4/12/2024

Geometric Design of Highway

Lecture # 6: Vertical Curves

Lecturer: Asst. Prof. Dr. Hardy Kamal Karim
Ph.D. in Highway Engineering
University of Sulaimani

Maximum Highway grades

• Steep grades affect the performance of heavy vehicles, as well as, they affect
the performance of passenger cars.

• Maximum grades for a highway depends on:

1- the design speed, and
2- the design vehicle.

• Generally 4 to 5 % have little or no effect on passenger cars, except for those

with high weight/ horsepower ratios, such as those found in compact and
subcompact cars.

• As the grade increases above 5%, however, speeds of passenger cars

decrease on upgrades and increase on downgrades.
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• Grades have a greater impact on trucks than on passenger cars. Studies shown that
truck speed may increase up to 5% on downgrades and decrease by 7% on
upgrades, depending on the percent and length of the grade.

• On upgrades, the maximum speed that can be maintained by a truck is dependent

primarily on:
1) the length and steepness of the grade,
2) the truck’s weight/power ratio,
3) the entering speed,
4) the aerodynamic resistance, and
5) skill of the driver.

• Maximum grades have been established based on the operating characteristics of

the design vehicle on the highway.
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Figure 3-15:
Speed–Distance Curves
for a Typical Heavy Truck
of 140 lb/hp for
Deceleration on Upgrades

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Figure 3-16:
Speed–Distance
Curves for
Acceleration of a
Typical Heavy
Truck of 140
lb/hp on
Upgrades and
Downgrades 5

Figure 3-17:
Speed–Distance
Curves for a
Typical Heavy
Truck of 200
lb/hp for
Deceleration on
Upgrades 6

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Figure 3-18:
Speed–Distance
Curves for
Acceleration of a
Typical Heavy
Truck of 200 lb/hp
on Upgrades and
Downgrades
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• On certain routes such as designated recreational routes, where a low percentage

of trucks may not warrant a truck climbing lane, sufficient recreational vehicle
traffic may indicate a need for an additional lane.

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Figure 3-19: Speed-distance curves for a typical recreational vehicle on the selected upgrades

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• Next tables give recommended values of maximum grades.

• However, these values should not be used frequently, particularly when grades
are long and the traffic includes a high percentage of trucks.

• In most cases, grades should be less than the maximum design grade.

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Minimum Highway Grades

• Minimum grades depends on drainage conditions of the highway.

• Zero-percent grades may be used on uncurbed pavements with adequate cross

slopes to laterally drain the surface water.

• When pavements are curbed, a longitudinal grade should be provided to

facilitate the longitudinal flow of the surface water.

• It is customary to use a minimum of 0.5 % in such cases, although this may be

reduced to 0.3 % on high-type pavement constructed on suitably crowned, firm
ground.

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Critical Lengths of Grade for Design

• Maximum grade in itself is not a complete design control. It is also appropriate to
consider the length of a particular grade in relation to desirable vehicle operation.

• The critical length of grade is the maximum length of a specific upgrade on which a
truck can operate without an unreasonable reduction in speed.

• The highway gradient in combination with the length of the grade will determine
the truck speed reduction on upgrades.

• The following will apply to the critical length of grade:

1) Design Vehicle: Figure 3.21 presents the critical length of grade for a 200 lb/hp
truck.

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2) Criteria: Figure 3-21 provides the critical lengths of grade for a given percent
grade and acceptable truck speed reduction. Although these figures are based on
an initial truck speed of 70 mph, they apply to any design or posted speed. For
design purposes, use the 10 mph speed reduction curve in the figure to
determine if the critical length of grade is exceeded.

3) Momentum Grades: Where an upgrade is preceded by a downgrade, trucks will

often increase their speed to ascend the upgrade. A speed increase of 5 mph on
moderate downgrades (3% - 5%) and 10 mph on steeper downgrades (6% - 8%)
of sufficient length are reasonable adjustments to the initial speed.
• This assumption allows the use of a higher speed reduction curve in Figure 3.21.
However, the designer should also consider that these speed increases may not
always be attainable. If traffic volumes are sufficiently high, a truck may be
behind another vehicle when descending the momentum grade thereby
restricting the increase in speed. Therefore, only consider these increases in
speed if the highway has a Level of Service C or better. 15

4) Measurement: Vertical curves are part of the length of grade. Next Figure
illustrates how to measure the length of grade to determine the critical length of
grade using Figure 3.21.

5) Application: If the critical length of grade is exceeded, flatten the grade, if

practical, or evaluate the need for a truck-climbing lane.

6) Highway Types: The critical-length-of-grade criteria applies equally to two-lane

or multilane highways and applies equally to urban and rural facilities.

Notes:
1) For vertical curves where the two tangent grades are in the same direction (both upgrades or
both downgrades), 50% of the curve length will be part of the length of grade.
2) For vertical curves where the two tangent grades are in opposite directions (one grade up and
one grade down), 25% of the curve length will be part of the length of grade.
3) The next diagrams are included for illustrative purposes only. Broken back vertical curves are to
be avoided where practical. Distances less than 1500 ft between VPI’s are considered to be
broken back. 16

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• As shown in figure below, the crash involvement rate increases significantly when the truck speed
reduction exceeds 10 mph with the involvement rate being 2.4 times greater for a 15 mph
reduction than for a 10 mph reduction.

On the basis of these relationships, it is recommended that a 10 mph reduction criterion be used
as the general guide for determining critical lengths of grade.

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Figure 3.21: Critical Lengths of Grade for Design, Assumed Typical Heavy Truck of 200 lb/hp truck. Entering
Speed = 70 mph.

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Figure 3-22. Critical Lengths of Grade Using an Approach Speed of 55 mph for Typical Recreational Vehicle
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Example 1:
Given: Level Approach
G = +4%
L = 1500 ft (length of grade)
Rural Principal Arterial
Problem: Determine if the critical length of grade is exceeded.

Solution:
• Figure 3.21 yields a critical length of grade of 1270 ft for a 10 mph speed
reduction.
• The length of grade (L) exceeds this value.
• Therefore, flatten the grade, if practical, or
• evaluate the need for a truck-climbing lane.

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Example 2:

Given: Level Approach

G1 = + 4.5 %
L1 = 490 ft
G2 = + 2 %
L2 = 660 ft
Marked Route Rural Collector with a significant number of heavy trucks
Problem: Determine if the critical length of grade is exceeded for the combination of
grades G1 and G2.

Solution:
• Figure 3.21 ⇾ G1 yields a truck speed reduction of approximately 4 mph.
• G2 yields a speed reduction of approximately 3 mph.
• The total of 7 mph is not greater than the maximum 10 mph speed reduction.
• Therefore, the critical length of grade is not exceeded.
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Example 3: the vertical alignment shown below on a low-volume, two-lane rural arterial.
Problem: Determine if the critical length of grade is exceeded for G2 or for the combination
upgrade G3 and G4.

986 792
Step 1: L = + 590 + = 1034.5 ft
4 4
792 395
L = + 690 + = 1085.5 ft
4 2
395 590
L = + 295 + = 640 ft 24
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Step 2: Determine the critical length of grade in both directions. Use Figure 3.21 to
determine the critical length of grade.

Case 1: For trucks traveling left to right

• From Figure 3.21 the value for G3 (3.5%) and L3 = 1085.5 ft. The speed
reduction is 8 mph.
• For G4 (2%) and L4 = 640 ft, the speed reduction is approximately 3 mph.
• The total speed reduction on the combination upgrade G3 and G4 is 11 mph.
• This exceeds the maximum 10 mph speed reduction.

• However, on low-volume roads, one can assume a 5 mph increase in truck speed
for the 3% “momentum” grade (G2), which precedes G3.
• Therefore, a speed reduction may be as high as 15 mph before concluding that
the combination grade exceeds the critical length of grade.
• Assuming the benefits of the momentum grade, this leads to the conclusion that
the critical length of grade is not exceeded. 25

Case 2: For trucks traveling in the opposite direction

• From Figure 3.21, enter in the value for G2 (3%) and
• determine the critical length of grade for the 10 mph speed reduction (1800 ft).
• Because L2 (1034.5 ft) is less than 1800 ft, the critical length of grade for this
direction is not exceeded.

Homework : What is the critical length of grade for a 5% upgrade if it is preceded

by 2650 ft of:
a) 3% downgrade?
b) Flat grade?
c) 3% upgrade?

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Climbing Lanes
• It is necessary to consider the provision of special facilities on highways with
steep grades where high volumes of heavy vehicles exist. The most common
facilities that address this problem is climbing lane.

• A climbing lane is an extra lane in the upgrade direction for use by heavy
vehicles whose speeds are significantly reduced by the grade. A climbing lane
eliminates the need for drivers of light vehicles to reduce their speed when they
encounter a heavy slow-moving vehicle.

• Because of the increasing rate of crashes directly associated with the reduction
in speed of heavy vehicles on steep sections of two-lane highways and the
significant reduction of the capacity of these sections when heavy vehicles are
present, the provision of climbing lanes should be considered.
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• The need for a climbing lane is evident when a grade is longer than its critical
length, defined as the length that will cause a speed reduction of the heavy
vehicle by at least 10 mph vehicles.

• A climbing lane is provided only if (in addition to the critical length

requirement) the upgrade traffic flow rate is greater than 200 veh/h and the
upgrade truck flow is higher than 20 veh/h.

• Climbing lanes are not typically used on multilane highways, since relatively
faster moving vehicles can pass the slower moving vehicles by using a passing
lane.

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Vertical Alignment
• The vertical alignment of a highway consists of straight sections known as
grades connected by vertical curves.

• Vertical curves are used to provide a gradual change from one tangent to
another so that vehicles may run smoothly as they traverse the highway.

• For simplicity, a parabolic curve with an equivalent vertical axis centered on the
Vertical Point of Intersection (VPI) is usually used in roadway profile design.

• Vertical curves should be simple in application and should result in a design that
enables the driver to see the road ahead, enhances vehicle control, is pleasing in
appearance, and is adequate for drainage.

• Vertical curves are classified into crest and sag vertical curves. 31

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Length of Crest Vertical Curves

• Provision of a minimum SSD is the only criterion used for design of a crest
vertical curve.

• Minimum lengths of crest vertical curves based on sight distance criteria

generally are satisfactory from the standpoint of safety, comfort, and
appearance.

• An exception may be at decision areas, such as ramp exit gores, where longer
sight distances and, therefore, longer vertical curves should be provided.

• Next figure illustrates the parameters used in determining the length of a

parabolic crest vertical curve needed to provide any specified value of sight
distance.
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• There are two possible scenarios that could control the design length:
1) the SSD is greater than the length of the vertical curve, &
2) the SSD is less than the length of the vertical curve.

When the SSD is greater than the length of the curve

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• The minimum length of the vertical curve for the required sight distance is obtained as

200 𝐻 + 𝐻
𝐿 = 2𝑆 −
𝐴

• It had been the practice to assume that the height H1 of the driver is 3.95 ft, and the
height of the object is 0.5 ft.

• Due to the increasing number of compact automobiles, the height of the driver’s
eye is now assumed to be 3.5 ft, and the object height, considered to be the taillight
of a passenger car, is 2 ft. Under these assumptions, the above equation can be
written as
2158
𝐿 = 2𝑆 −
𝐴

• When A is the algebraic difference between G1 and G2 36

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When the SSD is less than the length of the curve

𝐴𝑆
𝐿 =
200 𝐻 + 𝐻

• Substituting 3.5 ft for H1 and 2 ft for H2 ,

𝐴𝑆
𝐿 =
2158 37

Length of Crest Vertical Curves Based on K Factors

• The length of crest vertical curves can be found by the following formula:

𝐿 =𝐾𝐴

• Where K is the length of the vertical curve per percent change in A.

• Since K is a function of design speed, it can be used as a convenient “shortcut”

to compute the Lmin for a crest and sag vertical curve.

• It has been found that the minimum lengths obtained for the case of S > L do
not produce practical design values and generally are not used.

• The common practice for this condition is to establish minimum length as

𝐿 =3𝑉 38

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Vertical Curve Design with Passing Sight Distance

• Design values of crest vertical curves for passing sight distance differ from those
for stopping sight distance because of the different sight distance and object height
criteria.

• When PSD < L

AS
L=
2800

• When PSD > L

2800
L = 2S −
A

• Or by using K equation 41

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Example : A crest vertical curve is to be designed to join a +3% grade with a -2% grade at a
section of a two-lane highway. Determine the minimum length of the curve if the design
speed of the highway is 65 mph.
Solution:
The grade changes constantly on a vertical curve, the worst-case value for G of 3 % is used.

u
SSD = 1.47 u t + a
30 9.81 − G

65
SSD = 1.47 ∗ 65 ∗ 2.5 + = 682 ft
11.2
30 32.3 − 0.03
Assume S < L
AS 5 ∗ 682
L = = = 1077.7 ft
2158 2158

or from Table 3 − 35 ⇾ K = 193

L = K A = 193 ∗ 5 = 965 ft 43

Example : Repeat the previous example for passing sight distance

Solution:
From Table 3-36 ⇾ PSD = 1100 ft
• Assume PSD > L
2800
L = 2S −
A
2800
L = 2 ∗ 1100 − = 1640 ft
5
• Check ⇾ PSD < L
AS 5 ∗ 1100
L= = = 2160.7 ft
2800 2800

or from Table 3 − 36 ⇾ K = 432

L = K A = 432 ∗ 5 = 2160 ft 44

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Length of Sag Vertical Curves

• The selection of the minimum length of a sag vertical curve is controlled by the
following four criteria:
1) SSD provided by the headlight,
2) comfort while driving on the curve,
3) general appearance of the curve, and
4) adequate control of drainage at the low point of the curve.

Minimum Length Based on SSD Criterion

• The headlight SSD requirement is based on the fact that sight distance will be restricted
during periods of darkness whereas during daylight periods, sight distance is unaffected
by the sag curve.

• As a vehicle is driven on a sag vertical curve at night, the position of the headlight and the
direction of the headlight beam will dictate the stretch of highway ahead that is lighted.
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Therefore the distance that can be seen by the driver is controlled by the headlight beam.

• Figure below is a schematic of the case when S > L. The headlight is located at a
height H above the ground, and the headlight beam is inclined upward at an angle
β to the horizontal. The headlight beam intersects the road at point D, thereby
restricting the available SSD. The values used by AASHTO for H and β are 2 ft and
1 degree, respectively.

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• Using the properties of the parabola, it can be shown that:

200 𝐻 + 𝑆 tan 𝛽
𝐿 = 2𝑆 − for S > L
𝐴
• Substituting 2 ft for H and 1 degree for β in the above equation yields the following
400 + 3.5 𝑆
𝐿 = 2𝑆 − for S > L
𝐴
• Similarly, for the condition when S < L, it can be shown that:
𝐴𝑆
𝐿 = for S < L
200 𝐻 + 𝑆 tan 𝛽

• Substituting 0.6 m for H and 1 degree for β in the above equation yields the following

𝐴𝑆
𝐿 = for S < L
400 + 3.5 𝑆
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Length of Sag Vertical Curves Based on K Factors

• The length of sag vertical curves can be found by the following formula: 𝐿 =𝐾𝐴
• The common practice for this condition is to establish minimum length as 𝐿 =3𝑉

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Minimum Length Based on Comfort Criterion

• The comfort criterion is based on the fact that when a vehicle travels on a sag
vertical curve, both the gravitational and centrifugal forces act in combination,
resulting in a greater effect than on a crest vertical curve where these forces act
in opposition to each other.

• Several factors such as weight carried, body suspension of the vehicle, and tire
flexibility affect comfort due to change in vertical direction, making it difficult
for comfort to be measured directly.

• It is generally accepted that a comfortable ride will be provided if the radial

acceleration is not greater than 1 ft/sec².

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• The following expression is used for the comfort criterion:

𝐴𝑢
𝐿 =
46.5

Where:
u is the design speed in mph,
L is the minimum length (ft) based on comfort, and
A is the algebraic difference in grades.

• The length obtained from the above equation is typically about 75 % of that obtained
from the headlight sight distance requirement.

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Minimum Length Based on Appearance Criterion

• The criterion for acceptable appearance is usually satisfied by assuring that

the minimum length of the sag curve is not less than expressed by the
following equation:

𝐿 = 100 𝐴

where
L is the minimum length of the sag vertical curve.

• Longer curves are frequently necessary for major arterials if the general
appearance of these highways is to be considered to be satisfactory.

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Length Based on Drainage Criterion

• The drainage criterion for sag vertical curves (type III) must be considered
when the road is curbed.

• This criterion is different from the others in that there is a maximum length
requirement rather than a minimum length.

• The maximum length requirement to satisfy the drainage criterion is that a

minimum slope of 0.35 % be provided within 50 ft of the lowest point of the
curve.

• The maximum length for this criterion is usually greater than the minimum
length for the other criteria for speeds up to 60 mph and is usually equal for a
speed of 70 mph.
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Example : a sag vertical curve is to be designed to join a -5 % grade to a +2 % grade. If the

design speed is 50 mph, determine the minimum length of the curve that will satisfy all
criteria. u
Solution: SSD = 1.47 ∗ u ∗ t +
a
30 −G
g
50
SSD = 1.47 ∗ 50 ∗ 2.5 + = 463.6 ft
11.2
30 − 0.05
32.2
• Determining whether S < L or S > L for the highlight sight distance criterion.
400 + 3.5 S
L = 2S − when S > L
A

400 + 3.5 ∗ 463.6

L = 2 ∗ 463.6 − = 638.3 ft
7

• This condition is not appropriate since 463.6 ft < 638.3 ft. Therefore, S< L 54

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AS 7 ∗ 463.6
L = when S < L L = = 744 ft
400 + 3.5 S 400 + 3.5 ∗ 463.6

• This condition is satisfied since 463.6 ft < 744 ft

• Or using Lmin = K A = 96* 7 = 672 ft

• The minimum length for the comfort criterion:

Au 7 ∗ 50
L = = = 376.3 ft
46.5 46.5

• The minimum length for the general appearance criterion:

L = 100 A = 100 ∗ 7 = 700 ft

• The minimum length to satisfy all criteria is 744 ft 55

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