Transportation Engineering, Institute of Engineering1 (IOE)

National college of Engineering (NCE)

HIGHWAY ALIGNMENT AND ENGINEERING SURVEY

Lecture 3
Chapter 2

Instructor: Neeva Dahal Msc. In Transportation Engineering, IOE Pulchowk

Campus
[Link]@[Link]
 Definition and Scope of Geometric Design
2
• It deals with the dimensions and layout of visible feature of
the highway such as alignment, sight distance and
intersections.
• The geometries of highway should be designed to provide
optimum efficiency in traffic operation with maximum
safety at reasonable cost.
• Geometric design of highways deals with following elements:
a. Cross section elements
b. Sight distance considerations
c. Horizontal alignment details
d. Vertical alignment details
e. Intersection elements
 Definition and Scope of Geometric Design
3
• Cross Sectional Elements: Width of pavement, Camber,
traffic lane, carriageway, shoulder, median strips, Right of
way, side slope, extra widening, super elevation etc.
• Sight distance characteristics (stopping sight distance and
overtaking sight distance )
• Horizontal and Vertical Alignments
(Radius of curve, Curve length, Transition curves, grades, etc.)
• Vertical curve, grade etc.

• Road Intersection
 Basic Design Control and Criteria
4
Design Criteria: speed, safety, comfort and economy
The geometric design is also affected by similar factors which are
discussed below:
1. Design Speed
2. Design Vehicle
3. Topography
4. Traffic factors
5. Design hourly volume and capacity
6. Road user behavior
7. Environmental and other factors.
 1. Design Speed:
5
Design speed is defined as the highest continuous speed at which
individual vehicle can travel with safety on the highway at
favorable weather conditions.
The design speed is single most important factors controlling the
geometric design elements of highways.
• It directly affect the sight distance, horizontal curve and length of
vertical curve.
• Higher design speed has cascading effect in other geometric design
and thereby cost escalation.
• Since there are large variation in speed adopted by different drivers
and different types of vehicle, design speed should be selected such
that it satisfy nearly all drivers.
• 85th percentile design speed is normally adopted, up to 98th
percentile adopted.
 NRS 2070 Recommendation
6
Overall geometric design of a road is a function of design speed.
Design speed is decided based on the importance of the road
(road class) and the type of terrain.
 [Link] Vehicle
7
• The vehicle which has standard weight, dimensions and
operating characteristics used to establish highway design
control is called design vehicle.
• The dimensions, weight of axle and operating characteristics
of a vehicle influence the design aspect such as width of
pavement, radius of curve, parking geometry etc.
NRS 2070 Vehicle dimensions are:
• Maximum Width: 2.50 m
• Maximum Height: 4.75 m
• Maximum Length: 18.00 m
• Maximum single axle load: 100 KN
 3. Topography
8
1. The terrain characteristics determines the easiness and other
geometric characteristics of road.
2. Cost and time of construction are different for plain terrain
and mountainous terrain.
3. Terrain is classified according to the percent slope of the
country across road alignment
 4. Traffic factors
9

Vehicular characteristics
• Speed
• Vehicle dimension
• Axle weight
Human characteristics (Driver and Pedestrian)
• Physical : Vision, hearing, strength, etc
• Mental : skill, intelligence, experience, knowledge and literacy
• Psychological : anger, fear, superstition, impatience, anxiety, etc.
• Environmental : Atmospheric conditions, traffic facilities
 5. Design hourly Volume and capacity
10
• The traffic flow or volume keeps fluctuating with time, from a
low value during off-peak hours to the highest value during
the peak hour
• It is uneconomical to deign road for peak traffic flow.
• The geometric design is based on volume and capacity. The
ratio of volume to capacity affect the LOS.
• Generally 30th highest hourly volume is used for the design
purpose.
• Traffic capacity need to be known to determine the number
of traffic lanes required and ultimately total roadway width.
 6. Road User Behavior
11

• Design of roads can not only done with the rules

laid out by the mathematical models but roads user
behavior plays important role in determining the
different parameter of road design.
• The effect the road user can not be quantified
exactly but their effect can not be ignored while
determining the roadway geometry.
 7. Environmental and other factors
12

➢ landscaping, air pollution, noise pollution, aesthetic

conditions, etc. should be given due consideration
in GD of roads
 Criteria for GD
13

Meet the following four objectives

• Speed
• Safety
• Comfort
• Economy
 Introduction of Basic Road terms
14

Traffic Volume:
▪ No. of vehicle that pass a given point on the roadway in a
specified period of time.
▪ 𝑞 = 𝑛𝑡/𝑡 Where, q= traffic flow (veh/hr)
nt = Number of vehicle counted
T= defined time interval
Flow:
Rate at which vehicles pass a given point on the roadway.
Unit: veh/hr.
More useful parameter and is expressed in planning and design
field
 Types of volume measurements
15
Daily Volume
• Average Annual Daily Traffic(AADT):- average 24-hour
traffic volume at a given location over a full 365-day year
• Average Annual Weekday Traffic(AAWT):- average 24-
hour traffic volume occurring on weekdays over a full year
Exclude traffic volume of Saturday and Sunday (i.e.
weekly holiday) computed by dividing the total weekday
traffic volume for the year by 260 (365-2*52 week)
 Types of volume measurements
16

• Average Daily Traffic(ADT):- average 24-hour

traffic volume at a given location for some period
of time less than a year
• Average Weekday Traffic(AWT):- average 24-
hour traffic volume occurring on weekdays for
some period of time less than one year
 Types of volume measurements
17
Hourly Volume
• DHV is defined as the 30th highest hourly volume in the
“design” year,
• peak hour volume (PHV) is defined as the highest hourly
volume during an average day (1)
PHF = (peak hour volume)/(max. rate of flow for that hour)
= V/(4*V15max)
peak hour observed during mornings and evenings of weekdays,
which is usually 8 to 10 per cent of total daily flow or 2 to 3
times the average hourly volume.
 Types of volume measurements
18
Traffic Capacity
• Ability of roadway to accommodate traffic volume
• Unit veh/hr/lane or roadway
Basic Capacity or Theoretical capacity
C = 1000V/S
Where S= Distance between rear and front vehicles
V= design speed
Possible capacity

Practical or Design Capacity

 Basic Capacity
19
Basic capacity is the maximum number of vehicles that
can pass a given point on a lane or a roadway during one
hour, under the ideal roadway and traffic conditions that
can possibly be attained.
Possible Capacity:
Possible capacity 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.
20
Practical Capacity:
Practical capacity is the maximum number of vehicles that
can pass a given point in a lane or roadway during one
hour, when traffic density is not so great as to cause
unreasonable delay, hazard or restriction to the driver’s
freedom to maneuver under prevailing roadway and traffic
conditions. This is usually considered to be the ‘design
capacity’.
 Element of Cross Section
21
The section of road along right angle to center line of road.
They influence the life of pavement as well as riding comfort and
safety.
1. Width of carriageway or pavement width
• Metalled strip portion of roads meant for vehicular movement is
known as carriageway.
• The width of carriageway depends upon:
i. Width of traffic lane
 Element of Cross Section
22
 Element of Cross Section
23
ii. Number of lane
• For a single lane width = 3.75m
• For multilane, width = 3.5*N m(3.5 m per length )
• For intermediate lane, width = 5.5m

In case of single lane roads it is recommended to have two

treated shoulders on either side to make total width of 5.5m of
treated surface.
 No of traffic lane
24
No of traffic lanes required for a given road is determined
theoretically by expression:
𝑵
n= Where, N = design hourly volume of traffic
𝑪
C = basic capacity of traffic lane
𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎𝑽
C= Where, V= design speed kmph
𝑺
S = distance between front and rear vehicle
Where, SD = stopping sight distance
i= gradient
f= coefficient of friction
L = length of vehicle (L=6m)
V= design speed m/s
 Numerical Example
25

Q. Calculate basic capacity for commercial vehicle for

a lane on National Highway in steep country.
26
 2. Shoulders
27
• Shoulders are strips provided along the road edge and are
intended for accommodation of stopped vehicles, serve as an
emergency lane and provide lateral support for base and
surface course.
• Shoulder are provided on both sides of the pavement all
along the road in case of undivided carriageway but provided
outer edge only in case of divided carriageway.
• It should have sufficient stability to support even a loaded
truck.
• In order to increase the capacity of roadway, paved
shoulders are also provided on roads with high traffic flow.
 Function of shoulders are:
28

a. The capacity of the carriageway and operating

speeds of the vehicles increases.
b. It provide structural stability and support to the
edge of flexible pavement.
c. Provide space for parking vehicles.
d. Improve sight distance with increased lateral
clearance.
e. Provide frequent opportunities for overtaking.
f. It provides the space for fixing traffic sign and
signals.
 According to NRS 2070
29
 According to NRS 2070
30
The width of shoulders on either side of the carriageway shall be at
least 0.75m
• For protection of pavement from water percolating under it from
shoulder it is recommended to treat at least 0.5 to 0.75m wide strip
of shoulder near the edge of the pavement with impervious to water
surfacing.
• If small gap (<1m) of untreated shoulder is formed between the edge
of the pavement and edge of side drain in hill roads it is recommended
to treat this gap with appropriate surface materials.
• It is desirable that the color and texture of shoulders be different
from those of carriageway.
• Very wide shoulders (> 3.75m ) are also not desirable due to
tendency of vehicles misuse it as a carriageway.
 iii. Formation or Roadway Width
31

The total width of carriageway including separators

plus shoulder (at each side) of road is called roadway
width.
𝑅𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ = 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ + 2 ∗
𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ
 iv. Side slope of fill and cut
32
• The minimum safe side slope must be provided for cutting and
banking portion of road to maintain traffic safety and required
stability of soil.
• Normally side slope provided for cut 1:1.5, for fill 1:2 Side slope
of embankment and cutting depends on the type of fill/ cut
materials and height/depth of filling/ cutting.
• Recommended side slope for embankments are:
 iv. Side slope of fill and cut
33
• If natural cross slope of the ground is more than 1:5 then the
ground should be cut with more than 2m wide horizontal steps.
• Recommended values of side slopes in cutting are:
 v. Lay-bys
34
• Lay-bys are intermittent shoulders sufficiently wide and large
provided to meet the important function of shoulder where
continuous shoulder on either side cannot be provided from
economic considerations.
• The provision of properly designed lay-bys for hill roads in
Nepal could be economical solution but has not been in
practice.
• Lay-bys may be provided for parking or for bus stop to allow
vehicles to stop safely without impeding passing traffic.
 v. Lay-bys
35
Minimum width 3m
Length = 12m along outside edge and 30m along inside edge.
i.e. passing zone and lay-bys should be tapered gradually
toward the carriageway.
Normally, passing place should be located every 300m for hill
and 500m for terai
 vi. Right of way (ROW)
36
• The area of land to be acquired for the road along its
alignment is called right of way.
• It should be adequate to accommodate all the cross sectional
elements of the highway and may reasonably provide for
future development.
• The Row is depends on the important of the road and possible
future development.
 vi. Right of way (ROW)
37
• To facilitate future expansion of road with
no compensation for property.
• For the construction of drainage
structure, overhead bridge etc.
• For the construction of bus station
• To improve visibility in curves.
• To accommodate various
road facilities.
 vii. Camber (Its type and Design)
38
It is the convexity provided to the cross section of the surface
of carriageway and is the difference of level between crown
and the edge.
• Also known as cant or cross fall or cross slope or transverse
slope.
• Reason for providing camber are:
i. To drain rain water from the surface as quickly as possible.
(very important reason)
ii. To separate the traffic in the two direction.
 vii. Camber (Its type and Design)
39
iii. To prevent percolation of rainwater from pavement
surface.(sub grade protection)
iv. To provide aesthetic appearance.

Design of camber depends upon:

i. Intensity of rainfall
ii. Types of road surface
iii. Nature of soil etc.
 Disadvantage of heavy camber:
40

• Transverse tilt of vehicles causes uncomfortable

side thrust and drag on the steering wheel of
vehicles.
• Most of the vehicle will tend to move along center
line of the road, thus road capacity is affected.
• Discomfort causing throw of vehicle when crossing
the crown during overtaking operations.
• Tilt problems which causes toppling over of highly
loaded truck.
• Formation of cross ruts due to rapid flow of water.
 Types of camber
41

1. Straight line camber

2. Parabolic camber
3. Composite camber

By IRC
recommendatio
n
 1. Straight line camber
42

Straight line camber is usually adopted in cement

concrete pavements.
In figure, W= width of carriageway
N= camber in %
𝑅𝑖𝑠𝑒
Now, slope 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 =
𝑊/2
𝑦
Also𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 =
𝑥
i.e. Y = nX
 2. Parabolic camber
43
• Parabolic camber is generally n designed for fast moving
vehicles.
• For parabolic camber,
𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑙𝑎 𝑦 = 𝑎𝑥2
From boundary condition, when x=w/2,
y=Rise.
𝑅
But, 𝑛 =
𝑤/2
2𝑛
So, 𝑎 =
𝑤
2𝑛 2
Hence, 𝑦 = 𝑥
𝑤
 [Link] Parabola
44
• It is made up of partly parabola and partly straight or two
straight lines of different slope.
• It increases contact area of wheel and decreases intensity of
pressure.
 Numerical Example
45

In a region of heavy rainfall a major district road of

WBM pavement is to be constructed. If the width of
the road is 3.75m , find the height of the crown with
respect to the edges. What is the height of the crown
with respect to the edges if 7.5m width bituminous
concrete pavement is to be constructed ?
 Numerical Example
46
The centerline of a two lane road have an elevation of 295.15m.
The camber of pavement is 3.5% and cross slope of shoulder is
4.5%.
Calculate elevation of pavement at center of lane, edge of
pavement and edge of road if;
i) Straight line camber provided
ii) Parabolic camber provided
 Elements of cross section for Urban
Roads
47
1. Median Strip
2. Kerb
3. Footpath

1. Median Strip/ Central Reservation

• It is central raised strip within the roadways constructed to
separate the traffic flowing in one direction from the traffic in
opposite direction.
• They are traffic separator and objectives are:
 Objectives
48

• To segregate traffic from opposite direction.

• To minimize head on collision between vehicles
from opposite sides.
• To segregate slow and fast moving vehicles in
same direction.
• To minimize headlight glare.
• At intersection, these provide a refuge for the cross
traffic.
• To provide aesthetic beauty.
 According to NRS 2070
49
For roads with 4 or more lanes, it is recommended to
provide medians or traffic separators. Medians should
be as wide as possible.
ii. A minimum median width of 5m is recommended.
But a width of 3m can be adopted in areas where land
is restricted.
iii. In mountainous and steep terrains maximum possible
width of median dictated by the topography should be
provided. In such situations simple barriers may be
provided to function as a median or individual
carriageways could be designed at different levels.
 According to NRS 2070
50
iv. On long bridges and viaducts the width of the
median may be reduced to 1.5m, but in no case this
should be less than 1.2m.
v. The median should be of uniform width in a particular
section of the highway. However, where changes are
unavoidable, a transition of 1 in 20 must be provided.
 Kerbs
51
• In urban road, it is a basis of separating foothpath, kerb
parking space from carriageway.
• For rural road, kerb is dividing line between carriageway and
shoulder.
Function of kerbs are:
• To protect pavement edge.
• To facilitate and
control drainage
 Types of Kerb
52

i. Low or mountable kerb

ii. Semi- barrier type
iii. Barrier type
iv. Submerged type kerbs
 i. Low or mountable kerbs:
53

• This type of kerbs encourage the traffic to remain

in the through traffic lane and also allow the driver
to enter shoulder at slow speed.
• Height = 10cm with slope
• This is usually provided at medians and
channelization scheme.
 ii. Semi- barrier type kerbs:
54
• Provided when pedestrian traffic is high.
• Height = 15cm with 1:1 batter for 75mm.
• This kerb prevents encroachment by the parking vehicles.
• It is possible to drive over this kerb with some difficulty.
iii. Barrier type kerbs:
• They are design to discourage vehicles leaving from pavement.
• Height = 20cm with steep batter 1:4(H:V)
iv. Submerged type kerbs:
• They are used in rural roads.
• These are provided between pavement edge and shoulder.
• They provide lateral confinement and stability to pavement.
 Footpath/ Sidewalk
55
• It is that portion of the urban road which is provided for the
movement of pedestrian traffic.
• Main objective is protection to the pedestrians and reducing
possibilities of accident
• Minimum width of footpath is 1.5m
• Footpath should be provided
on all roads passing
through populated areas.
 Different types of Hill Road Cross
Sections
56

• Cut and Fill

• Bench Type
• Box Cutting
• Embankment with retaining walls
• Semi bridge
• Semi tunnel
• Platform
 Cut and Fill
57
• If hill side slope is >2%, cut and fill
road is cheaper and environmental
friendly.
• The fill mass is obtained from cut
materials at same location or
within free haul distance.
• Fill portion sometimes get settled
and causes longitudinal crack on
road surface.
• Low cost road are generally made
with cut and fill.
 Bench Type
58
• With increase in earthwork
ensures the complete stability of
the hill road bed, if hill side itself is
stable.
 Box cutting
59

• If the road bed is unstable along the hill side, road

is designed as trench type of cross section.
• Large earthwork required.
• It is necessary to meet geometric standard of given
class of road.
 Embankment with retaining wall
60
• On steep slope over 30-35 degree, the
earthwork involved in constructing
embankment increases substantially.
• When natural slope of ground is
greater than embankment slope, they
never meet downhill.
• Hence, to support the embankment
soil, retaining wall is necessary.
• Retaining walls are also preferred in
less steep slope to increase stability.
 Semi Bridge
61
• If the road is located steep slope,
the retaining wall height increases
substantially.
• In such cases, in order to reduce
the quantity of work, semi bridge
type structure may be constructed.
• Part of road is accommodate on
bench cut and part is located on
the semi bridge.
 Semi Tunnel
62
• If inscribing cutting into steep hills
in stable faces of rock may be
permitted to overhang the road,
reducing rock work.
• Such cross section is called a semi
tunnel.
• Road in half tunneling is
advantageous for high altitude hill
road as they do no blocked by
snow.
 Platform
63
• In steep slope, where shifting of
the route into the hill side will lead
to enormous rock work, which
increase cost of construction.
• Where semi tunnel cannot be
constructed due to certain
geological reason platform are
constructed.
• Platform are usually cantilever our
of the rock on which road way is
partially located.
 Special Structure in Hill Road
64

Construction of hill roads involves many special structure

to retain soil, slope stability
and dissipate energy of flowing surface water.
Special structures are:
1. Retaining Structure
2. River training structure
3. Landslide stabilization structures
4. Gully control structures
 1. Retaining Structure
65
• It is usually a wall constructed for the purpose of supporting vertical
or nearly vertical earth bank.
• It is most important in hill road to provide adequate support for
road and slope.
• It is constructed on valley side to retain fill materials and also on cut
side to prevent landslide towards road.
Condition where retaining structure are required are:
a. Valley side surface get saturated in monsoon.
b. Place where under cutting by river or stream.
c. In valley point where water flows over the road.
d. To achieve road way width where cutting hill is uneconomical.
66
Empirical design of retaining wall:
a. Retaining wall up to 6m height
Base width = 0.5H m
Top width = 0.45 to 0.6 (0.5m)
Rear side = vertical
Front side = batter 1 in 4
b. If H>6m
Base width = (0.4H+0.3) to (0.5H+0.6)m
The rear face is kept vertical and filled with boulders and stones
to improve drainage facility.