Tutorial: Applying Superelevation to an Alignment

In this tutorial, you will calculate superelevation for alignment curves, create
a superelevation view to display the superelevation data, and edit the
superelevation data both graphically and in a tabular format.
The superelevation feature enables you to apply your local roadway design
standards to automatically calculate roadway cross slopes around curves.

BEST PRACTICE Superelevation should be calculated before the corridor model

is built along the alignment.

For more information, see Understanding Superelevation.

Exercise 1: Calculating Superelevation for an Alignment

In this exercise, you will calculate superelevation for all the curves in an
alignment.
For more information, see Calculating Superelevation Data Using the Wizard.

To calculate superelevation for a curve

1 Open Align-Superelevation-1.dwg, which is located in the tutorial drawings

folder (page 819).

2 Select the alignment.

3 Click Alignment tab ➤ Modify panel ➤ Superelevation

drop-down ➤ Calculate/Edit Superelevation .

A dialog box indicates that the alignment does not contain superelevation
data.

4 Click Calculate Superelevation Now.

In the Create Superelevation dialog box, the Roadway Type page contains
options for how to apply superelevation to various types of roadways.
Conceptual graphics illustrate the point about which each lane will pivot.

5 Select Undivided Crowned, Pivot Center.

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 6 Click Next.
The Lanes page contains specifications for the number, width, and slope
of each lane.

7 Specify the following parameters:

■ Symmetric Roadway: Selected
This specifies that the same parameters are used for both sides.

■ Number of Lanes Right: 1

■ Normal Lane Width: 6.000m

■ Normal Lane Slope: -2.00%

8 Click Next.
The Shoulder Control page contains specifications for how the roadway
shoulders behave when the lanes are superelevated.

9 Specify the following parameters:

■ Calculate: Selected

■ Shoulder Slope Treatment: Breakover Removal

■ Normal Shoulder Width: 5.000m

■ Normal Shoulder Slope: -5.000%

NOTE The Inside Median Shoulder options are disabled because you selected
an undivided roadway type on the Roadway Type page.

10 Click Next.
The Attainment page enables you to specify the superelevation standards
to apply. You apply standards by selecting them from a series of lists. The
content of the lists reflects the content of the currently selected design
criteria file, which you can customize to suit your local standards. For
more information, see the Modifying a Design Criteria File (page 259)
tutorial exercise.

Exercise 1: Calculating Superelevation for an Alignment | 263

 11 Specify the following parameters:
■ Design Criteria File: _Autodesk Civil 3D Metric Roadway Design
Standards.xml, which is located in the Data folder (page 819) in Corridor
Design Standards/Metric
This is the same design criteria file that the criteria-based design feature
uses to validate the alignment and profile geometry.

■ Superelevation Rate Table: AASHTO 2001 eMax 6%

■ Transition Length Table: 2 Lane

■ Attainment Method: AASHTO 2001 Crowned Roadway

■ % Transition Into Tangent: 70.00%

■ % Transition Into Spiral: 100.00%

■ Curve Smoothing: Cleared

■ Automatically Resolve Overlap: Cleared

12 Click Finish.
The superelevation values are calculated for each curve, and the
Superelevation Tabular Editor vista is displayed. In the drawing, the
station value and cross slope at each critical superelevation station is
indicated by symbols and green labels. The symbols and labels were
specified as part of the alignment label set. They were not displayed before
because there was no superelevation data on the alignment.
You will learn how to edit superelevation data in the Superelevation
Tabular Editor in Exercise 4: Adding and Modifying Superelevation
Stations (page 269).

13 Click to close the Superelevation Tabular Editor.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 2: Calculating Superelevation for an

Individual Curve (page 264).

Exercise 2: Calculating Superelevation for an Individual

Curve
In this exercise, you will calculate superelevation for a single curve in an
alignment that already has superelevation data calculated for other curves.

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In the drawing that is used with this exercise, the alignment has a fourth
curve, for which superelevation has been calculated. You will make a change
to the alignment that will cause the superelevation data of the fourth curve
to be out of date, and then you will recalculate the superelevation data for
that curve.
For more information, see Calculating Superelevation Data Using the Wizard.
This exercise continues from Exercise 1: Calculating Superelevation for an
Alignment (page 262).

Change the design speed

1 Open Align-Superelevation-2.dwg, which is located in the tutorial drawings

folder (page 819).

2 Select the alignment.

3 Click Alignment tab ➤ Modify panel ➤ Superelevation

drop-down ➤ Calculate/Edit Superelevation .

The Create Superelevation wizard was not displayed because
superelevation has already been calculated for the first three curves of
this alignment. The Superelevation Curve Manager window is displayed.
This window enables you to view and edit superelevation parameters on
a curve-by-curve basis. By default, the window displays superelevation
parameters for the first curve in the alignment.

4 Under Superelevation Curve, click Next twice.

Notice that the window displays the parameters for the third curve, which
is highlighted in the drawing.

5 Under Superelevation Curve Details, in the Design Speed row, click

.
In the Alignment Properties - Design Speed dialog box, you can change
the design speed of the entire alignment, or add a new design speed at a
specified station. In this exercise, you will increase the design speed for
the end portion of the alignment and leave the existing design speed at
the beginning of the alignment.

6 In the Alignment Properties - Design Speed dialog box, click .

A second row is displayed in the Design Speeds table.

Exercise 2: Calculating Superelevation for an Individual Curve | 265

 7 In the second row, enter the following parameters:
■ Start Station: 0+820.00

■ Design Speed: 70 km/h

8 Click OK.
In the Superelevation Curve Manager dialog box, the Design Speed value
did not change because the station at which you changed the design
speed is located after Curve.3.

9 Click Next.
Under Superelevation Curve Details, for Curve.4, the Design Speed value
is 70 km/h, which is what you specified in the preceding steps.
At the bottom of the dialog box, the Superelevation status is displayed
as *Out of Date*. Applying the new design speed to this curve caused the
superelevation data to become out of date. In the following steps, you
will recalculate the superelevation data for this curve to accommodate
the new design speed.

Calculate superelevation for an individual curve

1 Click Superelevation Wizard.

The Calculate Superelevation dialog box enables you to select which
curves to recalculate.

2 Select This Curve Only. Click OK.

The Calculate Superelevation wizard enables you to specify the parameters
used for the calculation. The parameters you specify in the wizard apply
to only the curves you selected in the Calculate Superelevation dialog
box in Step 1. For example, if you specify a different attainment method
or criteria file, then those parameters will not match the rest of the curves
in the alignment. In this exercise, you will accept most of the default
settings.

3 In the Calculate Superelevation wizard, click Attainment.

4 On the Attainment page, for Superelevation Rate Table, select AASHTO

2001 eMax 6%.

5 Under Curve Smoothing, specify the following parameters:

■ Apply Curve Smoothing: Selected

■ Curve Length: 30

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 6 Click Finish.
On the Superelevation Tabular Editor window, examine the superelevation
values for Curve.4.

7 On the Superelevation Curve Manager, scroll down to the Superelevation

Criteria category. Expand the category.

8 Right-click the Normal Shoulder Width row.

The Apply To Entire Alignment option enables you to update the design
criteria at a curve, and then quickly apply the change to all curves in the
alignment.

9 Right-click the Superelevation Criteria row.

When this option is applied at this level, the design criteria of the current
curve overwrites all manual design criteria changes that have been made
to the alignment.

10 Press Esc.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 3: Creating a Superelevation View

(page 267).

Exercise 3: Creating a Superelevation View

In this exercise, you will display superelevation data in a graph, which you
can use to graphically edit superelevation data.
For more information, see Using Superelevation Views.
This exercise continues from Exercise 2: Calculating Superelevation for an
Individual Curve (page 264).

Create a superelevation view

1 Open Align-Superelevation-3.dwg, which is located in the tutorial drawings

folder (page 819).

2 Select the alignment.

3 Click Alignment tab ➤ Modify panel ➤ Superelevation

drop-down ➤ Superelevation View .

The Create Superelevation View dialog box enables you to specify the
superelevation view properties, including the name and style of the view.

Exercise 3: Creating a Superelevation View | 267

 4 In the Create Superelevation View dialog box, under Superelevation View

Style, click Edit Current Selection.

5 In the Superelevation View Style dialog box, on the Display tab, change
the Graph Reference Line Component Type Color to White.
In a superelevation view, the reference line is a horizontal line that
indicates the zero lane slope. In the superelevation view properties, you
can specify the colors of the lines that represent the slopes of the lanes
and shoulders.
The other superelevation view style properties, such as those that affect
the grid and labels, are similar to the properties found in profile view and
section view styles.

6 Click OK.

7 In the Create Superelevation View dialog box, under Specify

Superelevation Display Options, in the Right Outside Lane row,
double-click the Color cell.

8 In the Select Color dialog box, under Color, enter red. Click OK.

9 Repeat Steps 7 and 8 to change the other lane colors:

■ Left Outside Shoulder: 150

■ Right Outside Shoulder: 11

10 Click OK.

11 In the drawing, pan to an empty area above the surface. Click to place
the superelevation view.

Examine the superelevation view

1 Zoom in to examine the superelevation view.

The white line represents a baseline of 0% slope. The red and blue lines
represent the slopes of the outside lanes and outside shoulders.

2 Pan and zoom to the area of the superelevation view that has Curve.2
labels on the horizontal axes.
As the alignment transitions in to the curve, the red and blue lines
illustrate the following transitions:
■ At station 0+286.28, the left shoulder (light red) starts to transition
from the normal -5% slope.

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 ■ At station 0+304.54, the left lane (dark red) starts to transition from
the normal -2% slope.

NOTE For the remainder of the curve, the dark red line is not visible
because it is obstructed by the light red line.

■ At station 0+316.71, the left lane and shoulder are at 0% slope.

■ At station 0+328.88, the right lane (dark blue) starts to transition from
the normal -2% slope.

■ At station 0+344.71, all elements are fully superelevated: the left lane
and shoulder are at 5%, the right lane is at -4.60%, and the right
shoulder is at -5%.

Starting at station 0+512.66, the lanes begin to transition out of the fully
superelevated state.

3 Pan to the area of the superelevation view that has Curve.4 labels on the
horizontal axes.
Notice that there is a curve where each line transitions in or out of a
superelevated state. Curves are present on this superelevation curve, but
not the others, because you selected the curve smoothing option during
Exercise 2: Calculating Superelevation for an Individual Curve (page 264).
Later in this exercise, you will learn how to apply curve smoothing to an
existing superelevation curve.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 4: Adding and Modifying

Superelevation Stations (page 269).

Exercise 4: Adding and Modifying Superelevation

Stations
In this exercise, you will resolve overlap between two superelevated curves by
adding and removing critical stations, and then editing existing superelevation
data.
For more information, see Editing Superelevation Data in the Tabular Editor.
This exercise continues from Exercise 3: Creating a Superelevation View (page
267).

Exercise 4: Adding and Modifying Superelevation Stations | 269

 Examine the superelevation parameters

1 Open Align-Superelevation-4.dwg, which is located in the tutorial drawings

folder (page 819).

2 In the top viewport, zoom in to the middle of the superelevation view.

Near station 0+558.66, the indicates that the two curves overlap.
At the bottom of the superelevation view, the light blue and red lines,
which represent the left and right shoulders, cross over each other.

3 In the superelevation view, select one of the lines.

4 Right-click. Click Open Tabular Editor.

5 In the Superelevation Tabular Editor, scroll down to Curve.3.

In the Overlap column, two rows display . This icon indicates that
the superelevation stations of two or more critical stations overlap. In
this case, station value for the last critical station of Curve.2 is greater
than the station value for the first critical station of Curve.3.

6 Under Curve.3, under Transition In Region, select the End Normal

Shoulder row.
The curve is highlighted in the bottom viewport, and the critical station
is marked with a blue tick.

7 In the Overlap column, click .

The Superelevation - Overlap Detected dialog box presents two options:
■ Automatically Resolve Overlap —This option removes the overlapping
critical stations of the affected curves.

■ Ignore Overlap—This option enables you to return to the

Superelevation Tabular Editor to manually modify the data. The

icons are not cleared.

8 In the Superelevation - Overlap Detected dialog box, click Ignore Overlap.

Edit superelevation stations

1 In the Superelevation Tabular Editor, under Curve.2 ➤ Transition Out

Region, select the Begin Normal Shoulder row.

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 2 Change the Start Station value to 0+560.00.

Remove a superelevation critical station

1 In the Superelevation Tabular Editor, under Curve.3 ➤ Transition In

Region, select the End Normal Shoulder row.

2 Click .
The End Normal Shoulder superelevation critical station is removed.

Add a superelevation critical station

1 In the Superelevation Tabular Editor, select the Curve.3 row.

2 Click .
The Superelevation Tabular Editor is hidden, and you are prompted to
specify a station along the alignment.

3 On the command line, enter 568. Press Enter.

A new manual station, which starts at station 0+568.00, is displayed in
the Superelevation Tabular Editor.

4 Right-click the Manual Station. Click Assign Critical Station ➤ End Normal
Shoulder.

5 In the End Normal Shoulder row, enter the following values:

NOTE The remaining columns are interpreted from these values.

■ Left Outside Shoulder: -5.00%

■ Left Inside Lane: -2.00%

■ Right Inside Lane: -2.00%

■ Right Outside Shoulder: -5.00%

NOTE To import existing superelevation data from a CSV file, click .

Notice that the icons are no longer displayed in the Overlap column.

6 Click to close the Superelevation Tabular Editor.

Exercise 4: Adding and Modifying Superelevation Stations | 271

 To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 5: Editing Superelevation Parameters
Graphically (page 272).

Exercise 5: Editing Superelevation Parameters

Graphically
In this exercise, you will use grips in a superelevation view to modify the
superelevation cross slopes and critical station values.
For more information, see Creating and Editing Superelevation Views.
This exercise continues from Exercise 4: Adding and Modifying Superelevation
Stations (page 269).

Examine the grips

1 Open Align-Superelevation-5.dwg, which is located in the tutorial drawings

folder (page 819).

2 In the Curve.4 portion of the superelevation view, click any of the red
or blue lines.
A series of grips appears at each of the superelevation critical stations
along each line, as well as on the superelevation view. You will learn the
purpose of the grips later in this exercise.

3 Press Esc.

Move a critical station graphically

1 Near station 0+900.00, Ctrl+click the green Shoulder text.

Only the grips of the selected superelevation region are displayed.

2 Hover the cursor over the grip at station 0+909.34.

The cursor snaps to the grip, and a menu of options is displayed. You
can use this grip to either change the station value, or add or remove a
critical station.

3 Select Move End Normal Shoulder.

4 Enter 900.
The transition in region is updated.

NOTE The new station value is also shown in the Superelevation Tabular
Editor and Superelevation Curve Manager.

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 5 Press Esc.

Remove or apply curve smoothing

1 Pan to the transition out region of Curve.4.

2 Near station 1+147.69, Ctrl+click the light red curve.

3 Hover the cursor over the grip at station 1+147.69.

The cursor snaps to the grip, and a menu of options is displayed. You
can use this grip to change the cross slope at this critical station, remove
the grade break, or remove curve smoothing.

4 Select Remove Curve Smoothing.

The curve is removed from the grade break.

NOTE You may use the same process to add curve smoothing to a grade
break.

5 Press Esc.

Change the cross slope at a superelevation critical station

1 At station 1+147.69, hover the cursor over the grade grip.

When a grade grip is cyan, a grade break exists at the current location.
Like other cyan grips in a superelevation view, a menu of options is
displayed.

2 At station 1+115.55, hover the cursor over the grip.

When a grade grip is gray, the current location has a consistent grade.
Because no grade break is present, the only option is to change the cross
slope.

3 Click the grip to make it active.

4 Enter 1.5.
Notice that the grip color is now cyan. This happened because you created
a grade break at the current location.

Exercise 5: Editing Superelevation Parameters Graphically | 273

 Change the cross slope between superelevation curves

1 Pan to the left until you see the grip near station 1+000.00.

2 Hover the cursor over the grip.

The cursor snaps to the grip, and a menu of options is displayed. You
can use this grip to change the cross slope of either one or both of the
shoulders or lanes between the previous and next superelevation critical
stations. This grip is available in sections where lanes or shoulders are
fully superelevated, as well as on tangents that are between curves.

3 Select Move Both Left and Right.

4 Enter 4.
The cross slopes of both the left and right shoulders are updated.

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