Geometric

Design of
Highways
Zeleke D.
[email protected]
Mar ,2019 1
16-Apr-19 2
 Introduction
• Highway geometric design involves:

– the design(dimensioning) of geometric elements of a

highway and

– fixation of standards with respect to various

components.

• It is stated within economic limitations to satisfy the

requirements of traffic in designing elements such as
Cross-section, Horizontal alignment, Vertical alignment,
Sight distances, Intersection, etc.

• The safety, efficiency, and economic operation of a

highway is governed to a large extent by the care with
which the geometric design is worked out.

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 Cont’d
• The engineer has to consider the following points when
selecting design standards
– Volume and composition of traffic in the design year should be the
basis of design

– Faulty geometries are costly to correct at a later date

– The design should be consistent and the standards used for the
different elements should be compatible with one another

– The design should hold all aspects of design including signs,

markings, lighting, etc.

– The road should be considered as an element of the total

environment and its location and design should enhance rather
than degrade the environment

– The design should minimize the total transportation cost

– Safety should be built in the design

– The design should be enable all road users to use the facility
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 Design controls and criteria
• The elements of design are influenced by a wide variety of
– design controls (restraints affecting the applications of
guidelines or criteria),

– engineering criteria (standards which influence design), and

– project specific objectives.

• design considerations include:

•Functional classification of the road • Economic & Environmental
•Design traffic volume and Considerations
composition • Road users characteristics
•Nature of terrain • Vehicle size and performance
•Design speed • Level service to be provided
•Density and character of adjoining • Available fund
land use • Safety, etc.

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 i. Road Functional Classification (or Road Hierarchy)

Roads generally serve a multitude of purposes:

• As through route - for long distance traffic

• As local route – for local traffic

• In urban and rural areas –urban roads/rural roads

• For fast and slow vehicles – 2 wheels to 10+ wheels

• As servicing/access roads

• For use by pedestrians

• For parking areas

• For Street Vendors (trade), etc

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 Cont’d
Such a mix of uses Reduces Safety,
Efficiency, and Capacity

Hence a hierarchical road system is

necessary

Roads are therefore classified according

to their respective functions in terms of
the character of the services they are
providing.
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 Cont’d
Objectives in setting a hierarchy
• To obtain best use of an existing network
• To ensure that each type of traffic is using the
most appropriate route
• To minimize the risk to users and to the natural
built environment
• To ensure better management, maintenance and
design policies
• To ensure funding for routes is targeted
appropriately
• To offer network users a choice for how to travel

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 Cont’d
Road Hierarchy (most frequently used) /AASHTO
the highway network plays in providing:
•access to property: direct access to adjacent property
•travel mobility: continuous travel Characteristics
Fast moving, long distance,
Lower capacity, speed,

mobility through traffic movement,

design standard, …

No frontage development
Primary Distributor and pedestrians

District Distributor
Slow moving vehicles,
Local Distributor Delivery vehicles, Frontage
Land Access
development, Walking, No
Access Roads through vehicle movement …

Movement is: up mobility &

:down Access.

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 Cont’d
Road Hierarchy (Ethiopian)

Roads linking centers of international importance and

Trunk roads roads terminating at international boundaries and have a
present AADT 1000 and as low as 100.

Roads linking centers of national or international

Link roads importance and have over 400 - 1000 first year AADT,
although values can range between 50-10,000 AADT.

Roads linking centers of provincial importance and

Access roads their first year AADTs between 30-1,000 .

Roads linking locally important centers to each other, to

Collector roads a more important center, or to higher class roads and
their first year AADTs between 25-400 .

Any road link to a minor center such as market and local

Feeder roads locations with first year AADT between 0-100.

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 Cont’d

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 ii. Nature of Terrain
• The location and geometric design elements such as

– gradients, sight distance, cross-sections, radius of

curvature, speeds, etc. of a highway are affected by
– topography, physical features, and land use.

• Transverse terrain properties are categorized

into four classes as follows:

FLAT: Flat or gently rolling country,

which offers few obstacles to the

construction of a road, having

continuously unrestricted horizontal

and vertical alignment (transverse

terrain slope up to 3 percent).

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 Cont’d
• ROLLING: Rolling, hilly or foothill country where the
slopes generally rise and fall moderately and where
occasional steep slopes are encountered, resulting in
some restrictions in alignment (transverse terrain slope
from 3% to 25%).

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 Cont’d
• MOUNTAINOUS: Rugged, hilly and mountainous country
and river gorges. This class of terrain imposes definite
restrictions on the standard of alignment obtainable and
often involves long steep grades and limited sight
distance (transverse terrain slope from 25 % to 50 %).

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 Cont’d
• ESCARPMENT: Escarpment include situations where
switchback roadway sections are used or side hill
transverse sections which cause considerable earthwork
quantities, with transverse terrain slope in excess of 50 %.

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 iii. Design Vehicle
• Key controls in geometric highway design are the
physical characteristics and the proportions of vehicles
of various sizes using the highway and turning
capabilities of vehicles.

– Controls in geometric design:

– Max. gradient

– Lane width

– Horizontal curve Radius

– Horizontal curve widening

– Junction design

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 Cont’d
• According to AASHTO there are 4 classes
 Passenger cars
 Buses
 Trucks
 Recreational vehicles
• ERA’s four design vehicles:
 Utility vehicle DV1
 Single unit truck DV2
 Single unit bus DV3
 Semi-trailer combination DV4
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 Cont’d

figure. Minimum Turning Path for Passenger Car (P) Design Vehicle
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 Cont’d

figure. Minimum Turning Path for Single-Unit (SU) Truck Design Vehicle
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 Cont’d

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 iv. Driver Characteristics
• Geometric design of a highway should consider users,
especially drivers’ performance limits.

• There are limits to a driver’s vision, perception,

concentration, reaction, comfort that could impact the
highway safety and operating efficiency.

Example:

• the average brake-reaction time of a driver (including

decision time), is 2.5sec which important in
determining sight distance in highway geometric
design.

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 v. Design Volume
• Traffic volume is number of vehicles that pass a point along a
roadway during a specified time period.
• Traffic data indicates the service for which the road is being
planned and directly affects the geometric elements such as,
alignment, number of lanes, widths, alignments, and
gradients etc.
• Traffic volume – AADT, ADT, PHV
– Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT): during a period of 24
consecutive hours averaged over a period of 365 days.
– Average Daily Traffic (ADT): is the average of 24-hr counts
collected over a number of days greater than one but less than a
year.
– PHV: is the maximum number of vehicles that pass a point on a
highway during a period of 60 consecutive minutes.
 one truck is often equivalent to several passenger cars.

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 Cont’d
Directional distribution :– the percentage of traffic volume
flowing in each direction.

Traffic composition :

– the percentage of different types of vehicles in the

traffic stream.

– different types of vehicles are converted into

passenger car unit to design a road width.

Traffic projection :– using the design period of a road (5-20

years)a reliable traffic projection should be made
considering the following elements.

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 Cont’d
• Current traffic – currently using the existing road

• Normal traffic growth – anticipated growth due to

population growth or change in land use

• Generated traffic: additional traffic which occurs in

response to the provision or improvement of the
road.

• Diverted traffic: traffic that changes from another

routes ( or mode of transport) to the project road
because of the improved pavement, but still travels
between the same origin and destination.

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 vi. Design Speed
 determine the various geometric design
features of the roadway.

 Depends on:
• Functional classification

• Land use of adjacent area

• Topography

• Expected operating speed

 directly related:

• Curvature(radius), super elevation, and sight

distance
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 Cont’d

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 Elements of Road Cross-section

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 Elements of Road Cross-section
• A cross-section will normally consist of the carriageway,
shoulders, curbs, drainage features, and earthwork
profiles.

1. Carriageway- the part of the road constructed for use by

moving traffic, including traffic lanes, auxiliary lanes such
as acceleration and deceleration lanes, climbing lanes,
and passing lanes, and bus bays and lay-bys.

2. Roadway- consists of the carriageway and the shoulders,

and parking lanes.

3. Earthwork profiles- includes side slopes and back slopes.

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 Cont’d
• For urban cross-sections, cross-section elements
may also include facilities for
– pedestrians, cyclists, or other specialist user groups.

• These include curbs, footpaths, and islands.

• It may also provide for parking lanes.

• For dual carriageways, the cross-section will also

include medians.

• Lane and shoulder widths should be adjusted to

traffic requirements and characteristics of the
terrain.

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 Cont’d
• Width of travel lanes
– Usually vary from 3 to 3.65 m, but occasionally 2.7 m
lane width is used in urban areas where the traffic
volume is low and there is extreme right-of-way
constraints.

– On two way two lane rural roads, accident rate for

large trucks increases as the traveled way decreases
from 6.5 m.

– The capacity decrease significantly as the lane width

decrease from 3.0 m.

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 Cont’d
• Shoulders : is the portion of the roadway adjacent to the carriageway
for

– the accommodation of stopped vehicles;

– traditional and intermediate non-motorised traffic, animals, and

pedestrians;

– emergency use;

– the recovery of errant vehicles; and

– lateral support of the pavement layers.

• Shoulder width
• is in the range of 1.8 to 2.4 m
• for highways serving large number of trucks and on highways
with high traffic volumes and high speeds, shoulder width of 3.0
to 3.5 m is preferable.
• Minimum shoulder width 0.6 m on the lowest type of roads
– Shoulders should be flush with the edge of the traveled lane and be
sloped to facilitate drainage (2-4 % if paved, 4-6 % if not paved)
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 Cont’d
• Median: section of divided road that separates
lanes in the opposite directions.

• Functions:
– Provide recovery area during emergency

– Provide stopping area for left and U-turning vehicles

– Provide refuge for pedestrians

– Reduce headlight glare

• Median can be either raised, flush or depressed

• Median width vary between 0.6 up to 24 m or

more depending on the availability of right-of-
way
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 Cont’d
• Median barrier: a longitudinal structure used to prevent an
errant vehicle from crossing the portion of a divided highway
separating the traveled way for traffic in the opposite directions.
• Roadside barrier: protect vehicles from causing hazards onto
roadside and shield pedestrians
• Curbs: raised structures used mainly on urban roads to delineate
pavement edge and pedestrian walkways. Curbs are also used:
– To control drainage
– Improve aesthetic
– Reduce right-of-way
• Curbs Are classified as
– Barrier curbs – relatively high designed for preventing
vehicles from leaving the toad
– Mountable curbs – are designed so that vehicles can cross
them.

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 Cont’d
• Gutters: drainage ditches located on the pavement side
of a curb to provide the principal drainage facility for the
highway

• Guard rails: longitudinal barriers on the outside of sharp

curves at sections with high fills (greater than 2.5 m)

• Side walks: provided on urban or rural roads

– When pedestrian traffic is high along main or high

speed roads

– When shoulders are not provided on arterials even

when pedestrian traffic is low

– In urban areas, sidewalks are provided along both

sides of streets to serve pedestrians access to
schools, parks, shopping centers, and transit stops.
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 Cont’d
• Cross-slopes: to enhance the flow of surface water

• High type pavement: 1.5 –2 %

• Intermediate type of pavement: 1.5- 3%

• Right-of-way: the total land area required for the

construction of the roadway.
– To accommodate all the elements of the road cross-section

– Planned widening of the road

– Public utility facilities that will be installed along the

highway

• Side slopes: provided for stability of earthworks; the

slope varies depending on the material type.

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 cont’d
• Side Slopes and Back Slopes
• Side slopes should be designed to ensure the stability of
the roadway and to provide a reasonable opportunity for
recovery of an out-of-control vehicle.

• Three regions of the roadside are important when

evaluating the safety aspects:
i) top of the slope (hinge point),

ii) side slope, and

iii) toe of the slope (intersection of the fore slope with level
ground or with a back slope, forming a ditch).
• Research has found that rounding at the hinge point can significantly
reduce the hazard potential. Similarly, rounding at the toe of the slope
is also beneficial.

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 Cont’d

Designation of Roadside Regions

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 cont’d

Slope Ratio Table – Vertical to Horizontal

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 Cont’d
• Roadside Ditches
• The choice of side drain cross-section depends on the
required hydraulic capacity, arrangements for
maintenance, space restrictions, traffic safety.

• It is much easier and appropriate to dig and clean a

trapezoidal drain with hand tools and the risk of erosion
is lower.

• The minimum recommended width of the side drain is

500mm.

• This shape has high flow capacity and, by carefully

selecting the gradients of its side slopes, it will resist
erosion.

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 Cont’d
• The V-shape is the standard shape for a drainage ditch
constructed by a motor-grader.

• It can be easily maintained by heavy equipment but it

has relatively low capacity necessitating more frequent
structures for emptying it.

• Furthermore the shape concentrates flow at the invert

and encourages erosion.

• Using a V-shaped ditch the minimum depth should be

0.6m in mountainous and escarpment terrain, and 1.0m
elsewhere.

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 Cont’d
• The side slope and back slope of ditches should generally be
no less than 1:2.

• Side drains should be avoided in areas with expansive clay

soils such as black cotton soils. Where this is not possible,
they should be kept at a minimum distance of 4 - 6 m from the
toe of the embankment, dependent on functional classification
(6m for trunk roads), as shown in Figure below.

• The ditch in this instance should have a trapezoidal, flat-

bottom configuration.

Side Drain Ditch Location in Expansive Soils

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 Cont’d
• Clear Zone: Once a vehicle has left the roadway, an accident may
occur.

• The end result of an encroachment depends upon the physical

characteristics of the roadside environment. Flat, traversable, stable

slopes minimize overturning accidents, which are usually severe.

• Elimination of roadside furniture or its relocation to less vulnerable

areas is an option in the development of safer roadsides.

• If a fixed object or other roadside hazard cannot be eliminated,

relocated, modified, or shielded, for whatever reason, consideration

should be given to delineating the feature so it is readily visible to a

motorist.

• The cleared width should be a minimum of 15 meters each side from

the edge of the roadway for the higher road standards.

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 Cont’d
• For lower standard roads, the clear zone can be reduced. It
should extend beyond the toe of the slope.

• Lateral clearances between roadside objects and obstructions

and the edge of the carriageway should normally be not less
than 1.5 meters.

• At existing pipe culverts, box culverts and bridges, the

clearance cannot be less than the carriageway width; if this
clearance is not met, the structure must be widened.

• New pipe and box culvert installations, and extensions to them,

must be designed with a 1.5-metre clearance from the edge of
the shoulder.

• Horizontal clearance to road signs, marker posts, etc. must be

a minimum of 1.0m from the edge of the carriageway.

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 Cont’d
• Right-of-Way: Right-of-ways, or road reserves, are provided in
order

– to accommodate road width and

– to enhance the safety, operation and appearance of the

roads.

• The width of the right-of-way depends on

– the cross section elements of the highway,

– topography and

– other physical controls together with economic considerations.

• Right of ways will be equidistant from the centerline of the road to the
left and to the right of the carriageway.

• They should always be determined and shown on the final design plans
of road projects.

44
16-Apr-19
 Cont’d
• Single Lane Roads: For low traffic volume roads (<75ADT) single lane operation is
adequate because the probability of vehicles meeting each other from opposite
directions is small and the few passing manoeuvres can be undertaken at very reduced
speeds using either the shoulder or passing bays.

• Provided sight distances are adequate for safe stopping, these manoeuvres can be
performed without hazard, and the overall loss in efficiency brought about by the
reduced speeds is small.

• The lowest design standards (DC1 and DC2) are not sufficiently wide for passing and
overtaking to occur on the carriageway and passing bays must be provided.

• The increased width at passing bays should be such as to allow two design vehicles to
pass, i.e. a minimum of 5.0 m width, and vehicles are expected to stop or slow to a very
low speed.

• Normally, passing bays should be located every 300 to 500 meters depending on the
terrain and geometric conditions.

• However, adjacent passing bays must be visible from each other.

• In general, passing bays should be constructed at the most economic locations as

determined by terrain and ground conditions such as transitions from cuttings to
embankment, rather than at precise intervals.

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 Thank you!!!

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