raising both the centre as well as the outer edge of
the pavement such that the outer edge is raised by the full amount of
super elevation, E with respect to the inner edge.
 Geometric design
Highway geometrics are the elements of a road which are
visible to road users.
Geometric design is an aspect of highway design dealing with
the visible dimensions of the roadway.
Importance
The safe, economic and efficient operation of a highway is
governed to a large extent by the care with which the geometric
design has been worked out.
Efficient and comfortable operation of traffic is possible only
if the design elements have been meticulously considered.
Considerations for geometric design by a design Engr. 09

Adequate geometric design in planning a highway facility ensures

that the facility will not become obsolete in the foreseeable future.
Hence the volume and composition of traffic in the design year
should be the basis of design.
Faulty geometrics are costly, if not impossible to rectify at a later
date and so, due consideration should be given to geometric design
at the initial stage itself.
The design should be consistent and the standards proposed for the
different elements should be compatible with one another. Abrupt
changes in the design should be avoided.
The design should embrace all aspects of geometrics of the road,
including signs, markings, proper lighting, intersections etc.
The highway should be considered as an element of the total
environment and its location and design should enhance rather than
degrade the environment.
The highway should be aesthetically satisfying. The design
elements should strive to control pollution.
 The design should be so selected that not only the initial cost of
construction of the facility, but also the total transportation cost,
including maintenance cost and road user cost should be minimized.
Safety should be built in into the design elements.
The design should enable all the road users (motor vehicles, animal
drawn vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians) to use the facility. The
performance of the vehicles using the facility should be given due
consideration.
Geometric Elements are- 06

Cross-section elements like camber, super elevation

Sight distance considerations like SSD, OSD etc.
Horizontal alignment details
Vertical alignment details
Intersection elements
Lateral and vertical clearance
Design control & criteria
i) Functional classification of the roadway
ii) Traffic factors
Road user characteristics a) pedestrian b) driver
Vehicular characteristics
Traffic volume and composition
Design volume
Design speed
iii) Topography
iv) Cost and available funds
v) Safety consideration
vi) Environmental and social factors
Highway cross-section elements
Highway cross-section elements
1. Pavement surface characteristics
a) Friction:
Skid- Maximum lateral skid co-efficient ≥ forward skid co-eff. in
breaking tests.
Slip- occur when a wheel revolves more than the corresponding
longitudinal movement along the roads.
According to IRC-
Longitudinal friction co-eff.- 0.35 to 0.4
Lateral friction co-eff.- 0.15
Factors affecting friction or skid resistance
i) Type of pavement surface namely, CC bituminous, WBM, earth
surface etc.
ii) Macro-texture of the pavement surface or its relative roughness.
iii) Condition of pavement iv) Type and condition of tire
v) Speed of vehicle vi) Brake efficiency
vii) Load tire pressure viii) Temperature of tire & pavement
ix) Type of skid
b) Unevenness- may be measured in cm/km
Express way < 150 cm/km
250 cm/km is satisfactory for a speed of 100 kmph
>350 cm/km very uncomfortable
c) Light reflecting characteristics-
Light colored or white pavement surface give good visibility at night
particularly during rains and they produce glare and eye strain during
bright sunlight
Black top pavement surface provides very poor visibility at nights,
especially when the surface is wet.
2. Cross slope or camber: is the slope provided to the road surface in the
transverse direction to drain off the rain water from the road surface.
A flat camber of 1.7-2% is sufficient on relatively impervious pavement
surface like CC or bituminous concrete.
In pervious surface like WBM or earth road, steeper cross slope is
required.
Steeper camber are also provided in areas of heavy rainfall.
Shape of cross slope
Parabolic shape is preferred by fast moving vehicles as they have
to frequently cross the crown line during overtaking operation on a
two lane highway.( fig. a)
When very flat cross slope is provided as in CC pavements,
straight line shape of camber may be provided. (fig. b)
Some times a combined camber with parabolic central portion and
straight line camber at the edges is preferred. (fig. c)
Recommended values of camber for different types of road
surfaces
Sl Types of road surface Range of camber in areas of rainfall
No. range
Heavy to Light
1 Cement concrete and 1 in 50 (2%) to 1 in 60 (1.7%)
high type bituminous
surface
2 Thin bituminous surface 1 in 40 (2.5%) to 1 in 50 (2%)

3 WBM and gravel 1 in 33 (3%) to 1 in 40 (2.5%)

pavement
4 Earth 1 in 25 (4%) to 1 in 33 (3%)
3. Width of pavement or carriageway
The pavement or carriageway width depends on the width of traffic
lane and number of lanes.
A width of 3.75m is considered desirable for a road having single
lane for vehicles of maximum width 2.44m.
In case of two lane pavement of width 7m, a minimum clearance
between two lanes of traffic would be 1.06m.
4. Traffic separators of medians
The main function is to prevent head on collision between vehicles
moving in opposite directions on adjacent lanes.
The IRC recommends a minimum desirable width of 5m for
medians of rural highways, which may be reduced to 3m where
land is restricted.
The absolute minimum width of median in urban area is 1.2m and
desirable minimum is 5m.
5. Kerbs
Kerb indicates the boundary between the pavement and shoulder.
Kerbs mainly divided into four groups-
i) Low or mountable type kerbs: The height of this type of shoulder
kerbs is about 10cm above the pavement edge with a slope or
batter to help vehicles climb the kerb easily.
ii) Semi barrier type kerb: This type of kerb has a height of about
15cm above the pavement edge with a batter of 1:1 on the top
7.5cm.
iii) Barrier type kerb: The height of kerb stone is about 20cm above
the pavement edge with a steep batter of 1V : 0.25H
iv) Sub-merged kerb
6. Road margins: The various elements included in the road margins
are discussed below-
Shoulders: are provided along the road edge to serve as an
emergency lane for vehicle compelled to be taken out of the
pavement or roadway. The minimum shoulder width
recommended by the IRC is 2.5m.
Parking lanes: are provided on urban roads to allow kerb parking.
3m width is required for parallel parking.
Frontage roads: are provided to give access to properties along an
important highway with controlled access to express way.
Drive ways: connect the highway with commercial establishment
like fuel stations, service stations etc.
Cycle tracks: A minimum width of 2m is provided for the cycle
track and the width may be increased by 1m for each additional
cycle lane.
Footpath or side walks: are generally provided on either side of
the road and the minimum width should be 1.5m.
Guard rails: are provided at the edge of the shoulder when the
road is constructed on a fill so that vehicles are prevented from
running off the embankment especially when the height of the fill
exceeds 3m.
Embankment (Side) slopes: should be as flat as possible for the
purpose of safe traffic movement and also for aesthetic reasons.
7. Width of roadway or formation: is the sum of widths of
pavements or carriageway including separators if any; and the
shoulders.
Table: Width of Roadway of various classes of roads (IRC)
Sl Road classification Roadway width, m at:
No. Plain & rolling Mountainous &
terrain steep terrain
1 National & state highways
a) Single lane 12.0 6.25
b) Two lanes 12.0 8.80
2 Major district roads
a) Single lane 9.0 4.75
b) Two lanes 9.0 -
3 Other district roads
a) Single lane 7.5 4.75
b) Two lanes 9.0 -
4 Village road- Single lane 7.5 4.0
8. Right of way: is the area of land acquired for the road, along its
alignment. The width of this acquired land is known as land width.
Recommended land widths for different classes of urban roads are-

Land width (m) Type of road

50-60 Arterial roads

30-40 Sub-arterial roads

20-30 Collector streets

10-20 Local streets

Sight distance: The distance along the road surface at which a
driver has visibility of objects, stationary or moving, at a specified
height above the carriageway is known as the sight distance.
Various types of Sight distances: a) Stopping sight distance
(SSD) b) Overtaking sight distance (OSD) c) Intermediate sight
distance (ISD)
a) SSD: is the distance required by a driver of a vehicle travelling
at a given speed to bring his vehicle to a stop after an object on the
roadway becomes visible.
The sight distance available on a road to a driver at any instance
depends on-
Features of the road ahead
Height of the drivers eye above the road surface
Height of the object above the road surface
• For the purpose of measuring the SSD, or visibility
ahead, IRC has suggested the height of eye level of
driver as 1.2 m and the height of the object as 0.15 m
above the road surface.
The distance within which a motor vehicle can be
stopped depends upon-
1. Total reaction time of the driver
2. Speed of vehicle
3. Efficiency of brakes
4. Frictional resistance between the road and the
tires
5. Gradient of the road
1. Total reaction time: Reaction time of the driver is the time
taken from the instant the object is visible to the driver to the
instant the brakes are effectively applied.
Total reaction time may be split up into two parts-
i) perception time ii) brake reaction time
• Perception time is the time required for a driver to realize
that brakes must be applied. 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 also depends on several factors
including the skill of the driver, the type of the problems and
various other environmental factors.
PIEV theory: According to this theory, the total reaction time of the
driver is split into four parts:
Perception
Intellection
Emotion
Volition
• Perception time: is the time required for the sensations
received by the eyes or ears to be transmitted to the brain
through the nervous system and spinal chord.
• Intellection time: is the time required for understanding the
situation.
• Emotion time: is the time elapsed during emotional sensations
and disturbance such as fear, anger, or any other emotional
feelings such as superstition etc. with reference to the
situation.
• Volition time: is the time taken for the final action.
2. Speed of vehicle
During the total reaction time of the driver the distance moved
by the vehicle will depend on the speed.
The braking distance or the distance moved by the vehicle
after applying the brakes, before coming to a stop depends
also on the initial speed of the vehicle.
Hence it is evident that higher the speed, higher will be the
stopping distance.
3. Efficiency of brakes
The braking efficiency is said to be 100% if the wheels are
fully locked preventing them from rotating on application of
the brakes.
This will result in 100% skidding which is normally
undesirable.
Hence to avoid skid, the braking forces should not exceed the
frictional force between the wheels and tires.
4. Frictional resistance between road and tires
The skid resistance depends on the type and condition of the
road surface and the tires.
The braking distance increases with decrease in skid
resistance.IRC has specified a design friction co-efficient of
0.35 to 0.4 depending upon the speed to be used for finding
the braking distance in the calculation of SSD.
Analysis of stopping distance
The stopping distance is the sum of
• The distance travelled by the vehicle during the total
reaction time known as lag distance
• The distance travelled by the vehicle after the application
of the brakes, to a dead stop position which is known as
the braking distance.
Lag distance: If v is the design speed in m/sec and t is the
total reaction time of the driver in seconds, the lag
distance = v.t
• If V is in kmph then lag distance = 0.278 Vt
Braking distance: IRC recommendation for co-eff. of
friction “f”

Speed, kmph 20 to 40 50 60 65 80 100

30
Longitudinal co-eff. 0.40 0.38 0.37 0.36 0.36 0.35 0.35
of friction, f
 If F is the maximum frictional force developed and the
braking distance is l, then work done against friction force in
stopping the vehicle is F*l = fWl, where W is the total weight
of the vehicle.
Braking distance “l” may be obtained by equating the work done
in stopping the vehicle & the kinetic energy
fWl =1/2 mv2 = Wv2/2g
Hence fWl = Wv2/2g or l = v2/2gf
Where l = braking distance, m
v = speed of vehicle, m/sec
f = design co-eff of friction = 0.4 to 0.35 depending on speed,
from 30 to 80 kmph
g = acceleration due to gravity
 SSD = lag distance + braking distance i.e SSD, m = vt +
v2/2gf
If V kmph then SSD = [0.278Vt + V2/254f]

Stopping distance at slopes: The general equation for SD

may now be modified for n% gradient
SSD, m = [vt + v2/2g(f±0.01n)]
When the ground is level, n = 0
If V is kmph then SSD, m = 0.278V.t + V2/254(f±0.01)n
b) Overtaking 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 OSD.
• The OSD is the distance measured along the centre of the road
which a driver with his eye level 1.2 m above the road surface
can see the top of an object 1.2 m above the road surface.
OSD depends on-
Speeds of i) overtaking vehicle ii) overtaken vehicle iii)
the vehicle coming from opposite direction.
Distance between overtaking and overtaken vehicle
Skill and reaction time of driver
Rate of acceleration of overtaking vehicle
Gradient of the road
 L R KADYALI

Analysis of OSD

The dimension d1 represents the distance travelled during the

perception and reaction time and during the initial acceleration to the
point of encroachment on the right lane.
The dimension d2 represents the actual distance covered by the
overtaking vehicle during the overtaking maneuver.
The dimension d3 is the distance between the overtaking vehicle at
the end of its maneuver and the opposing vehicle and is known as the
clearance length.
The distance d4 represents the distance travelled by an opposing
vehicle at the design speed while the overtaking maneuver is taking
place.
d1 = vbth
d2 = vbtp + 2S = vbtp + 1/2 aAtp2 or 2S = 1/2 aAtp2
tp= √(4S/aA), S= (0.7vb+6)
d3 = Clear distance = vatc Where t = 3 sec
d4 = vatp or vctp
Here, vb = Speed of vehicle B
th = Hesitation time by A
va = Speed of vehicle A/C (Design speed)
tp = Overtaking time of A
aA = Acceleration of vehicle A
For different speed groups, the values of d1, d2, d3 and d4 are given in
table as per AASHTO
Overtaking zones
In zones where overtaking or passing is not safe or is not possible,
sign posts should be installed indicating “No passing” or “Overtaking
prohibited” before such restricted zone starts.
But the overtaking opportunity for vehicles moving at design speed
should be given at frequent intervals.
These zones which are meant for overtaking are called overtaking
zones.
The minimum length of overtaking zone should be three times the
safe overtaking distance i.e. 3(d1+d2) for one way roads and
3(d1+d2+d3) for two way roads.
It is desirable that the length of overtaking zones is kept five times
the OSD.
Intermediate sight distance
In case of vertical summit curves, it is possible to provide
the sight distance requirements by suitably designing the
vertical alignment.
At stretches of the road where required OSD cannot be
provided, as far as possible ISD, ISD equal to twice SSD
may be provided.
The measurement of ISD may be made assuming both the
height of the eye level of the driver and the object to be
1.2 m above the road surface.
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