Geometric Design:

General Concept
CE331 Transportation Engineering
Objectives
 Maximize
 Comfort
 Safety
 Economy

 Minimize
 Environmental impacts

… Design a safe and efficient system that

addresses community and environmental needs
 Highway Classification
 Location  Designation
 Rural  Interstate
 Urban  Federal
 Functional class  State
 Arterial (Principal  County
and Minor  Local
 Collector (Major
and Minor)
 Local
 Functional Class - example
Minor Arterial

Prin. Arterial

Collector
Some Characteristics

 Major Arterial

Accessibility
Lane-miles
 Minor Arterial

Veh-miles

Mobility
 Collectors

 Local roads
Mobility vs. Accessibility

Mobility Arterial

Collectors

Land
Access Locals
What?
What Affects Highway
Design?
 Human, vehicle characteristics
 Expected volume and its composition

 Topography of the area

 Functional classification

 Level-of-service to be provided

 Land use and environmental factors

 Community concerns

 Funding
 Basic Terms

 Design Hourly Volume (DHV)

 Expected number of vehicles in one hour in both
directions
 Directional Design Hourly Volume (DDHV)
 Expected number of vehicles in one hour in one
direction
 Average Daily Traffic (ADT)
 Number of vehicles in 24 hours in both directions
 Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT)
 Number of vehicles in 24 hours in both directions
Basic Terms (cont’d)

 Design Speed
 Choice speed to design for while
balancing safety, mobility, community
issues, and environmental concerns
 Operating Speed
 Average speed people drive with comfort

 Speed limit
 Maximum legal speed
Basic Terms (cont’d)

 Design Vehicle
 Group of vehicles selected for establishing
design control on highways with typical
physical and operational characteristics
 General classes:
• Passenger car
• Bus
• Truck
• Recreational vehicle
Design Vehicles

Which one?
Largest with reasonable frequency?
?
Roadway Cross Section

Roadway Median Roadway

Shoulder Traveled way Traveled way Shoulder

Clear Zone Clear Zone

Right of Way
Cross Section Components
Cross Section Components
Travel Lanes

 Purpose
 Width
 10-12 feet
 Arterials and freeway 12 feet

 Cross slope
1-2% 1-2%

Always?
Shoulders
 Purpose
 Refuge area
 Recovery area
 Pavement support
 Width
 2-12 feet
 Slope
 2-4%
 Median
 Purpose
 Divide traffic
 Recovery area
 Storage area
 Refuge area
 Aesthetics
 Width
 Varied
 Types
 Raised
 Flush
 Depressed
 Right-Of-Way

 Total land required for the construction of the

highway
 Needs to be wide enough to accommodate all
the elements of highway cross section and
planned widening of the highway, and all public
utility facilities to be installed along the highway
 Example:
 2-lane urban collector streets: 40-60ft
 2-lane urban arterials: 84ft
Highway Alignment

 Not all roads are straight and level

 Vertical components
 Grades
 Curves

 Horizontal components
 Tangents
 Curves