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Idoc - Pub Lec 05 Highway Engineering Curve Superelevation
Idoc - Pub Lec 05 Highway Engineering Curve Superelevation
Superelevation 14 –15
In this lecture;
---------------------
A- Definition and Justifications.
B- Min. Radius of Circular Curve.
C- Superelevation Section (Runoff
& Runout).
D- Superelevation Attainment .
The information listed in this lecture is mainly taken from the Policy on Geometric Design of
Highways and Streets (AASHTO, 2011), Iraqi Highway Design Manual (SORB, 2005) and
Traffic and Highway Engineering (Garber and Hoel, 2009).
There are limitations for values of highway’s cross slopes. The minimum rate of
cross slope applicable to the travelled way is determined by drainage needs. In
contrast, the maximum amount of superelevation should not be exceeded for
preventing slow-moving vehicle from sliding or overturning to the inside of the
curve when the road is covered with rain, snow, or ice.
According to AASHTO, the minimum rate of cross slope, also called normal crown is
(1.5 – 2)% while the maximum amount of superelevation is (10 – 12)%.
2
Where ƒ is the coefficient of side friction. The centrifugal force is W . V .
g R
Other forces acting on the car are its weight W and force exerted against the wheel
by the roadway surface. These forces are the normal force N, and friction forces F,
so: F ≤ ƒ N. Appling equilibrium by algebraic summing for forces parallel to the
roadway gives:
W V2
cosθ ( . ) = F + W sin θ ; since F = ƒ N and
g R
W V2
N = W cos θ + sin θ ( . )
g R
W V2 W V2 V2 V2
cos θ ( . ) = f ( w cos θ + sin θ ( . ) + W sin θ ----- > = e + f + e. f
g R g R gR gR
V2 e+ f
= ------ > The term ef is small compared to one, and may be omitted, so
gR 1 − e. f
V2
R= Where: V: speed in km/hr and R: radius in m.
127( e + f )
It can be obviously noted that minimum radius of the circular curve Rmin is occurred
when applying maximum values for the rate of superelevation emax and coefficient
of side friction ƒmax.
Coefficients of side friction for different design speed are as following (AASHTO):
According to AASHTO recommendations and for design purposes use (6-8) % for
rural highways and (4-6) % for urban one.
Sol.)
V2 1002
Rmin. = = = 328 m
127( e + f ) 127(0.12 + 0.12)
V2 1002
e= − f = − 0.12 = 0.0406 ---- >
127 R 127( 490)
The figure below shows the locations of superelevation runoff and tangent runoff
for curves with and without spiral transition sections.
U U
II- In the tangent-to-curve design (no spiral): the location of the superelevation
runoff with respect to the point of curvature (PC) must be determined. Normal
practice is to divide the runoff length between the tangent and curved sections and
to avoid placing the entire runoff length on either the tangent or the curve (see the
figure). Generally, the proportion of runoff length placed on the tangent varies from
0.6 to 0.8 (i.e., 60 to 80 percent) with a large majority of highway agencies in the
USA using 0.67 (i.e., 67 percent) as a single value for all street and highway curves.
Table below shows AASHTO recommendations.
For pleasing appearance and comfort, the length of superelevation runoff Lr where
no spiral used should be based on a maximum acceptable difference between the
longitudinal grades of the axis of rotation and the edge of pavement (relative
gradient, Δ).
The application of the max. relative gradient (Δ) provides runoff lengths for 4-lane
undivided roadways that are double those for 2-lane roadways; those for 6-lane
undivided roadways would be tripled. This may be desirable but it is often not
practical to provide such lengths in design. Empirically, it is recommended that min.
superelevation runoff lengths be adjusted downward using adjustment factors as
listed in the table below.
According to AASHTO, the table below listed minimum superelevation runoff and
tangent runout lengths for different design speeds.
D. Superelevation Attainment.
It is essential that, the change from a crowned cross-section to a superelevated on
to be achieved without causing any discomfort to motorists or creating unsafe
condition. One from four methods can be used to achieve this change on undivided
highway:
The change in cross slope begins by removing the adverse cross slope from the lane
or lanes on the outside of the curve on a length of tangent just ahead of tangent-to-
spiral point TS (the tangent runout). Between the TS and SC, the spiral curve and the
superelevation runoff are coincident and the traveled way is rotated to reach the
full superelevation at the spiral-to-curve point SC. This arrangement is reversed on
leaving the curve. In this design, the whole of the circular curve has full
superelevation.
The figure below shows diagrammatic profiles showing the four methods of
attaining superelevation for a curve to the right.