Transportation Engineering

Vertical alignment

Dr. Lina Shbeeb

Vertical alignment
Vertical Curves are used to provide a gradual change from one tangent grade to another, so that vehicles may smoothly navigate changes in grade as they travel the highway.

Dr. Lina Shbeeb

Vertical alignment
Vertical alignment consists of grade tangents connected with parabolic curves. The desirable maximum grades and gradient changes depend on the facility type and vehicle characteristics. The desirable grade as function of facility type:
2% for freeways 6% for local street Higher grades are unavoidable at location with difficult topography.

The length of vertical curve is measured along the horizontal alignment. A point on the curve is specified by its station location on the horizontal alignment and its elevation from a datum.
Dr. Lina Shbeeb

Maximum grades by highway function

Dr. Lina Shbeeb

Vertical alignment
Grades vertical slope from reference station upgrade positive downgrade - negative Crest, sag curves

Dr. Lina Shbeeb

Vertical alignment
Vertical point of intersection (VPI): The point where the grade line intersect Vertical point of tangency (VPT): The point where the grade vertical curve ends Vertical point of curvature (VPC) The point where the grade vertical curve beigns

Dr. Lina Shbeeb

Vertical design element

It important to find the vertical elevation at each station particularly VPC,VPI and VPT. External distance E needs to be calculated to estimate their elevation.

Dr. Lina Shbeeb

Vertical alignment
Total change in grade A ! G2  G1 Vertical curvature External distance Vertical offset
K! L | A|

AL E! ft 800
2

x y ! 4 E L

X is the distance along the horizontal alignment from PVC to the point of interest

High(low) point of curve Elevation of any P

X!

LG1 G1  G2

Xu0

G ! elevation of VPC  1 x  y 100

Dr. Lina Shbeeb

General considerations
Reasonable upgrades without significant loss in speed is 4-5 % @ 70 mph design speed max grade is 5% @ 30 mph design speed max grade is 712%

Dr. Lina Shbeeb

 A 600-ft curve connects a +4% grade to a 2% grade at station 25+60.55 and elevation 648.64 ft. Calculate the location and elevation of the VPC, the middle of the curve, the VPT, and the curve elevation at stations 24+00 and 27+00

Vertical alignment example

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Dr. Lina Shbeeb

Vertical alignment example

Total change in grade A ! G2  G1 ! 6% Vertical curvature External distance Vertical offset
L 600 K! ! ! 100 | A| 6

AL  6 600 ! ! 4.5 ft 800 800

2

x y!4 L

High(low) point of curve Elevation of any P

LG1 600 (4) X ! ! ! 400 G1  G2 6

2

x G ! elevation of VPC  1 x  4 L 100

Vertical alignment example

Dr. Lina Shbeeb

Calculation of vertical curve length

In most cases, sight distance will govern for highways. The equations used to calculate minimum lengths of vertical curves based on sight distance depend on whether the sight distance is greater than or less than the vertical curve length.

Dr. Lina Shbeeb

Crest Vertical Curves, S > L

Dr. Lina Shbeeb

Crest Vertical Curves, S < L

Dr. Lina Shbeeb

Crest Vertical Curves

For first condition: S < L
AS 2 L! 200( H 1  H 2 ) 2

For second condition: S > L 200( H1  H 2 ) 2 L ! 2S 

A
where L = minimum length of vertical curve S = sight distance A = algebraic difference in grades (gradient) h1 = height of eye above roadway surface h2 = height of object above roadway surface

Dr. Lina Shbeeb

Crest Vertical Curves

If the height of eye, h1, is 3.5 ft and height of object, h2, is 0.5 ft respectively, as used for SSD, then For first condition: S < L
L! AS2 1329

For second condition: S > L

1329 L ! 2S  A

Dr. Lina Shbeeb

Sag vertical curve: headlight sight distance Headlight beam of automobile at 2 ft ( or 600 mm), with 1o upward divergence from longitudinal axis of roadway. S is actually the distance between the vehicle and point where the 1o angle of light beam intersects the surface of the roadway. For first condition: S < L
AS2 L! 200 ( h  tan F S )

For second condition: S > L 200(h  tan F S ) L ! 2S 

A
Dr. Lina Shbeeb

Headlight Sight Distance

For safety the length of a sag vertical curve should be long enough so that the light beam distance is nearly the same as the SSD. Therefore SSD is used for "S" in the above equations.

Dr. Lina Shbeeb

Vertical Curves
The procedures for designing a crest vertical curve are the following: Step 1: Determine the minimum length of curve to satisfy sight distance requirements Step 2: Determine from the layout plans the station and elevation of the PVI, that is the point where the grades intersect. Step 3: Compute the elevations of the PVC (or BVC) and end of vertical curve (EVC or PVT). Step 4: Compute the offsets y from the tangent to the curve at equal distances, usually 100 feet or 20 m apart. Step 5: Compute elevations on the curve.
Dr. Lina Shbeeb