GEOMETRIC DESIGN OF

HIGHWAYS
UNIT II
INTRODUCTION
 Geometric design of highways deals with the dimensions &
layout of visible features of the highway such as horizontal
& vertical alignments, sight distances and intersections.
 Objective of designing geometrics:
EFFICIENCY TO TRAFFIC OPERATIONS WITH
MAXIMUM SAFETY AT REASONABLE COST
 Elements of geometric design of highways:
1. Cross section elements
2. Sight distance considerations
3. Horizontal alignment details
4. Vertical alignment details
5. Intersection details
Design controls & criteria
1. Design speed

2. Topography

3. Traffic factors

4. Design hourly volume & capacity

5. Environmental & other factors

HIGHWAY CROSS SECTION ELEMENTS
1. Pavement Surface Characteristics: Friction, pavement
unevenness, light reflecting characteristics, drainage of
surface water
2. Cross slope or Camber: Slope provided to the road
surface in transverse direction to drain off the rain
water from the road surface. Main purpose is to prevent
ingress of water into the below pavement layers.
 Shape of camber: Parabolic, Straight line, Combination of
parabolic & straight shape
 Requirement of Camber depends on type of pavement &
amount of rainfall
 Camber generally varies from1.7% to 3.0%
HIGHWAY CROSS SECTION ELEMENTS
3. Width of Pavement or Carriageway: Maximum width of
vehicle as per IRC is 2.44m. Lane width is kept as 3.75m
which provides clearance of 0.625m on both sides of
the vehicle in case of single lane road and 0.5 m on each
side of the vehicle in case of 2 lane pavement where
lane width is 3.5m.
4. Kerbs:
 Low or mountable type kerb: 10cm high, drivers can enter over
the kerb with little difficulty
 Semi-barrier type kerb: 15cm high, provided where pedestrian
traffic is high
 Barrier type kerb: 20cm high; used in urban areas
HIGHWAY CROSS SECTION ELEMENTS
5. Road margins
 Shoulders, parking lanes, Lay-byes, Bus bays, Driveway, Cycle track,
Footpath, Guard rails, Embankment slope
HIGHWAY CROSS SECTION ELEMENTS
6. Width of roadway or formation
 It is the top width of the highway embankment or the bottom width of
highway cutting excluding the side drains
HIGHWAY CROSS SECTION ELEMENTS
7. Right of Way (RoW)
 It is the area of land acquired for the road along its alignment.
The width of this land acquired (also known as land width) is
governed by following factors:
i. Width of formation, width of roadway & road margins
ii. Height of embankment or depth of cutting
iii. Side slopes of embankment or cutting
iv. Drainage systems & their sizes
v. Sight distance consideration on horizontal curves
vi. Reserve land for future widening to be planned in
advanced based on anticipated future development and
increase in traffic
SIGHT DISTANCE
 Distance along road surface at which a driver has
visibility of objects, stationary or moving, at a
specified height above carriageway is known as Sight
Distance
 It is the length of road visible ahead to the driver at
any instance.
 Restrictions to sight distance
 Uncontrolled Intersections: When driver from one of the
approach road can/cannot sight a vehicle from another
approach road
 Horizontal curves: When line of sight is obstructed by
objects at the inner side of the curve
 Vertical curves: The line of sight is obstructed by the road
surface of the summit curve
 Signs and signal locations: The location of the sign prior to a
speed breaker or signal should be such that the driver gets
enough time to react and decide his/her action
 CONFLICT POINT

Inadequate visibility - bad intersection design

Flaring improves visibility
Vegetation blocking the sight on a horizontal curve
Sight distances at vertical curves are affected by
gradient. Flatter slopes provide higher visibility
Speed breaker ahead sign - location
 Types of sight distance
1. Stopping sight distance (SSD) or absolute minimum sight
distance: Driver travelling at a design speed has sufficient
length of road visible ahead to stop the vehicle without
collision, in case of any obstruction on the road ahead.
2. Safe overtaking sight distance (OSD) or passing sight
distance: Driver travelling a design speed should be able to
safely overtake the slower vehicles without causing
obstruction or hazard to traffic of opposite direction
3. Intermediate sight distance (ISD): Twice the SSD. It is
provided where OSD cannot be provided
4. Head-light sight distance: Distance visible to a driver during
night driving under the illumination of the vehicle head lights
 STOPPING SIGHT DISTANCE

Distance Travelled during Distance Travelled after

Reaction Time application of brakes
Factors on which SSD depends
1. Total reaction time of driver
 PIEV theory: Perception time – Intellection time – Emotion
time – Volition time
2. Speed of vehicle
3. Efficiency of brakes
4. Frictional resistance between roads & tyres
Analysis of SSD
Refer the class notes

 Recommended longitudinal co-efficient of friction (f)

values for providing SSD
Speed
20 to 30 40 50 60 65 80 > 100
(km/h)
f 0.40 0.38 0.37 0.36 0.36 0.35 0.35
Overtaking sight distance
Refer the class notes for derivation and numerical
HORIZONTAL ALIGNMENT
1. Horizontal curves

2. Superelevation

3. Widening on curves

4. Transition curves
Horizontal curves
 A horizontal curve provides change in direction to the alignment
(centre line) of the road
 A simple circular curve is designated by either the radius „R‟ of the
curve in meter or degree „D‟ of the curve
 When a vehicle of weight (W) travels on a horizontal curve, the
centrifugal force (P) acts horizontally outwards through the centre
of gravity of the vehicle
𝑊𝑣 2
𝑃=
𝑔𝑅
Where,
P is centrifugal force in kg
W is weight of the vehicle in kg
R is radius of the circular curve in m
v is speed of vehicle in m/s
g is acceleration due to gravity
 The ratio P/W is called centrifugal ratio or impact factor
Horizontal curves
 The centrifugal force acting on the vehicle negotiating a
horizontal curve has two effects:
1. Overturning effect: Tendency to overturn the vehicle
outwards about the outer wheels
2. Transverse skidding effect: Tendency to skid the vehicle
laterally outwards

For derivation refer class notes

Superelevation
𝐺𝑣 2 𝐺𝑉 2
𝑒+𝑓 = ;𝑒 +𝑓 =
𝑔𝑅 127𝑅

For derivation and numerical refer class notes

Design of Superelevation
STEP 1: Superelevation for 75% of design speed is
calculated neglecting the friction
(0.75𝑉)2 𝑉2
𝑒= =
127𝑅 225𝑅
STEP 2: If calculated „e‟ value is less than 0.07, the
value thus obtained is provided. If the value exceeds
0.07, provide maximum superelevation of 0.07.
STEP 3: Check the coefficient of friction developed
for maximum value of „e‟ and full design speed
𝑉2
𝑓= − 0.07
127𝑅
Design of Superelevation
If the value thus obtained is less than 0.15, superelevation of 0.07
is safe for design. If not then maximum allowable speed is
calculated by considering e = 0.07 and f = 0.15
STEP 4: Maximum allowable speed (Va)
𝑉2
𝑒+𝑓 =
127𝑅
𝑉𝑎 2
0.07 + 0.15 =
127𝑅
𝑉𝑎 2 = 27.94𝑅
If the allowable speed (Va) is higher than the design speed (V),
then design is adequate and provide “e” equal to 0.07
But, if allowable speed is less than the design speed then “speed
limit” is to be introduced
Attainment of superelevation
1. Elimination of crown of cambered section
a. Outer edge rotated about crown
b. Crown shifted outwards
Attainment of superelevation
2. Rotation of pavement to attain full superelevation
i. Pavement is rotated about its centre line
ii. Pavement is rotated about its inner edge
Attainment of superelevation
2 a. Rotating the pavement with respect to inner edge

If the rate of introduction of super elevation is 1 in N,

required length = N.E
Attainment of superelevation
2 b. Rotating the pavement with respect to centre line

E/2

E/2

If the rate of introduction of super elevation is 1 in N,

required length = N.E / 2
Widening of pavement on horizontal curves
Widening of pavement on horizontal curves
REFER CLASS NOTES FOR FORMULA
(DERIVATION BY SELF STUDY)
Transition curves & its design
REFER CLASS NOTES
DESIGN OF VERTICAL ALIGNMENT
 While aligning a highway it is the common practice to
follow general topography or profile of land, keeping in
view the drainage and other requirements on each
stretch
 The vertical alignment of highway influences:
1. Vehicle speed
2. Acceleration and deceleration
3. Stopping distance
4. Sight distance
5. Comfort while travelling at high speed
6. Vehicle operating cost
Gradients
 Gradient is the rise or fall along the length of the road
w.r.t. the horizontal
 It is expressed in the ratio of 1 in x
(1 vertical unit to x horizontal units)
 Gradient is also expressed as a percentage, such as n%,
the slope being „n‟ vertical units to 100 horizontal units
 If the slope angle is α, the gradient may also be expressed
as ‘tan α‟
Types of gradients
1. Ruling gradient
 It is the maximum gradient within which the designer attempts
to design the vertical profile of road.
 It is also called as „design gradient‟
 IRC recommends the ruling gradients as:
a) 1 in 30 on plain & rolling terrain
b) 1 in 20 on mountainous terrain
c) 1 in 16.7 on steep terrain
2. Limiting gradient
 Where topography compels adopting steeper gradient than the
ruling gradient, „limiting gradient‟ is used
 It avoids the increase in cost in constructing roads with gentler
gradient
Types of gradients
3. Exceptional gradient
 In some extraordinary situations it may be unavoidable to
provide still steeper gradients than the limiting gradient at least
for short stretches
 In such cases the steeper gradient up to exceptional gradient
may be provided
 Exceptional gradient should not exceed 100m for a single
stretch
4. Minimum gradient
 If road is level (less gradient or zero gradient), problems of
drainage arise
 A minimum gradient is provided to facilitate better drainage of
run-off.
 It depends on amount of rainfall, type of soil, topography
Grade compensation
 At horizontal curves, the vehicle has to overcome the
curve resistance developed
 When there is a horizontal curve in addition to the
gradient, there will be increased resistance to traction
due to both horizontal curve & gradient
 Hence in such situations the gradient is decreased to
compensate for the loss of tractive effort due to the
curve. This is called „grade compensation‟
30 + 𝑅
𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, % =
𝑅
75
 Maximum value of grade compensation is limited to ,
𝑅
where R is the radius of circular curve in „m‟
Numerical on grade compensation
1. While aligning a hill road with a ruling gradient of 6%, a
horizontal curve of radius 60m is encountered. Find the
grade compensation and the compensated gradient at
the curve.
Design of vertical curves
 Length of Summit curves
 Length of Valley curves

REFER CLASS NOTES FOR FORMULAES AND

NUMERICAL
HIGHWAY DRAINAGE
REFER FLOWCHART GIVEN IN CLASS NOTES