GEOMETRIC DESIGN OF

HIGHWAYS
Governing factors

 Topography or terrain
 Design speed
 Traffic factores
 Vehicle characteristics, design vehicle
 Road user characteristics, driver or pedestrian
abilities and behaviour
 Design hourly volume and capacity
 Environmental and other factors
Topography – Terrain
classification
 Cross slope (%)
Design Speed

 Speed determined for design and

correlation of the physical features of a
highway that influence vehicle operation.

 It is the maximum safe speed that can be

maintained over a specific section of a
highway when the conditions are so
favourable that the design features of the
highway given
Design Speed (IRC 73: 1980)

What is it for expressways? See IRC SP 99 -2013

120kmph in Plain; 100kmph on Rolling
https://law.resource.org/pub/in/bis/irc/irc.gov.in.sp.099.2013.pdf
Design speed for Urban roads
(IRC 86: 1983)
 Arterial: 80 kmph
 Sub-arterial: 60 kmph
 Collector street: 50 kmph
 Local street: 30 kmph
Design vehicle
 A selected motor vehicle, the weight, dimensions and operating
characteristics of which are used to establish highway design
controls to accommodate vehicles of a designated type

 IRC 03: 1986

Single unit truck

Semi-trailer

Truck-trailer combination
Vehicle turning path
Design hourly volume

 AADT : Annual Average Daily Traffic

 AADT = total annual traffic volume / 365
days

 Design hour: 30th in highest hourly traffic

volume (forecasted for future year)
 DHV = what % of AADT? (can use 8-10%
of AADT)
 Directional distribution of traffic…
 Highest 100 hourly volumes over a one-year period for a typical roadway
4000

3500 30th hourly

volume
3000
Hourly traffic volume

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0
1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49 53 57 61 65 69 73 77 81 85 89 93 97 101105
Number of hours (annually) with specified or greater volumes
 Passenger car equivalent
(PCE)
 Car is one passenger car unit
PCU
S. No. Vehicle Type Equivalency
factor
1 Motor cycle or scooter 0.5
2 passenger car, pick-up van or auto-rickshaw 1
3 Truck or bus 3
4 Truck or trailer, agricultural tractor-trailer 4.5
5 cycle 0.5
6 cycle rickshaw 2
7 hand cart 3
8 horse-drawn vehicle 4
9 bullock-cart 8*

* For smaller bullock carts, a value of 6 is appropriate

Capacity: It is the maximum hourly volume (vehicles per hour)
at which vehicles can reasonably be expected to traverse a
point or a uniform section of a lane or roadway under the
prevailing roadway, traffic and control conditions. Following
two definitions of capacity are used in this chapter:

Base Capacity: It is the maximum number of vehicles that can

pass a given point on a lane or roadway during one hour, under
the most nearly ideal roadway and traffic conditions, which
can possibly be attained.

Adjusted Capacity: It is the maximum number of vehicles that

can pass a given point on a lane or roadway during one hour
under the prevailing roadway and traffic conditions. It is
obtained by adjusting the base capacity for the roadway and
traffic conditions present at site.
Capacity
Annual Average Daily Traffic volume on a 2-lane highway in 2018 is
16,000 with 20% motorcycles, 60% autos+cars, 20% heavy vehicles.

This highway is being expanded with design year of 2030.

Estimate the number of lanes per direction to be provided based on the

data given below.

AADT growth rate: Compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) is 5%

PCU factors: MC: 0.5, car: 1, heavy vehicles: 3.0

K=0.11 and Directionality factor D=0.55.

Capacity is about 1800 pcu/lane

Level of service (LOS) in 2030 should be C or better.

Cut off Volume/capacity for LOS C is 0.5

AADT in 2018 16000 16000

AADT in 2030 1600*(1+0.05)^12 28734

DDHV 28734*0.11*0.55 1738

DDHV in PCU 1738*(0.2*0.5+0.6*1+0.2*3) 2260

Max service volume in C 0.5*1800 900

Number of lanes 2260/900 2.51
Cross sectional elements

 Pavement, Carriage way, shoulder, Kerb

 Camber
 Formation, embankment
 Drains, Footpath, tree line, parking,etc.
 Shoulder

Formation Width
6 lane urban road
Setback distance (Gap between road land
and building line)
Right of Way (ROW)
 Distance between Road Boundary Lines
(RBL) = Roadway width+ place left for future
expansion
Roadway width (Carriageway+shoulders)
Width of Carriageway
Shoulder width

 Shoulder width =
(0.5)x (Roadway width – Carriage way
width)
Median width

 As wide as possible
 Rural highways:
Minimum desirable:5m
Can be restricted to : 3m
On bridges: can be 1.5m
Lowest: 1.2m
 Pavement camber or crossfall
 To let the rain water flow away quickly
 Depends on rainfall and type of surface

Camber in %
Surface Type
Low rainfall High rainfall
High type bituminous surfacing
1.7 2
or cement concrete
Thin bituminous surfacing 2 2.5
Water bound macadam, gravel 2.5 3
Earth 3 4
 Let us draw the cross
section of a four lane
divided state highway with
bituminous pavement in plain
terrain having high rainfall
Infrastructure for NMV
Sight Distance

 Length of road visible ahead to the driver

at any instance
Watch this

 Driving on a horizontal curve 1

 Driving on a horizontal curve 2
 Driving on a vertical curve (summit curve)
 Driving on a vertical curve (valley curve)
 Measuring the available
stopping sight distance on an
existing vertical summit curve
Straight Line
0.15m
1.2m
(Stationary object
(Driver’s eye
height)
height)

Steps: Use a dumpy level (a surveying instrument that measures vertical level).
Place it at any point on the road at a height of 1.2m. See the staff on the other
side of the curve. Move the staff upto a distance where its height is 0.15m. Then
measure the distance between the dumpy level and the staff.
Note: We will calculate the required amount of stopping sight distance for a given
speed in the next slides. (Ex: for 65kmph, it is 90m.)
Then for the entire stretch of this curve, a minimum of 90m should be available.
To check that, we will keep moving the start point and repeat the above steps to
verify that we have enough sight distance available.
How is sight distance measured
How is sight distance measured
Types of sight distance
 (Safe) Stopping sight distance (SSD) (No
matter what the conditions are, sight distance
necessary for safe stopping should be
provided at least.
 (Safe) Overtaking sight distance (OSD)
 Safe sight distance to enter into an
intersection
 Intermediate sight distance (ISD) (=2*SSD)
 When we do not have opportunity to provide sight
distance equal to OSD, we can provide ISD so
that some chances exist for overtaking. Please
read about overtaking zones from NPTEL notes.
 Head light sight distance (HSD)
Computation of sight
distance needed depends on
 Perception-Reaction time of the driver
 Speed of the vehicle
 Efficiency of brakes
 Frictional resistance (longitudinal)
between the tyre and the road (0.35 to
0.4)
 Gradient of the road
Safe Stopping sight distance

 The Safe Stopping Sight Distance (SSSD)

refers to the minimum distance a driver
needs to be able to see an obstacle or
hazard on the road, apply the brakes, and
bring their vehicle to a complete stop
safely.
 It takes into account the time it takes for a
driver to perceive a hazard, react to it, and
execute the necessary braking action.
 Driver’s perception-reaction
time
 AASHTO says 2.5 seconds (1.5 sec. for
perception, 1 sec. for reaction
 Also called simply as reaction time or total
reaction time

AASHTO: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials

 SSD = lag distance + braking distance

Lag distance is the distance the vehicle travelled during the

perception-reaction time tR and is given by v*tR, where v is the
velocity in m⁄sec2.
Braking distance is the distance travelled by the vehicle during
braking operation. (v2/2gf) 𝑣2
𝑆𝑆𝐷 = 𝑣𝑡𝑅 +
2𝑔𝑓

For a level road this is obtained by equating the work

done in stopping the vehicle and the kinetic energy of the
vehicle. If F is the maximum frictional force developed
and the braking distance is l, then work done against
friction in stopping the vehicle is Fl = fWl where W is the
total weight of the vehicle. The kinetic energy at the
design speed is
Braking distance derivation

For a level road this is obtained by equating the work done in

stopping the vehicle and the kinetic energy of the vehicle.
If F is the maximum frictional force developed and the braking
distance is l, then work done against friction in stopping the vehicle
is Fl = fWl where W is the total weight of the vehicle.
The kinetic energy at the design speed is
Longitudinal friction

Frictional force F
Coefficient of friction f (0.35 to 0.4)
Eye height and object height

 Driver eye height: 1.2m

 Object height: 0.15m
Straight Line
0.15m
1.2m
(Stationary object
(Driver’s eye
height)
height)
 Table of SSDs

Speed(kmph) 20 25 30 40 50 60 65 80 100 120

Speed(m/s) 5.6 6.9 8.3 11.1 13.9 16.7 18.1 22.2 27.8 33.3
f 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.38 0.37 0.36 0.36 0.35 0.35 0.35
Distance during
reaction (m) 13.9 17.4 20.8 27.8 34.7 41.7 45.1 55.6 69.4 83.3
Braking
distance(m) 3.9 6.2 8.9 16.6 26.6 39.4 46.2 72.0 112.5 162.0
TotalSSD(m) 18 24 30 44 61 81 91 128 182 245
IRC Reco SSD(m) 20 25 30 45 60 80 90 120 180
Different cases

 Level road one-way traffic (=SSD)

 Level road single lane two way traffic
(=2*SSD)
 Gradient (ascending gradient for one lane,
descending gradient for another lane)
If G is the % gradient,
𝑣2
𝑆𝑆𝐷 = 𝑣𝑡𝑅 +
2𝑔(𝑓 ± 0.01𝐺)
For upward gradient, use +; for downward, use
–
Problems for practice
 A car is traveling at an initial speed of 60 km/h on a straight
road. The driver's reaction time is 2.5 seconds. Calculate the
safe stopping sight distance if the deceleration rate is 5 m/s².
 A car is traveling at an initial speed of 60 km/h on a straight
road. The driver's reaction time is 2.5 seconds. Calculate the
safe stopping sight distance. Assume appropriate coefficient of
friction.
 A truck is moving downhill with an initial speed of 40 kmph. The
road gradient is -3%. If the truck's reaction time is 2 seconds.
Determine the safe stopping sight distance.
 A motorcycle is traveling at an initial speed of 50 kmph. The
road conditions are slippery, and the deceleration is 8 m/s².
Calculate the safe stopping sight distance, assuming a reaction
time of 2 seconds.
Problems for practice

 A car is travelling at 100kmph speed on a road with 2%

downward slope. There is an autorickshaw moving at 40kmph
in the same direction in front of the car. If the car driver can see
the auto from a 40m distance, can he/she avoid a crash by
slowing down?
Overtaking Sight Distance or
Passing Sight Distance
 Overtaking sight distance is the minimum
distance open to the vision of the driver of a
vehicle intending to overtake the slow vehicle
ahead safely against the traffic in the
opposite direction.
 Vision from driver eye level to driver eye level
 Speed of over taking vehicle: Design speed
 Note: It is not over-speeding!
On Horizontal curve, how OSD
is measured
Measured along
the centre line
On vertical curve how OSD is
measured
 Driver eye height is 1.2m
 Since the object is the opposing vehicle,
the object height is also taken as 1.2m.
 So, for same curvature of the curve, in
vertical curves, we can see much farther

Straight Line

1.2m
(Driver’s eye 1.2m
height) Object (Opposing
vehicle) height)
Factors that affect OSD are

 Speeds of overtaking vehicle, overtaken

vehicle and vehicle approaching in
opposing direction
 Spacing between vehicles, which depends
on speed
 Skill and reaction time of driver
 Rate of acceleration of overtaking vehicle
 Gradient of the road
 Overtaking operation as a
time-space diagram
 X-axis: time; Y-axis: distance travelled
 Trajectory of slow moving vehicle (B) is a straight line
 Fast moving vehicle (A) is travelling behind B.
 The trajectory of the vehicle is shown initially with a steeper slope.
 The dotted line indicates the path of the vehicle A if B was absent.
 The vehicle A slows down to follow the B as shown in the figure with
same slope from T0 to t1.
 Then it overtakes the vehicle B and occupies the left lane at time t3.
 The time duration T=t3-t1 is the actual duration of the overtaking
operation.
 The snapshots of the road at time t0,t1 and t3 are shown on the left
side of the figure. From the Figure, the overtaking sight distance
consists of three parts.
 Reached its original
speed

Acceleration while
overtaking

Same speed as B

Faster speed
 d2= 2s+vb*T
Also, during this time, vehicle A accelerated from initial velocity vb and
overtaking is completed while reaching final velocity v.
Hence distance
1
𝑑2 = 𝑣𝑏 𝑇 + 𝑎𝑇 2
2
Acceleration of overtaking
vehicle
AASHTO representation of OSD
AASHTO Tables
Problems for practice
Horizontal Alignment
Horizontal curves (Please read from
textbook and notes given by me)

 Need for superelevation

 Design the superelevation
 Minimum radius of curve at a design
speed (considering that maximum
superelevation is 0.07 and maximum
lateral friction factor is 0.15)
 Attainment of superelevation
 Length of transition curve
 Set-back distance
Position of Horizontal curve
and transition curve
Length of Transition curve
General Controls of Horiz.
Alignment
 Should be directional
 Consistent with topography – follow natural contours
 Keep the no. of curves to minimum
 Avoid abrupt turns
 Sharp curve at the end of long tangent is extremely
hazardous
 No kinks – keep pleasing appearance
 As large radius as possible for a design speed
 Don’t use sharp curves on high fills.
 Tangents for reverse curves
 No broken back curves
 Compound curves
 Harmony between horizontal and vertical curves
Vertical Alignment

 Gradient
 Summit and Sag curves
 1 in N (1 in 30 or 1 in 200)
 n% (1%, 2%, etc.)
Maximum Gradient
Calculating Average rise or
fall
Minimum gradient

 Unkerbed roads – no need of gradient –

camber is enough
 Kerbed roads
 0.5% for roads with lined curbed edges
 1% for roads with unlined road-side ditches
 Vertical curves
 Summit/Crest curve; Valley/Sag curve
 Designing a vertical curve:
 Find length of curve for given Design speed, and
grade difference of the two gradients connecting.
 See formulae and derivation for each type of
curve
 Two scenarios to be tested: S>L (sight distance
is greater than Length of curve) and S<L
 Calculate length first for one scenario, say S>L.
Then if S>L is satisfied, we are okay. If not, then
do again with using S<L formula.
 Always the Vertical curve length should be at
least the minimum vertical curve length given in
table below:
Spot speed study to determine
design speed needed
 Take a section of a similar existing highway

 Note the time taken by each

vehicle to travel this short “Trap” 50 m
(a small
length, based
 Calculate speed of each vehicle. on speed)
 We can also use Radar gun to note the speed of each
vehicle.
 Do this for a sample of vehicles. Plot a cumulative
frequency diagram.
Speed Data Analysis
Speed Number Frequency Cumulative Upper
range Midpoint fo Veh % frequency limit
0-5 2.5 0 0 0 5
6-10 7.5 0 0 0% 10
11-15 12.5 0 0 0% 15
16-20 17.5 2 1% 1% 20
21-25 22.5 2 1% 2% 25
26-30 27.5 10 5% 7% 30
31-35 32.5 16 8% 15% 35
36-40 37.5 26 13% 28% 40
41-45 42.5 34 17% 45% 45
46-50 47.5 30 15% 60% 50
51-55 52.5 26 13% 73% 55
56-60 57.5 18 9% 82% 60
61-65 62.5 14 7% 89% 65
66-70 67.5 10 5% 94% 70
71-75 72.5 6 3% 97% 75
76-80 77.5 2 1% 98% 80
81-85 82.5 2 1% 99% 85
86-90 87.5 2 1% 100% 90
Speed Distribution (Histogram
or Frequency Diagram)
 Usually in Normal Distribution
Cumulative frequency of speeds
 98%ile: Design speed 85%ile: Maximum speed limit
50%ile: Median speed 15%ile: Minimum speed limit
(optional)