Highway Geometric

Design
 Importance Of Geometric Design

The geometric design of a highway deals with the :

▪ Dimensions to provide
▪ Layout of visible features of the highway such as Optimum efficiency in
traffic operation with
 Alignment, maximum
 Sight distance safety at reasonable cost.

 Intersection
Geometric design of highways deals with following elements :

• Cross Section Elements

• Sight Distance Considerations

• Horizontal Alignment Details

• Vertical Alignment Details

• Intersection Elements
 Design Controls And Criteria

The important factors which control the geometric elements are :

• Design Speed

• Topography

• Traffic Factors

• Design Hourly Volume And Capacity

• Environmental And Other Factors

Design speed :

• In India different speed standards have been assigned for different class of road
(NH / SH / ODR / VR).

• Design speed may be modified depending upon the topography conditions.

▪ Design of almost every geometric design of road is dependent on the design speed

(Eg : pavement surface characteristics, sight distance , radius of curve, super

elevation)
Topography :
• Classified based on the general slope of the country.
For NH and SH are :
 Plane terrain - up to <10% - 100 kmph
 Rolling terrain - 10-25% - 80 kmph
 Mountainous terrain - 25-60% - 50 kmph
 Steep terrain - >60% - 50 kmph

Traffic factors :
• Vehicular characteristics and human characteristics of road users.
• Different vehicle classes have different speed and acceleration characteristics,
different dimensions and weight .
• Human factor includes the physical, mental and psychological characteristics of
driver and pedestrian.
Design hourly volume and capacity :
• Traffic flow fluctuating with time
• Low value during off-peak hours to the highest value during the
peak hour.
• It is uneconomical to design the roadway for peak traffic flow.
• The ratio of volume to capacity affects the level of service of the road

Environmental and other factors :

Aesthetics
Landscaping
Air pollution
Noise pollution
 Cross Sectional Elements
Pavement Surface Characteristics :
Pavement surface depends on the type of pavement which is decided based on the,
▪ Availability of material, funds,
▪ Volume and composition of traffic, Soil subgrade,
▪ Climatic condition, Construction facility, Cost consideration

The important surface characteristics are:

 Friction
 Pavement unevenness
 Light reflecting characteristics
 Drainage of surface water
 Friction

• Friction or skid resistance between vehicle and pavement surface is one of the
important factors in determining in operating speed and distance requirements in
stopping the vehicle
• When a vehicle moves in a horizontal curve, lateral friction developed counteracts
the centrifugal force thus governs the safe operating speed
• Coefficient of friction offer by pavement surface under various driving and surface
conditions is important with respect to safety
• Max coefficient of friction comes into play when the braking efficiency is high
enough to partially arrest the rotation of wheels at low speeds
Skid:

• Skid occurs when the wheels slide without rotation or partially revolve

• when the path travelled along the road surface is more than the circumferential
movement of the wheels due to their rotation.

• When the brakes applied the wheels locked partially or fully, if the vehicle moves
forward, then longitudinal skidding takes place

• While a vehicle moves in a horizontal curve, if the centrifugal force is greater than
the counteracting forces the lateral skidding takes place
Slip:

▪ when a wheel revolves more than the corresponding longitudinal movement

along the road.

▪ Slipping occurs when the vehicle rapidly accelerates from stationary position
or from slow speed on pavement surface which is

Either slippery and wet or when the road surface is loose with mud
Factors affecting the friction or skid resistance :

The maximum friction offered by pavement surface or the skid resistance depends upon
the following factors :
• Types of pavement surface
• Macro structure of the pavement or its relative Roughness
• Condition of the pavement (wet or dry, smooth or rough )
• Type and condition of tyre
• Speed of vehicle
• Brake efficiency or Extent of brake application
• Load and tyre pressure
• Temperature of tyre and pavement
• Type of skid if any
• Smooth and worn out tyres offer higher friction factor on dry pavement than new tyre
with threads because of large area of contact

• New tyres with good threads gives higher

friction factor than worn out tyres on wet
pavement

• IRC recommended the longitudinal co-efficient of friction varies 0.35 to 0.4

and lateral co-efficient of friction of 0.15
▪ Design speed of 120 kmph - 0.10
100 kmph - 0.11
 Pavement Unevenness
• Presence of undulations on the pavement surface is called “Pavement unevenness “
• Higher operating speed are possible on road with minimum unevenness and less
undulations.
• It results
 Vehicle operation cost
 Reduces Comfort and safety
 Increase Fuel consumption
 Increase Wear and tear of tyres
 Increase in accident rate
 Reduction in vehicle operation speed
• The unevenness of pavement surface is commonly measure by using equipment
called “ Bump Integrator ” in terms of unevenness index

• Bump integrator is the cumulative measure of vertical undulations of the

pavement surface recorded per unit length of the road.

• Unevenness index less than 1500 mm/km – High speed highways

2500 mm/km -100kmph

▪ Unevenness index 3500 mm/km considered very unsatisfactory even at speed of 50

kmph.
Unevenness of pavement surface may be caused by :

• In adequate compaction of the fill, subgrade and pavement layers.

• Un-scientific construction practices including the use of boulder stones and

bricks as soiling course over loose subgrade soil.

• Use of inferior pavement material.

• Improper surface and subsurface drainage.

• Use of Improper construction machinery.

• Poor maintenance practices

• Localized failures due to combination of causes

 Light Reflecting Characteristics
• Night visibility very much depends upon the colour and light reflecting
characteristics of the pavement surface
• The glare caused by the reflection of head light is high on wet pavement surface
than on dry pavement
• Light colored or white pavement or rigid pavement surface gives good visibility at
night particularly during the rains, and produces glare or eye strain during bright
sunlight.
• In case of black top pavement surface or flexible pavement provides very poor
visibility at night especially when the surface is wet
 Cross Slope or Camber

• Camber is the slope provided to the road surface in the transverse direction to drain
off the rain water from the road surface.

Importance :

• To prevent the entry of surface water into the subgrade soil through pavement.

• To prevent the entry of water into the bituminous pavement layer, as it contact with water
continuously causes stripping of bitumen from aggregates and results deterioration of
pavement

• To remove the rain water from the pavement surface as quick as possible and to
allow the pavement to get dry soon after the rain.
• Usually camber is provided on the straight roads by raising the centre of carriage
way with respect to edges
• The rate of camber or cross slope is designated as 1:N (1 Vertical : N Horizontal)
or as a percentage

The required camber of a pavement depends on :

• Type of pavement surface

• The amount of rainfall.

▪ A flat camber of 1.7 to 2 % is sufficient on relative impervious pavements
▪ In pervious pavement surfaces steep camber is required
▪ Steep camber is provided in heavy rainfall areas to enable the drain off surface water
at rapid rate
Too steep slope is not desirable because of the fallowing reasons :
▪ Causes uncomfortable side thrust and unequal wear of the tyres as well as road
surface.
▪ Discomfort causing when crossing the crown during overtaking operations
▪ Problem of toppling over highly laden bullock cart and truck.
▪ Tendency of most of vehicle travel along the centre line
▪ Formation of cross ruts due to rapid flow of water
Types of Camber( based on shape):

• Parabolic shape

• Straight line or sloped camber

• Combination of parabolic and straight line (composite camber)

Composite camber
EXAMPLE-1
• In a district where the rainfall is heavy, major district road of WBM
pavement, 3.8 m wide, and a state highway of bituminous concrete
pavement, 7.0 m wide are to be constructed. What should be the height of the
crown with respect to the edges in these two cases , assuming straight line
camber?
 Carriageway:
• It is the travel way which is used for movement of vehicle, it takes the vehicular loading .

• Width of the carriage way or the width of the pavement depends on the

i) Width of the traffic lane

ii) Number of lanes.

▪ Width of a traffic lane depends on the width of the vehicle and the clearance.

▪ Side clearance improves operating speed and safety

• As per IRC specification, the maximum width of vehicle is 2.44 m

• The desirable side clearance for single lane traffic is 0.68 m

vThe desirable carriage way width recommended by IRC is
 Medians/ Traffic separators
▪ Median is to prevent head-on collision between vehicles moving in opposite
directions on adjacent lanes
▪ A median is provided between to set of traffic lanes intended to divide the traffic
moving in opposite direction
Functions :
▪ To channelize traffic into streams at intersections
▪ To shadow the crossing and turning traffic
▪ To segregate slow traffic
▪ To protect pedestrians
▪ IRC recommends minimum desirable width of 5.0 m for medians in
rural highways
▪ It reduced to 3 m when the land is restricted
▪ Along the long bridges the width of median varies from 1.2 to 1.5 m
 Kerb
• It indicates the boundary between the pavement and shoulder or median or
footpath

• It is desirable to provide kerbs in urban areas.

Kerbs are divided into three types :

 Low kerb (or) mountable kerb

 Semi-barrier kerb
 Barrier type kerb
Low kerb (or) mountable kerb :

• It allow the driver to enter the shoulder area with little

difficulty.

• The height of the this type of shoulder kerb is about 10 cm above the
pavement edge with slope to help the vehicle climb the kerb easily.
Semi-barrier kerb :
• It is provided on the periphery of a roadway where the pedestrian traffic
is high.

• Height of about 15 cm above the pavement edge with a batter of 1:1

on the top 7.5 cm.

• It prevents parking the vehicle but during emergency it is possible to

drive over this kerb with some difficulty.
Barrier type kerb:
• It is provided in built-up areas adjacent to the foot paths with
considerable pedestrian traffic.

• The height of the kerb is about 20 cm above the pavement edge with
a steep batter of 1V : 0.25H.
 Road Margins

The various elements included in the road margins are

* Shoulders * Lay-byes
* Guard rails * Bus bays
* Footpath * Frontage roads
* Drive ways * Embankment slopes
* Cycle tracks
* Parking lanes
 Road Margins
Parking lane:

• These are provided on urban roads to allow kerb parking

• As far as possible only parallel parking should be allowed as it is safer for
moving vehicle.
• It should have sufficient width say 3m

Footpath:
• These are provided in urban areas when the vehicular as well as pedestrian
traffic are heavy.
• To protect the pedestrian and to reduce rate of accidents.
• Minimum width of 1.5m is provided.
 Shoulder:

▪ Shoulders are provided on both sides along the road edge to serve as an emergency
lane for vehicle.
▪ IRC recommended the minimum shoulder width is 2.5 m
▪ The shoulder width of 4.6 m so that a truck stationed at the side of the shoulder
would have a clearance of 1.85m from the pavement edge.
▪ It act as a service lane for vehicles that have broken down.
▪ It should have sufficient load bearing capacity even in wet weather.
▪ The surface of the should be rougher than the traffic lanes so that vehicles are
discouraged to use the shoulder as a regular traffic.
▪ The colour should be different from that of the pavement so as to be distinct.
 paved
unpaved shoulder
shoulder
 Guard rail

• Guard rails are provided at the edge of the shoulder when the road is constructed
on a embankment especially height exceeds 3 m.
• It is also provided on horizontal curve so as to provide a better night visibility of
the curves under the head light of the vehicle
Bus bays:
• These may be provided by recessing the kerb to avoid conflict with moving
traffic.
• It is located at least 75m away from the intersection.
Frontage road:
• These are provided to give access to properties along an important highway
with controlled access to express way or free way

• It may run parallel to the highway and are isolated by separator.

Driveway:
• It connect the highway with commercial establishment like fuel stations,
service stations etc…
• It should be located away from the intersection.

Cycle track:

• It provided in urban areas when the volume of cycle traffic on the road is very
high.
• A minimum width of 2m is provided for cycle track.
Parking lane:

• These are provided on urban roads to allow kerb parking

• As far as possible only parallel parking should be allowed as it is safer for

moving vehicle.
• It should have sufficient width say 3m

Lay-byes:
• These are provided near the public conveniences with guide map to enable
driver to stop clear off the carriageway.

• It has 3m width,30m length with 15m end tapers on both sides.

Width of the roadway (or )formation width:
▪ It is the sum of the width of the carriageway (or) pavement including separators
and the shoulders

Right of way:
• Right of way is the total width of land acquired for the road along its
alignment.
• It depends on the importance of the road and possible future development.
• It is desirable to acquire more width of land as the cost of adjoining land
invariably increases very much , soon after the new highway is constructed
▪ 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.
 Sight distance
Sight Distance

▪ The safe and efficient operation of vehicles on the road depends very much
on the visibility of the road ahead of the driver
▪ Sight distance is the length of road visible ahead to the driver at any
instance

▪ Sight distance available from a point is the actual distance along the
road surface, which a driver from a specified height above the
carriageway has visibility of stationary or moving objects of specified
height on the carriage way
Restrictions to sight distance :

▪ At horizontal curves

▪ At vertical curves

▪ At an uncontrolled intersections
 Types of Sight Distance

▪ Stopping (or )absolute minimum sight distance(SSD)

▪ Safe overtaking (or) passing sight distance (OSD)

▪ Safe sight distance for entering into uncontrolled intersection.

Considered by IRC in highway design :

▪ Intermediate sight distance (ISD)

▪ Head light sight distance

Stopping sight distance :
• The length of the road visible a head to stop a vehicle traveling at design speed,
safely without collision in case of any obstruction on the road a head.

Over taking sight distance:

▪ The distance open to the vision of the driver travelling at design speed should be
able to overtake the slower vehicles without causing obstruction to traffic of
opposite direction

Sight distance at intersection:

• Driver entering an uncontrolled intersection (particularly signalised Intersection)
has sufficient visibility to enable him to take control of his vehicle and to avoid
collision with another vehicle
 Stopping Sight Distance

• SSD is the minimum sight distance available on a highway at any spot having sufficient
length to enable the driver to stop a vehicle traveling at design speed, safely without collision
with any other obstruction.

Sight distance depends on:

• Feature of road ahead

• Height of driver’s eye above the road surface(1.2m)

• Height of the object above the road surface(0.15m)

Factors affecting the SSD :

▪ Total reaction time of driver

▪ Speed of vehicle

▪ Efficiency of brakes

▪ Frictional resistance between road and tyre

▪ Gradient of road
Total reaction time of driver:

▪ It is the time taken from the instant the object is visible to the driver to
the instant the brake is effectively applied, it divide into types

 Perception time

 Brake reaction time

Perception time:
▪ It is the time from the instant the object comes on the line of sight of
the driver to the instant he realizes that the vehicle needs to be
stopped.
Brake reaction time:
▪ The brake reaction also depends on several factor including the skill
of the driver, the type of the problems and various other environment
factor.

Total reaction time of driver can be calculated by “PIEV” theory

 “PIEV” Theory

▪ Total reaction time of driver is split into four parts:

 P- perception
 I- intellection
 E- Emotion
 V- Volition
Perception :
▪ It is the time required for the sensation received by the eyes or ears to be
transmitted to the brain through the nervous system and spinal chord.
Intellection:
▪ It is the time required for understanding the situation.
Emotion:
▪ It is the time elapsed during emotional sensation and disturbance such as fear, anger
or any other emotional feeling such as superstition etc, with reference to the
situation.
Volition:
▪ It is the time taken for the final action
Total reaction time of driver may be vary from 0.5 sec to 4 sec
 Analysis of SSD

▪ The stopping sight distance is the sum of lag distance and the braking
distance.
SSD = lag distance + braking distance
▪ Minimum SSD depends on
1. no of lanes
2. Direction of traffic (2-way or 1-way)

▪ Two-way traffic with single lane road:

Minimum SSD = 2*SSD
▪ In one-way traffic with single or more lane or two- way traffic with
more than single lane:
Minimum SSD = SSD
▪ The SSD should invariably be provided throughout the length of all
road and hence these is called as Absolute minimum sight distance
▪ SSD value recommended by IRC for different speeds
vOVERTAKING SIGHT DISTANCE
 OVERTAKING SIGHT DISTANCE

▪ The minimum distance open to the vision of the driver of a vehicle intending to
overtake slow vehicle ahead with safely against the traffic of opposite direction
is known as the minimum overtaking sight distance (OSD) or the safe passing
sight distance

▪ As per IRC the overtaking sight distance or OSD is the distance measured
along the centre of the road which a driver with his eye level 1.2 m above the
road surface can see the top of an object 1.2 m above the road surface.
 Factors in which the OSD depends

▪ Speeds of
* overtaking vehicle
* overtaken vehicle
* the vehicle coming from opposite direction, if any.
▪ Distance between the overtaking and overtaken vehicles.
▪ Skill and reaction time of the driver
▪ Rate of acceleration of overtaking vehicle
▪ Gradient of the road. If any
 Analysis of overtaking sight distance

• Let us consider two lane road with 2-way traffic

• A is the overtaking vehicle, B is the overtaken or slow moving vehicle and C is
the vehicle coming from opposite direction
• d1 is the distance travelled by overtaking vehicle “A” during the reaction time t
sec of the driver from position A1 to A2.
• d2 is the distance travelled by the vehicle A from A2 to A3 during the actual
overtaking operation, in time T sec.
• d3 is the distance travelled by on-coming vehicle C from C1 to C2 during the over
taking operation of A, i.e. T sec.
▪ The minimum overtaking sight distance

OSD = d1+ d2 + d3 (for 2-way traffic.)

▪ On Divided highways and on roads with one way traffic regulation, as no vehicle
is expected from the opposite direction

OSD = d1+ d2

▪ If the speed of the overtaken vehicle is not given then assume

Vb = (V-16) kmph, (or) Vb = (V- 4.5) m/sec

where V = speed of overtaking vehicle

 Effect of grade in overtaking sight distance

▪ In downward gradient it is easier for overtaking vehicles to accelerate and

pass, and overtaken vehicle also cover greater distance ‘b’
▪ In upward gradient the acceleration of overtaking vehicles will be less and
overtaken vehicle also decelerate cover lesser distance
▪ In mild gradients OSD (plain & rolling terrain) for both gradients taken as
same as in level stretch
▪ At steeper grades OSD should be grater than minimum OSD required at
level stretch
 Overtaking Zones

▪ It is desirable to construct highways in such a way that the length of

road visible ahead at every point is sufficient for safe overtaking

▪ If the overtaking is not possible, then overtaking opportunity for

vehicles moving at design speed should be given at frequent intervals.
These zones which are meant for overtaking are called as overtaking
zones
▪ The minimum length of overtaking zone should be three time the safe
overtaking distance i.e.,
= 3 (d1+d2) for one- way roads and
= 3(d1+d2+d3) for two-way roads.
▪ Desirable length of overtaking zones is kept five times the overtaking
sight distance.
i.e, 5(d1+d2) for one-way roads and 5(d1+d2+d3) for two-way roads.