Highway Cross Sectional

Elements
As per IRC 86‐1983 the highway cross sectional elements are
classified into,
1. Carriage way (Pavement width)
2. Camber
3. Kerb
4. Traffic Separators
5. Width of road way or formation width
6. Right of way (Land Width)
7. Road margins
8. Pavement Surface
 Carriage
Way
• Width of Carriage way depends on width of traffic lane and number of
lanes.
• Lane width is determined on the basis of width of vehicle + minimum side
clearance.
• Maximum lane width is 3.8 m. Class of Road Width of
• Maximum width of vehicle is 2.44 m. carriage way
• Side clearance is 0.68 m each side.
1 Single 3.8 m
• Pavements with two or more lanes
lane
2 Two lane 7.0 m
3.5 m per lane.
• Width of single lane or village roads without kerbs
may be decreased to 3.0m. 3 Two lane with 7.5 m
• Minimum width recommended for raised kerbs
kerbed urban road is 5.5 m to 4 5.5 m
make allowance for stalled vehicle. Intermediat
5 eMulti‐lane
carriage 3.5 m per lane
 Carriage
Way

Factors which influence the width of a carriageway are:

• Design volume
• Vehicle dimensions
• Design speed
• Road classification
 Camber
– Camber or cant is the cross slope provided to raise middle of the
road surface in the transverse direction to drain rain water from
road surface.
– Provided on the straight roads by raising the center of carriage way
with respect to the edges.
– It is normally expressed in 1 in n or in n%.

The objectives of providing camber are:

• Surface protection especially for gravel and bituminous roads
• Sub‐grade protection by proper drainage
• Quick drying of pavement which in turn increases safety.
 Camber
The required camber for a pavement depends on
I. The type of Pavement surface
II. Amount of rainfall of the region

The values suggested by IRC for various categories of pavement is

Effects of steep camber:

• Transverse tilt of vehicles cause unnecessary thrust on wheels leading to wearing
of tyres and road surface.
• Discomfort when crossing crown during overtaking operations.
• Problems of toppling of highly laden vehicles.
• Formation of cross ruts due to rapid flow of water.
• Tendency of most vehicles to travel along the center line.
 Camber
The common types of camber are parabolic, straight, or combination of them
 Ker
b
Kerbs indicate the boundary between the carriage
way and the shoulder or islands or footpaths.
Different types of kerbs are:
• Low or mountable kerbs : This type of kerbs are
provided such that they encourage the track to
remain in the through track lanes and also allow the
driver to enter the shoulder area with little dificulty.
The height of this kerb is about 10 cm above the
pavement edge with a slope which allows the
vehicle to climb easily. This is usually provided at
medians and channelization schemes and also helps
in longitudinal drainage.
• Semi‐barrier type kerbs : When the pedestrian
track is high, these kerbs are provided. Their height
is 15 cm above the pavement edge. This type of
kerb prevents encroachment of parking vehicles,
but at acute emergency it is possible to drive over
this kerb with some dificulty.
 Ker
•
b
Barrier type kerbs : They are designed to
discourage vehicles from leaving the pavement.
They are provided when there is considerable
amount of pedestrian track. They are placed at a
height of 20 cm above the pavement edge with a
steep batter.
• Submerged kerbs : They are used in rural roads.
The kerbs are provided at pavement edges
between the pavement edge and shoulders. They
provide lateral confinement and stability to the
pavement.
 Traffic Separators (or)
Medians
Traffic separators are provided
• Toseparate the lanes meant for opposite
traffic movement preventing head‐on collusion of
vehicles.
• To canalize traffic into streams at intersections
• To shadow the crossing and turning traffic
•To segregate slow traffic and to protect pedestrians.
IRC recommendations
• Minimum disirable width of 5 m for rural
highways (may be reduced to 3 m where land is
restricted).
• Absolute minimum of 1.2 m for urban roads
 Width of
Roadway
It is a sum of carriage way width, medians and shoulders.

Width of roadway as per IRC

 Right of
Way
Right of way (ROW) or land width is the width of land acquired for the road, along its
alignment. It should be adequate to accommodate all the cross‐sectional elements of
the highway and may reasonably provide for future development.
The right of way width is governed by:
• Width of formation: It depends
on the category of the
highway and width of roadway
and road margins.
• Height of embankment or depth
of cutting: It is governed by the
topography and the vertical alignment.
• Side slopes of embankment or cutting: It depends on the height of the slope,
soil type etc.
• Drainage system and their size which depends on rainfall, topography etc.
• Sight distance considerations : On curves etc. there is restriction to the
visibility on the inner side of the curve due to the presence of some obstructions
like building structures etc.
• Reserve land for future widening: Some land has to be acquired in
advance anticipating future developments like widening of the road.
 Right of
Way
The normal ROW requirements for built up and open areas as specified by IRC is as
follows
 Road
Margins
Various elements included in the road margins are
• Shoulders
• Parking lanes
• Lay‐byes
• Bus bays
• Frontage roads
• Cycle tracks
• Foot path or Side walks
• Guard rails
• Embankment slopes
 Road
Margins
Shoulders
• Shoulders are provided along the road edge and
• is intended for accommodation of stopped vehicles,
• serve as an emergency lane for vehicles and provide
lateral support for base and surface courses.
• The shoulder should be strong enough to bear the weight
of a fully loaded truck even in wet conditions.
• The shoulder width should be adequate for giving
working space around a stopped vehicle.
• It is desirable to have a width of 4.6 m for the shoulders.
A minimum width of 2.5 m is recommended for 2‐lane
rural highways in India.
 Road
Margins
Importance of Shoulders
• Space for vehicles with problems to park
• Space for drivers to stop and check maps, etc
• Space for evasive maneuvers to avoid collisions
• The sense of openness
• Help providing required sight distance
• Increased aesthetics
• Improved capacity
• Space for maintenance operations (snow & storage)
• Lateral clearance for signs and guardrails
• Discharge storm water away from the edge of pavement (reduce pavement breakup)
• Structural support for the pavement
• Space for pedestrians and bicycles
 Road
Margins
Parking Lanes
• Parking lanes are provided in urban lanes for side parking.
• Parallel parking is preferred because it is safe for the vehicles moving in the
road.
• Parking lane should have a minimum of 3.0 m width in the case of parallel
parking.
 Road
Lay‐byes and bus bays
Margins
Lay‐byes are provided near public
conveniences with guide maps to
enable drivers to stop clear off the
carriage way.
It is normally of 3 m width for atleast
30 m length with 15 m end tapers on
both ends.
Bus bays may be provided by recessing
the kerb to avoid conflict with moving
traffic. Bus bays should be located
atleast 75 m away from the
intersections.
 Road
Frontage Margins
(or) Service roads
• Provided to give access to the properties along the highways with
controlled access to express way
• Run parallel to the highway separated by a separators
 Road
Cycle track Margins
Cycle tracks are provided in urban areas when the volume of cycle
track is high Minimum width of 2 meter is required, which may
be increased by 1 meter for every additional track.
 Road
Guard rails
Margins
• They are provided at the edge of the shoulder usually when the road is on an
embankment. They serve to prevent the vehicles from running on the embankment,
especially when the height of the fill exceeds 3 m.
• They also give better visibility of curves at night under headlights of vehicles.

Embankment slopes
• Provided for safe traffic movement.
• Improves landscaping and
aesthetic features of
road.
• Should be as flat as
possible.
 Pavement Surface
•Fora safe and comfortable driving following four
aspects are important for a pavement surface.
a)Friction between the wheels and the pavement surface
b)Smoothness of the road surface or Pavement unevenness.
c)Light reflection characteristics of the top of pavement surface,
and
d)Drainage to water.
•a) Friction
• Lack of adequate friction can cause skidding or slipping of
vehicles. Further, it also affect the acceleration and
deceleration ability of vehicles.
 Pavement Surface
Various factors that affect friction are:
• Type of the pavement (like bituminous, concrete, or gravel),
• Payment roughness
• Condition of the pavement (dry or wet, hot or cold, etc),
• Condition of the tyre (new or old), and
• Speed of the vehicle.
• Load of the vehicle.
• Tyre pressure (air pressure)
• Temperature of the road and tyre
 Pavement Surface
b) Pavement Unevenness
A good pavement surface with minimum possible unevenness is desired to maintain
higher operating speed. But it is seldom possible to achieve pavement surfaces with
less undulations. The pavemen unevenness affects
• Vehicle operating cost
• Vehicle riding and comfort
• Speed and safety
• Higher fuel consumption
• Wear and tear of tyres and other moving parts.

Pavement unevenness is measured in unevenness index using an equipment called

bump integrator. It is the cumulative measure of vertical undulation of the pavement
surface recorded per unit horizontal length of the road. Unevenness index values are
expressed in cm/km and classified as follows.
S.No Unevenness index Comfort
1 < 150 cm/km Good
2 150‐250 cm/km Satisfactory up to 100 kmph
3 > 320 cm/km Uncomfortable even for 55 kmph
 Pavement Surface
Causes of pavement unevenness
I. In adequate or improper compaction of the fill, subgrade and pavement
layers.
II. Unscientific construction practices including the use of boulder stones
and bricks as soiling course over loose subgrade soil.
III. Use of inferior pavement materials
IV. Improper surface and subsurface drainage.
V. Use of improper construction machinery
VI. Poor maintenance practices
 Pavement Surface
c) Light reflection
• Night visibility of roads depend on light reflecting characteristics of the
pavement surface.
• White roads have good visibility at night, but caused glare during day
time.
• Black roads has no glare during day, but has poor visibility at night
especially during wet condition.
• Concrete roads has better visibility and less glare
d) Drainage
• Pavement surface should be absolutely impermeable to prevent seepage of
water into the pavement layers.
• Both the geometry and texture of pavement surface should help in draining
out the water from the surface in less time.
Highway cross section elements
Road Sections and
Highway
Financing
Road Cross
Sections
Road Cross
Sections
Road Cross
Sections
Road Cross
Sections
Road Cross
Sections
 Highway
Financing
Basic principle of highway financing is that the funds spent on highways are
recovered from the road users. The recovery may be both direct and indirect.
Two general methods of highway financing are
I. Pay‐as‐you‐go method
II. Credit financing method

Pay‐as‐you‐go method
• Involves paying of all highway improvements and costs of maintaining and
operating the highway system from current revenues.
•This method is currently in use by many government agencies.
Credit financing method
• Payment for highway improvement is made from barrowed money and this
amount and the interests are re‐paid from the future income.
 Highway
Financing
Pay‐as‐you‐go method versus Credit financing method
S. No Pay‐as‐you‐go
1 The revenue from the facility can
be utilized for future
maintenance and development
2 Requires a sound
financial position.
3 Adopted during good economic
and full employment situation
in the country. Under this
situation credit financing will
most likely promote inflation.
Credit financing
Required to prepare accurate estimates
for financing (including maintenance,
operation, depreciation) otherwise
lead to paying for capital facility even
after it outlived its utility.
Advantageous for the capital
facilities with long life
Adopted during recession and
under employment prevails in the
country. This will likely improve the
economic stability by accelerating
money circulation.
UNIT‐II: GEOMETRIC
DESIGN OF
HIGHWAYS
 Goals of Geometric
Design
• To provide optimum efficiency in traffic
operations.
• Maximize the driving comfort.
• Safety for users
• Low or optimum cost
• Sustainable Transportation Planning.
 Highway geometric
design
Fundamentals of highway Geometric design deals with
• Cross section elements
• Sight distance considerations
• Horizontal alignment details
• Vertical alignment details
• Intersection elements