Geometric Design

of Travelways
GROUP 4:
ALYSSA KATE M. GALES
APRIL JOY ANTIQUEÑA
JASON CARIAGA
REINIER DAN GANGE
SHIELA MAE MIÑANO
VENZ GABASA
YVONIE YUCOR
Overview

This chapter discusses the geometric design of the travelways of the

highway, air, and rail modes. The material covered includes the geometric

design of the roadway for the highway mode, the rail track for the rail

mode, and runways and taxiways for the air mode.

Geometric Design in Transportation

- Geometric design of a highway deals with the dimensions and layout of

visible features of the highway such as horizontal and vertical alignments,
sight distances and intersections.

- The geometrics of highway should be designed to provide efficiency in

traffic operations with maximum safety at reasonable cost.
Classification System of Highways And Streets

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials

(AASHTO) developed the classification system for highways.These classifications

are given in A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets published by

AASHTO and are referred to as the functional classification of highways.

Classification System of Highways And Streets
Highway facilities are classified as urban or rural, depending on the area in
which they are located.

● Urban Roads
- Urban roads are those located in areas designated as such by
local officials with populations of 5000 or more, although some
states use other values.
● Rural Roads
- Rural roads are those located outside the urban areas.
Classification System of Highways And Streets

Highways are then classified separately for urban and rural areas
under the following categories:
• Principal arterial
• Minor arterials
• Major collectors
• Minor collectors
• Local roads and streets
Classification System of Highways And Streets
Principal arterial

- Principal arterial means the functional classification for a major highway intended to serve
through traffic where access is carefully controlled, generally highways of regional
importance, with moderate to high volumes of traffic traveling relatively long distances and at
higher speeds.

Minor arterial

- Minor Arterials provide service for trips of moderate length, serve geographic areas that are
smaller than their higher Arterial counterparts and offer connectivity to the higher Arterial
system.
Classification System of Highways And Streets

Major collectors

- Major collector means a collector that operates four or more collection

vehicles and/or collects more than 2,000 tons of solid waste per year.

Minor collectors

- Minor collector means the main road in a neighborhood or commercial area

collecting traffic from local roads, lanes, and drives and providing a
connection to nearby towns or highways.
Urban Principal Arterial Roads

Urban principal arterials serve the major activities centers of the

urban area and carry the highest traffic volumes, including most
trips that start and end within the urban area and all trips that
bypass the central business district (CBD) of the urban area.As a
result, they carry the highest proportion of vehicle kilometers
traveled in the urban area.
Urban Minor Arterial Roads

Roads within this category interconnect with and augment the urban principal
arterials. This category includes all arterial highways that are not classified as
principal arterials. Such roads also serve trips of moderate length and provide
more access to land use than the principal arterials. These roads do not usually
go through identifiable neighborhoods, but they can be used as bus routes and
may connect communities within urban areas. Urban minor arterials are usually
spaced at distances of not less than 1.5 km in fully developed urban areas, but
can also be spaced at distances of 3–5 km in suburban fringes and as low as
0.15 km in central business districts.
Urban Collector Streets

Streets within this category mainly collect traffic from the local streets
and convey it to the arterial system. Therefore, these streets usually
go through residential areas and support the circulation of traffic
within residential, commercial, and industrial areas.
Urban Local Streets

Streets within the urban area that are not included in any of the
systems described previously are considered to be within this
category.These streets provide access to abutting land and the
collector streets, but through traffic is deliberately discouraged on
them.
Rural Principal Arterial Roads

Roads within this category serve most of the interstate trips and a
substantial amount of intrastate trips. They serve trips between most
urban areas with populations higher than 50,000 and a substantial
proportion of those between urban areas with populations of over
25,000.
Rural Minor Arterial Roads

This category of roads supports the rural principal arterials to form a

system of roads that connects cities, large towns, and other traffic
generators such as large resorts.The spacing of these usually
depends on the population density such that reasonable access to the
arterial system is provided from all developed areas. Speeds on these
roads are usually similar to those on the principal arterials and
should be designed to avoid significant interference to through traffic.
Rural Major Collector Roads

Rural major collector roads usually carry trips that have shorter
lengths than the arterials, as they primarily carry traffic that originates
or ends in county seats or large cities that are not on arterial routes.
They also serve other traffic generators such as consolidated schools,
shipping points, county parks, and important agricultural and mining
areas. In general, major collector roads tend to link the locations they
serve with adjacent larger towns, cities, and higher-classification
routes.
Rural Minor Collector Roads

The rural minor collector roads system consists of roads that collect
traffic from local roads and convey it to other facilities to provide
reasonable access to collector roads from all developed areas. An
important function of these roads is that they provide linkage between
rural hinterland and locally important traffic generators such as small
communities.
Rural Local Roads

All rural roads that are not classified within any of the previous
classifications form this road system. Roads within this category
usually connect adjacent land with the collector streets and carry trip
lengths that are relatively shorter than those on the rural collector
streets.
Classification of Airport Runways

Airport runways can be generally classified into three main groups:

(i) Primary runways

(ii) Crosswind runways
(iii) Parallel runways
Primary Runways

Primary runways serve as the primary take-off and landing facility for
airports. The lengths of runways are based on either the family of
airplanes with similar performance characteristics expected to use the
airport or a specific airplane that needs the longest runway. The length
is based on a family of airplanes when the maximum gross weight of
each airplane that is expected to use the airport is 272000 N or less.
The wind coverage is the percentage of time the crosswind
components are below the acceptable level. The desirable wind
coverage for an airport is 95%.
Crosswind Runways

A crosswind runway is oriented at an angle to the primary runway.

Crosswind runways are provided to augment the primary runway and
to obtain the desired wind coverage at the airport.
Parallel Runways

Parallel runways are constructed parallel to the primary runway to

augment it if the traffic volume exceeds the primary runway’s
operational capability. When visual flight rules (VFRs) are used for
simultaneous landings and take-off at parallel runways, the distance
between their centerlines should be not less than 210 m. However, for
airplane design groups V and VI, centerlines should be at least 750 m
apart
Classification of Airport Taxiways

Taxiways provide access from the runways to the apron, terminal areas, and service
hangar.They are located in a way that prevents conflict between an aircraft
that has just landed and one that is taxiing to take off. The taxiway system at an
airport could become the limiting operational factor as the runway traffic increases. Airport
taxiways can be generally classified into the following groups:

(i) Parallel taxiways

(ii) Entrance taxiways
(iii) Bypass taxiways
(iv) Exit taxiways
(v) Apron taxiways and taxilane
Parallel Taxiways

Parallel taxiways run parallel to primary runways. They provide

access from the primary runways to the terminal areas.
Entrance Taxiways

Entrance taxiways provide direct access to the runway.They are

usually L shaped and have a right-angle connection to runways.
Entrance taxiways that serve bidirectional runways also serve as the
final exit taxiways for these runways.
Bypass Taxiways

Bypass taxiways provide the flexibility that is sometimes required in busy airports
to move airplanes that are ready for departure to the desired take-off runways.
This often occurs at busy airports when a preceding airplane that is not ready to
take off blocks the access taxiway.The bypass taxiway can then be used
to bypass the blockage. These taxiways therefore facilitate the maneuvering of
steady streams of departing airplanes.
Exit Taxiways

Exit taxiways are used by airplanes to exit from the runways. They can be right
angled or standard acute-angled taxiways. The acute-angled taxiways, commonly
referred to as high-speed exits, allow landing airplanes to exit the runway at higher
speeds than right-angled taxiways. The Federal Aviation Administration
suggests that when the total landings and take-off during the peak hour are less
than 30, right-angled exit taxiways will achieve an efficient flow of traffic.
Apron Taxiways and Taxilane

Apron taxiways and taxilane provide through taxi routes across an apron to gate
positions or to other terminal areas. Taxilanes usually provide access from apron
taxiways to airplane parking positions and other terminals. Apron taxiways can
be located inside or outside the movement area of the apron, but taxilanes should
only be provided outside the movement area. The centerline of a taxilane or
apron taxiway that is located at the edge of the apron should be inward from the
apron edge at one and a half times the width of the taxiway structural pavement.
Classification of Railroad Tracks

Rail tracks are grouped under the following primary general categories:
(i) Light rail transit tracks
(ii) Urban rail transit tracks
(iii) Freight and intercity passenger tracks
(iv) High-speed railway tracks
In addition to the four primary groups, rail tracks are also grouped into the
following secondary categories:
(i) Main line tracks
(ii) Secondary tracks
(iii) Yard and non revenue tracks
Light Rail Transit Tracks

Light rail transit tracks carry a system of passenger vehicles that are propelled
electrically by power obtained from an overhead distribution system of wires.
The propulsion power is transmitted by means of a pantograph and returned to
the electrical substations through the rails. Operating speeds of light rail transit
systems are usually between 65 and 90 km/h. Although the materials used to
construct these tracks are the same as those used for other rail systems, such as
urban rail transit and freight and intercity passenger rails, the geometric
characteristics of light rail tracks have subtle differences from those of other track
system.
Urban Rail Transit Tracks

Urban rail transit tracks carry urban rail transit vehicles that are usually
propelled by direct current electrification at moderate voltages.
Running speeds of trains on these tracks can be as high as 130 km/h.
Freight and Intercity Passenger Tracks

Freight and intercity passenger tracks connect cities and generally carry linehaul
rail traffic consisting of both passenger and freight movements. Operations on
these lines generate most of the railroad industry’s revenue with potential
operating speeds of trains on these tracks higher than 160 km/h.
These tracks carry the U.S. national railroad passenger service known as
Amtrak and freight services. Southern Pacific, Conrail, and CSX Corporation
are examples of freight services using these tracks.
High-Speed Railway Tracks

High-speed railway tracks carry high-speed trains traveling at speeds of 145 km/h
to 480 km/h, such as the “TGV” high-speed track between Paris and Lyons in
France. Several states are planning high-speed rail systems and are upgrading
existing tracks to accommodate high-speed trains.
Main Line Tracks

Main line tracks form the primary network of railroads and connect the
primary origins and destinations of the system.
Secondary Tracks
Secondary tracks are sometimes referred to as branch lines and include tracks
that connect the mainline to a station not on the mainline, and tracks that connect
the mainline with railroad yards.
Yard and Non revenue Tracks

Yard and non revenue tracks enter railroad yards where cars are
sorted and maintenance and repairs to cars and locomotive
engines are carried out.
Design Standards for Travelways

In the design of the travelway of any transportation system, the first step is to
determine the appropriate standards that should be used for the specific facility
being designed. These standards are then used as the basis for design. The
standards considered in this chapter are those related to the alignment design
and not those related to the characteristics of the soil support.
Highway Design Standards

In addition to the specified design volume, standards are usually given for the
design speed and cross-sectional elements such as lane width, shoulder width,
medians, and grades. Standards are also given for roadside appurtenances,
including median and roadside barriers, curbs and gutters, and guardrails.
Design Speed

The design speed of a highway is the speed on which the different features of
the highway are based. The factors commonly used to guide the selection of an
appropriate design speed of a highway are the functional classification, the
topography of the area in which the highway is located, and the land use of the
adjacent area.

The topography of a highway is usually classified as one of three groups: level,

rolling, or mountainous terrain.
Level terrain

Level terrain is used to describe a topography that has grades that are
2 degrees or less. Safe sight distances can easily be achieved without extensive
earthwork. Trucks and passenger cars can achieve similar speeds on grades.
Rolling terrain

Rolling terrain describes topography in which the natural slopes generally fall
below and rise above the grade of the highway. In areas with this topography,
steep grades are sometimes encountered. Truck speeds are reduced below that of
passenger cars on some grades, although they do not reduce to a crawling speed.
Mountainous terrain

Mountainous terrain describes topography with steep grades and abrupt

changes in the longitudinal and transverse elevations relative to the road.
Extensive earthwork is usually required to obtain minimum sight distances,
and speeds of trucks on grades are significantly reduced in comparison to those
of passenger cars.Trucks may also operate at crawl speeds on some grades.