Engr.

CM Del Rosario
 Highway geometric design refers to the calculations and analyses
made by transportation engineers (or designers) to fit the highway to
the topography of the site while meeting the safety, service and perfor-
mance standards.
It mainly concerns with the elements of the highways that are
visible to the drivers and users. However, the engineer must also take
into consideration the social and environmental impacts of the high-
way geometry on the surrounding facilities. Also has the ff. objectives:
1. Determine, within the allowance permitted by the design standard
and right-of-way, the routing of proposed highway.
 2. Incorporate, within the design standard, various physical
features of the road alignment to ensure that drivers have
sufficient view of the road (and obstacles) ahead for them to
adjust their speed of travel to maintain safety and ride quality.
3. Provide a basis for the highway engineers to evaluate and plan
for the construction of a section of the proposed highway.

has published a series of standards and

guidelines for highway geometric design. (AASHTO, 2001)
 To meet the objective of fitting the highway to site topography
and yet have to be properly addressed in the design process.
 strips of land that are cleared &
improved for the movement of people & goods.
a divided arterial highway for through traffic
with full or partial control or access w/ grade separation at
major intersections.
an expressway with full control of access
a condition where the rights of owners
of adjoining land access to light, air or view in connection w/ a
highway is fully or partially controlled by public authority
 the authority to control access is
exercised to give preference to through traffic by providing access
connections to selected public roads only. Crossing at grade or
direct private driveway connections is not permitted.
there maybe some crossings
at grade and some private driveway connections allowed.
every highway
on which vehicular traffic is given ROW and the entrance to which
vehicular traffic from intersecting highways is required by law to yield
ROW to vehicles on such through highway in obedience to stop sign or
yield sign.
an arterial highway for non-commercial traffic, with
full or partial control of access, and usually located w/in a park or
a ribbon of park like development.
arterial route that carry traffic to the
nearest access points or trough traffic. It often serve as the most
advantageous routes for relatively long distance route. Most
arterials are existing highways or streets of considerable length
along which cross traffic is regulated by signals or stop signs.
Arterials also provide access to adjacent property, but often w/
restriction on entry and exit.
 A highway designer is concerned with at least four major areas of
design at different stages of project planning and design phases:

The plan view gives the horizontal alignment of a highway. The

length of the highway is measured along the plan view, on a horizontal
plane. The length is expressed in terms of distance from a reference
station, in terms of stations. Each station is 100 m.
 A horizontal curve provides the directional
transition on the horizontal plane, between
Two straight sections of the highway running
in different directions. Horizontal curves are
expressed as circular curves with constant
radii, or successive curves with different radii.
Figure shows the properties of a curve with
a constant radius (R), connecting two straight
sections of a highway. The curve starts at point
of curvature (PC), ends at point of tangent (PT).
The point of intersection (PI) is the intersecting
point if the two straight lines are extended.
 A horizontal curve is to be designed to
connect two straight sections of a highway.
The PI is originally determined to be station
180+00, & is 30. If the radius of the curve
is fixed at 403.15 m, what are the station
numbers of PC and PT, and the length of the curve?
 A horizontal curve is to be designed to connect two
straight sections of a highway. The PI is originally de-
termined to be station 180+00, & is 30. If the radius
of the curve is fixed at 403.15 m, what are the station
numbers of PC and PT, and the length of the curve?
A vertical curve provides a
smooth transition
between two tangent
grades. There are two
types of vertical
curves: crest vertical
curves and sag vertical
curves, and with the initial
grade G1; final grade G2;
and their signs.
 A vertical curve starts at the point of vertical curvature (PVC) and ends at the
point of vertical tangent (PVT). The length of highway between PVC and PVT is L:
The initial and final grades are denoted by G1 and G2; respectively, expressed in
%. Based on the equation of a parabolic curve, the vertical offset y at any
distance x from the projected initial gradient is:

Negative values of y mean a downward offset from the projected tangent from
PVC (as in the case of crest vertical curves) while positive values of y mean a
upward offset from the projected tangent from PVC (in sag vertical curves).
The highest or lowest
point on the curve is given by:

A highway must traverse a 6% followed by a 2 2% grade. The length of the crest

vertical curve is 2040 m. Calculate the elevation for the first 600 m of the vertical
curve at 100 m intervals, and the highest point of the curve.
 Key controls in highway geometric design are the physical and dynamical
characteristics of vehicles using the highway. Considering the many types of
vehicles in the traffic stream, it is necessary to establish several classes of
vehicles, and select a representative vehicle within each class for design use.
There are generally four classes of design vehicles: (1) passenger cars, (2)
buses, (3) trucks, and (4) recreational vehicles. Turning radius limits the design of
horizontal curves. Important vehicle characteristics that affect the minimum
turning radius are: minimum center line turning radius, wheelbase, track width,
and out-of track width. AASHTO has provided the templates for turning paths of
17 design vehicles traveling at 15 km/h.
 Geometric design of a highway should consider users, especially drivers
performance limits. There are limits to a drivers vision, perception, reaction,
concentration, and comfort that could impact the highway safety and operating
efficiency. The information received by a driver needs time to be processed
before a response action takes place.
Johannson and Rumar (1971) reported that when an event is expected, the
drivers reaction time has an average value of 0.6 sec. For an unexpected event,
the average reaction time is 0.8 sec.
The average brake-reaction time of a driver (including decision time), is 2.5
sec. This is dependent on the drivers alertness. Brake-reaction time is important
in determining sight distance in highway geometric design.
 The design speed is the speed selected to be used in the design calculations,
in determining the geometric dimensions of the highway. The selected design
speed should be consistent with the functional classification of the highway, its
surrounding land use, topography and drivers anticipated operating speed.
A design speed of 110 km/h should be used for freeways, expressways, and
other rural highways. Urban arterials should have design speeds of between 30
to 70 km/h.
The lower range of design speed should be used for residential streets,
collectors, and downtown crowded areas, while speeds in higher range are
applied to suburban arterials.
The actual operating speed of an arterial depends on the spacing of the
intersections and types of traffic control. The selected design speed should be in
increment of 10 km/h.