Page

1
15 Pavement ____________________________________________________________ 27 10.1.2 Grade Compensations __________________________________________________________ 10
10.1.3 Maximum (critical) Length of Grade _______________________________________________ 10
16 Road Intersec ons _____________________________________________________ 28
10.2 Climbing Lanes _________________________________________________________ 10
16.1 Accelera on Decelera on (speed-change) Lanes _____________________________ 28
10.3 Emergency escape ramps ________________________________________________ 11
16.2 Types of intersec ons ___________________________________________________ 29
10.4 Ver cal Curves _________________________________________________________ 12
17 Structures ____________________________________________________________ 29 10.4.1 Summit Curves ________________________________________________________________ 13
10.4.2 Valley Curves _________________________________________________________________ 14
17.1 Bridges, culverts and other cross drainage structures __________________________ 29
17.2 Retaining Walls ________________________________________________________ 29 11 Road Cross Sec on Elements _____________________________________________ 15

17.3 Road Tunnels __________________________________________________________ 30 11.1 Carriageway ___________________________________________________________ 15

11.2 Shoulder ______________________________________________________________ 16
18 Maintenance _________________________________________________________ 31
11.3 Medians ______________________________________________________________ 16
19 Aesthe cs and Landscape Design _________________________________________ 31
11.4 Forma on or Roadway Width _____________________________________________ 17
20 Roadside Arboriculture _________________________________________________ 32
11.5 Camber _______________________________________________________________ 17
21 Environmental Considera on ____________________________________________ 33
11.6 Supereleva on _________________________________________________________ 17
22 Roadside Service Facili es_______________________________________________ 33
11.7 Side slopes ____________________________________________________________ 18
23 Glossary _____________________________________________________________ 35
11.8 Typical Cross Sec ons ___________________________________________________ 19
24 Annexes _____________________________________________________________ 36
11.9 Right of Way and Clearances______________________________________________ 20
24.1 Recommended Design Parameters for various classes of Roads _________________ 36 11.9.1 Right Of Way _________________________________________________________________ 20
11.9.2 Lateral clearances _____________________________________________________________ 20
24.2 Sight Distance Formulas _________________________________________________ 37
11.9.3 Vertical clearances_____________________________________________________________ 21
24.2.1 Stopping Distance _____________________________________________________________ 37
24.2.2 Overtaking Distance ___________________________________________________________ 37 12 Traffic Signs and safety _________________________________________________ 21
24.3 Horizontal Curve _______________________________________________________ 38 13 Miscellaneous Road Appertuances ________________________________________ 21
24.4 Elements of a Clothoid __________________________________________________ 39 13.1 Guard Rails and Safety Barriers____________________________________________ 21
24.5 Summit Curve _________________________________________________________ 42 13.2 Road Humps ___________________________________________________________ 22
24.6 Valley Curve ___________________________________________________________ 44 13.3 Bicycle Tracks __________________________________________________________ 23
24.7 References ____________________________________________________________ 47 13.4 Pedestrian Facili es _____________________________________________________ 23
13.4.1 Footpaths ____________________________________________________________________ 23
13.4.2 Pedestrian Crossings ___________________________________________________________ 24

13.5 Bus Lay Bys ____________________________________________________________ 24

13.6 Curbs ________________________________________________________________ 25
13.7 Road Ligh ng __________________________________________________________ 26
13.8 Road Drainage _________________________________________________________ 26

14 Access Control ________________________________________________________ 27

iii ii
LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES
Table 3-1 :Approximate Correlation between administrative and functional classification .................... 3
Figure 9-1 Set Back Distance ................................................................................................................. 9
Table 4-1 Vehicle types, Equivalency Factors ....................................................................................... 4
Figure 10-1: Emergency Escape Ramp ............................................................................................... 12
Table 5-1:Capacity of Roads, PCU/day ................................................................................................. 4
Figure 11-1: Road sections .................................................................................................................. 20
Table 6-1 Terrain Classification .............................................................................................................. 5
Figure 13-1: Safety Barriers ................................................................................................................. 22
Table 7-1 Design Speeds, km/h ............................................................................................................. 5
Figure 13-2 Road Hump ....................................................................................................................... 23
Table 8-1: Stopping distance .................................................................................................................. 5
Figure 13-3 :Bus Lay Bys Plan ............................................................................................................. 25
Table 8-2: Overtaking distance ............................................................................................................... 6
Figure 13-4 Typical curb designs ......................................................................................................... 25
Table 9-1 Minimum radius of horizontal curves ...................................................................................... 7
Figure 16-1: Deceleration(a) and Acceleration(b) Lanes ..................................................................... 28
Table 9-2 Length of Transition Curves ................................................................................................... 7
Figure 16-2: Intersection type selection ............................................................................................... 29
Table 9-3 Hair Pin bends design parametres ......................................................................................... 8
Figure 17-1Typical tunnel clearances................................................................................................... 31
Table 9-4 Extrawidening on curves ........................................................................................................ 8
Figure 24-1: Elements of a transition or spiral curve ............................................................................ 40
Table 10-1: Maximum gradients ........................................................................................................... 10
Figure 24-2: Summit Curve .................................................................................................................. 42
Table 10-2: Maximum(critical) length of gradient ................................................................................. 10
Figure 24-3: Minimum Length of Summit Vertical curve ...................................................................... 44
Table 10-3: Minimum value of K for summit curves ............................................................................. 14
Figure 24-4: Valley Curve from headlight illumination criteria .............................................................. 45
Table 10-4: Minimum value of K for valley curves................................................................................ 15
Figure 24-5:Minimum Length of Valley Curve ...................................................................................... 46
Table 11-1Width of Carriageways, m ................................................................................................... 16
Table 11-2 Width of Shoulders, m ........................................................................................................ 16
Table 11-3 Camber, % ......................................................................................................................... 17
Table 11-4: Embankment Side Slopes ................................................................................................. 18
Table 11-5 Cuttings side slopes ........................................................................................................... 18
Table 11-6: Right of way....................................................................................................................... 20
Table 11-7 Vertical Clearances for Electric wires and cables .............................................................. 21
Table 13-1: Width of footpath ............................................................................................................... 24
Table 13-2 : Return periods for calculating design discharges ............................................................ 26
Table 13-3 Type of lining of side drains ............................................................................................... 27
Table 16-1: Length of acceleration, deceleration lanes and tapers ..................................................... 28
Table 24-1 Recommended design Parameters.................................................................................... 36
Table 24-2 : Coefficient of longitudinal friction ..................................................................................... 37
Table 24-3 :Overtaking Distance Calculations ..................................................................................... 38
Table 24-4 : Coefficient of lateral friction .............................................................................................. 39

v iv
1 INTRODUCTION
a. Nepal Road Standards -2027(Second Revision 2070), in short called NRS-2070, shall apply
to all Strategic Roads in rural areas being constructed within Nepal. For non-strategic (Local ABBREVIATIONS
Roads) and urban roads separate standards shall be considered.
AASHTO- Association of American State Highway and Transportation Officials.
b. With the objectives of achieving consistency in road design and construction, NRS was first
introduced by DOR in B.S. 2027 (1970 CE) and was revised in B.S 2045 (1988 CE).Minor AADT-Average Annual Daily Traffic
revisions were made in B.S 2051 (1994 CE) and in 1997 CE to incorporate certain changes, ADT-Average Daily Traffic
which were relevant at the time of revisions. But those revisions were treated separately, not
B.S.-Bikram Sambat
as an official version of the NRS-2027.
CE-Common Era
c. Based on NRS (2027), standard design for roads and bridges including typical drawings were
prepared in 1978 CE. They are being used till now. The standard design prepared in 1978 CE DOLIDAR-Department of Local Infrastructure Development and Agricultural Roads
was based on the standard code of practice of that time. DOR-Department of Roads
d. Since then, there have been several revisions in design standards and specifications in Nepal h-hour
and also vast advancement in design and construction technology have occurred.
IP-Intersection Point
e. In the past, roads have been designed and constructed using either DOR standard guidelines
IRC-Indian Roads Congress
or using the design standard adopted by various aid agencies or consultants.
km-kilometre
f. Due to non-uniformity in design and construction of roads and bridges, DOR has been facing
difficulties in maintenance and management of roads and bridges. LOS-Level of Service

g. In this context and as demanded by the modern technological development, there is a need to LRN-Local roads network
revise NRS-2027 and this is the second official revision. m-metre
NRS-Nepal Roads Standards
2 SCOPE OF USE
ORN-Overseas Road Notes
a. These standards are to be applied for all roads being constructed in Nepal. These standards
PCU-Passenger Car Unit
apply mostly for non-urban roads (in open country outside built-up area.)
s-second
b. These requirements can be relaxed in some very difficult situations by the Government of
Nepal. SRN-Strategic Roads Network

c. Efforts in general should, however, be to aim at standards higher than the minimum indicated
here.
d. The geometric features of roads except cross sectional elements do not lend to stage
construction. Geometric deficiencies are costly and sometimes impossible to rectify later on
due to subsequent road development. Therefore, it is essential that geometric requirements
should be kept in view right in the beginning.

3 ROAD CLASSIFICATION
Roads in Nepal are classified as follows:
A. Administrative Classification
Administrative classification of roads is intended for assigning national importance and level
of government responsible for overall management and methods of financing. According to
this classification roads are classified into:
National Highways
Feeder Roads
District Roads and
vi
Urban Roads

1
 Design speed adopted for design of this class of roads in plain terrain is 60 km/h National Highw ays
Design parameters for various classes of roads are given in Table 24-1. National Highways are main roads connecting East to West and North to South of the Nation.
These serve directly the greater portion of the longer distance travel, provide consistently
For the design of roads the class of the road is taken as the basic deciding factor, which is
higher level of service in terms of travel speeds, and bear the inter-community mobility. These
ascertained based on the traffic volume on the road. But an approximate correlation can be
roads shall be the main arterial routes passing through the length and breadth of the country
established between the administrative and functional classifications of the roads as follows in
as a whole. followed by a two-digit number.
Table 3-1.
Feeder Roads
Table 3-1 :Approximate Correlation between administrative and functional classification
Feeder roads are important roads of localized nature. These serve the community's wide
Plain and Rolling terrain Mountainous and steep terrain interest and connect District Headquarters, Major economic centres, Tourism centres to
National Highways followed by 3-digit
National Highway I,II II,III number.
Feeder Roads II,III III,IV District Roads
District Roads are important roads within a district serving areas of production and markets,
4 TRAFFIC CHARACTERISTICS and connecting with each other or with the main highways.
Urban Roads
4.1 Vehicle Dimensions
Urban Roads are the roads serving within the urban municipalities.
The maximum dimensions of vehicles considered for design of roads in Nepal are as follows:
In Nepal the overall management of National Highways and Feeder Roads comes within the
responsibility of the Department of Roads (DOR). These roads are collectively called Strategic
Maximum Width, m 2.50 Roads Network (SRN) roads. District Roads and Urban Roads are managed by Department of
Local Infrastructure Development and Agricultural Roads (DOLIDAR). These roads are
Maximum Height, m 4.75 collectively called Local Roads Network (LRN) roads.
B.Technical/ Functional Classification a
Maximum Length, m 18.00 For assigning various geometric and technical parameters for design, roads are categorized
into classes as follows:
Maximum single axle load, kN 100 Class I
Class I roads are the highest standard roads with divided carriageway and access control
4.2 Equivalency Factors (Expressways) with ADT of 20,000 PCU or more in 20 yrs perspective period.
a. It is not feasible to improve the standard of a road by very small increments and it is a Design speed adopted for design of this class of roads in plain terrain is120 km/h.
standard practice to design and construct new roads and improvement works to withstand the
estimated traffic at some future date. Class II

b. In Nepal this forward period (perspective period) shall be 20 years, i.e. roads shall be Class II roads are those with ADT of 5000-20000 PCU in 20 yrs perspective period.
designed with a capacity sufficient to cater for the estimated traffic volume 20 years after the Design speed adopted for design of this class of roads in plain terrain is 100 km/h.
date of completion of the works.
Class III
c. Different types of vehicles take up differing amounts of road space and have different
Class III roads are those with ADT of 2000-5000 PCU in 20 yrs perspective period.
speeds(For geometric design) and impose differing loads on the road structure(For structural
design). Design speed adopted for design of this class of roads in plain terrain is 80 km/h
d. It is, therefore, necessary to adopt a standard traffic unit to which other types of vehicles may Class IV
be related.
Class IV roads are those with ADT of less than 2000 PCU in 20 yrs perspective period.
e. For geometric design of roads this standard is the 'Passenger Car Unit (PCU)' which is that of
a normal car (passenger car), light van or pick-up. Other types of vehicles are taken into
account by multiplying by the following equivalency factors.

a
Approximate equivalence with road classification in other countries is as follows: class I roads
correspond to expressways, class II to arterial roads, class III-to collector roads and class IV-to
local roads.
3 2
b. Terrain is classified according to the percent slope of the country across road alignment Table 4-1 Vehicle types, Equivalency Factors
(Table 6-1). Percent slope can be estimated by counting the number of 1m contours crossed SN Vehicle Type Equivalency Factor
by a 100m long line. While classifying the terrain, short stretches of varying terrain should be
ignored. 4 Bicycle,Motorcycle 0.5
Car, Auto Rickshaw, SUV,Light Van
Table 6-1 Terrain Classification 1 1.0
and Pick Up
S.No. Terrain Type Percent Cross Slope Degree
o o 2 Light (Mini) Truck, Tractor, Rickshaw 1.5
1 Plain 0-10 0 5.7
o o 3 Truck,Bus,Minibus,Tractor with trailer 3.0
2 Rolling > 10-25 > 5.7 14
o o 5 Non-motorized carts 6
3 Mountainous >25-60 > 14 31
o
4 Steep >60 > 31
5 CAPACITY AND LEVEL OF SERVICE
7 DESIGN SPEED a. Among six Levels of Services (LOS) viz. A to F it is
the design capacity of roads.
a. 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. The design speed to b. Under this condition, traffic will experience congestion and inconvenience during some of the
be adopted for various classes of roads is given in Table 7-1 peak hours, which may be acceptable.

Table 7-1 Design Speeds, km/h c. Design capacity governs the number of lanes required for the design volume of traffic.

Road Class Plain Rolling Mountainous Steep d. At the level of service B, volume of traffic will be around 45 percent of maximum capacity
under mixed traffic condition. Design traffic volume should be taken as the volume at the end
I 120 100 80 60
of the design life considering the equivalency factors as shown in Table 4-1.
II 100 80 60 40
e. Recommended design service volumes for single lane, intermediate lane, two lane and multi
III 80 60 40 30 lane roads are presented in Table 5-1
IV 60 40 30 20 Table 5-1:Capacity of Roads, PCU/day
b. Design speed should be the guiding criterion for geometric design of the road. But in very Mountainous
Plain Rolling
difficult terrains and unavoidable circumstances design speed can be reduced to 75% of the and steep
values given on the Table 7-1. S.
Category Low High Low High Low High
No. curvature curvatur curvatur curvatur curvatur curvatur
8 SIGHT DISTANCE (0-50 e (>50 e(0-100 e(>100 e(0-200 e(>200

a. For safety it is necessary that sight distance of adequate length should be available to permit deg/km) deg/km) deg/km) deg/km) deg/km) deg/km)

drivers enough time and distance to control their vehicles. Sight distances are usually 1 Single Lane Road(3.75 m) with good 2000 1900 1800 1700 1600 1400
governed by the distance required for stopping(stopping distance) and overtaking(overtaking quality shoulders at least 1.0m wide
distance).
2 Intermediate lane Road(5.5m) with 6000 5800 5700 5600 5200 4500
8.1 Stopping Distance good quality shoulders at least 1.0m
(See also Annex 24.2.1 ) wide
a. Stopping distance is the distance ahead needed by a driver to bring his vehicle to a complete 3 Double lane Road(7.0m) with good 15000 12500 11000 10000 7000 5000
stop before meeting a stationary object in his path. quality shoulders at least 1.0m wide
b. Stopping distance for various speeds are given in Table 8-1
4 Four lane road with a minimum 3.m 40000 35000 32500 30000 25000 20000
Table 8-1: Stopping distance wide median

Speed, km/h 20 30 40 60 80 100 120

Stopping Distance,m 20 30 50 80 130 190 260

6 TERRAIN CLASSIFICATION
a. Geometric design of roads depends significantly on the terrain conditions. Economy in the
design usually dictates to change standards to suit the terrain.

5 4
Table 9-1 Minimum radius of horizontal curves 8.2 Overtaking Distance
Minimum Recommended Radius, m (See also Annex 24.2.2)
When no From the comfort
Design a. Overtaking distance is the minimum distance that should be available to the driver to overtake
superelevation When Maximum criteria of another vehicle safely. Overtaking distances for various design speeds are given in Table 8-2
Road Class Speed,
provided(2.5% Superelevation of passengers(Max Table 8-2: Overtaking distance
km/h
camber i.e. negative 10% provided lateral force 15% of
Speed, km/h 40 60 80 100 120
superelevation) vertical force)
120 1730 600 760 Minimum Overtaking Distance,m 165 300 470 640 880
I
100 870 370 530
II 80 440 210 340
60 200 110 190 8.3 Application of sight distance standards
III
IV 40 70 40 90 a. Normally attempts should be made to provide a sight distance equal to the overtaking
30 30 20 50
distance in as much length of the road as possible. Where this is not feasible a sight distance
20 20 10 30
equal to twice the stopping distance should be made available.
b. Some theoretical background for the selection of radius of horizontal curve is given in annex
b. In no case should the visibility of the road ahead be less than stopping distance for multi lane
24.2.2
roads(>=2 lanes) and twice the stopping distance for single lane roads.
9.2 Transition Curves or Spirals c. It is always recommended to provide visibility of road ahead to as much distance as possible.
(see also annex 24.4) d. 1.2m
above the road surface and any object lying on the roads surface to be 0.15m high.
a. Transition curves are necessary to allow a vehicle smoothly enter the circular curve from
straight section and vice versa.
8.4 Overtaking Zones
b. All horizontal curves with radius less than 1000m should be provided with transition curves.
a. In stretches of roads where sufficient overtaking sight distance cannot be provided or on
c. When circular curves of very large radius (>1000m) are provided the effect of transition from single lane roads where overtaking or crossing opportunity is not available, overtaking or
straight section to circular section becomes negligible and no transition curves are provided. passing zones shall be provided.
d. Clothoid curves ( with curvature changing linearly with the length are used for b. The width of the overtaking zone shall be the same as that of a minimum two lane road.
transition curves.
c. Length of the overtaking zone shall be at least 3 times the overtaking distance on two and
e. Minimum length of transition curves should be as shown in Table 9-2a more lane roads.
Table 9-2 Length of Transition Curves d. On single lane roads length of passing zones shall be at least 2 times the overtaking sight
Radius,m 20 30 50 60 80 100 150 200 250 300 400 500 1000 distance.

Length of transition 20 30 35 40 45 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 e. On single lane roads overtaking/passing lanes should be provided at not more than 1km
curve,m interval.
f. When the shift value of the transition curve (see 24.4) is less than 0.25m no transition curve f. The start and end of overtaking zone shall be well informed by placing appropriate signs at
need to be provided. least stopping distance before the start and end of the zone.
g. Details of combined circular and transition curves are given in annex 24.4
9 HORIZONTAL ALIGNMENT
9.3 Hair pin Bends
9.1 Radius of Horizontal Curves
a. In hilly areas it may become difficult to avoid bends where the direction of the road reverses.
Design criteria for such bends, commonly known as hair pin bends, are given below in Table (see also annex 24.2.2)
9-3.
a. Minimum recommended values of radius of horizontal curves for various design speeds are
given below. However as far as site conditions permit largest possible values of radius should
be used.

a
The lengths of the spirals given on the table are applicable only when condition set by equation
24.5 is fulfilled
7 6
9.5 Set-Back Distance at Horizontal Curves Table 9-3 Hair Pin bends design parametres

a. Adequate sight distance should be available across the inside of horizontal curves. Distance Minimum design speed 20km/h
from the road centre line within which the obstructions should be cleared to ensure the
needed visibility i.e. the -back distance ulated from geometrical Minimum Radius of curvature 15m
considerations as shown in Figure 9-1
Minimum length of transition curve 15m
b. The set-back distance is calculated as follows:
Maximum longitudinal gradient 4%
... ... ... ... ... ... ... 9-1
Maximum superelevation 10%
Where,
b. A minimum distance of 60m should be provided between successive bends of consecutive
hair pin bends.
c. At hair pin bends it is preferable to pave the road to the full width of the roadway.
m-minimum set-back distance to sight obstruction in metres(measured from the centre line of
the road)
9.4 Extrawidening
R-radius at the centre line of the road in metres
a. When a vehicle negotiates a horizontal curve the rear wheels do not exactly follow the path of
n-distance between the centre line of the road and the centre line of the inside lane in metres the front wheels. Their path is shifted towards the centre of the curve in relation to the front
S-sight distance in metres(measured along the centre line of the road)
b. In curves the drivers of the vehicles have a tendency to keep a greater clearance between
them as compared to the straight sections of the road.
c. For the reasons mentioned above the width of carriageway of roads at the curves is made
wider than on the straight sections.
d. Value of extrawidening is adopted as shown below in Table 9-4
Table 9-4 Extrawidening on curves

Radius of
20 20-40 40-60 60-100 100-300 >300
curve,m

Single
lane 0.9 0.6 0.6 Nil Nil Nil
road

Double
Extra lane 1.5 1.5 1.2 0.9 0.6 Nil
width,m road

Multi
lane(n-
0.75n 0.75n 0.6n 0.45n 0.3n Nil
lane)
Figure 9-1 Set Back Distance road

10 VERTICAL ALIGNMENT e. Extrawidening should be introduced gradually at an approximately uniform rate along the
transition curve. On curves having no transition two third of it should be attained before the
a. The vertical alignment of the road should provide for a smooth longitudinal profile without any
start of the circular curve and one third on the curve.
kinks and visual discontinuities in the profile. Grade changes in vertical alignments should be
as less frequent as possible. f. Extrawidening shall be applied on both sides of the carriageway, except that on hill roads it
will be preferable if the entire widening is done only on the inside. Similarly, the widening
should be provided only on the inside when the curve is plain circular and has no transition
curve.

9 8
c. Climbing lanes are provided if the upgrade traffic flow is greater than 200 veh/hr and the 10.1 Gradients
upgrade truck flow is higher than 20 veh/hr(in addition to the critical length requirements of
above(b)). 10.1.1 Maximum gradients
d. Climbing lanes are generally not necessary on low traffic multilane highways. a. Vehicle operation cost is directly related with the longitudinal gradients, and so it is
recommended to adopt their values as small as possible.
e. Width of climbing lanes should be minimum 3.5m.Length should be such that these lanes
start at least 50m before the upgrade starts and should continue at least 100 m beyond it. b. Right from the early stage of alignment fixing, it should be born in mind that it becomes very
difficult to flatten the gradient at later stage.
10.3 Emergency escape ramps
c. Maximum gradient depends on the dynamic characteristics of commercial trucks, design
a. Emergency escape ramps are to be provided on long downgrade of a highway for use by speed and maximum allowable reduction in speed during climbing up the gradient.
trucks that have lost control and cannot slow down. They are more effective if there is a
d. Considering these factors (weight to power ratio of trucks-120kg/kW, with a maximum
horizontal curve on long downgrade stretch.
reduction of speed by 25 kmph below the design speed) maximum gradients for various
b. The escape ramps should be made of sandpiles or loose aggregates with upwards gradients. design speeds shall be as follows:
Length of the emergency ramp is found by following formula:
Table 10-1: Maximum gradients

... ... ... ... ... ... ... 10-2 Design Speed, km/h 20 30 40 60 80 100 120

Maximum Gradient,% 12 10 9 7 6 5 4
Where,
V-speed at the entrance, km/h e. Minimum longitudinal gradients for longitudinal drainage purpose is 0.5%

-percent grade divided by 100 10.1.2 Grade Compensations

Fa-rolling resistance, expressed as equivalent percent gradient divided by 100 a. Maximum value of longitudinal gradient shall be eased by 0.5% for each rise of 500m above
c. The alignment of the escape ramp should be tangent or on very flat curvature to minimize the mean sea level.
. b. Due to loss of tractive efforts of the vehicle on curves it is recommended to ease the gradients
d. Width of the ramp should be 3.5 m minimum. by an amount calculated as follows:

Grade compensation (%)= ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 10-1

subject to a maximum of 75/R, where R-radius in m.

c. It is not necessary to compensate grades below 4%.

10.1.3 Maximum (critical) Length of Grade

a. Maximum length of road with a gradient should be limited to the following values:
Table 10-2: Maximum(critical) length of gradient

Gradient,% 4 5 6 7 9 10 12

Maximum(critical)
600 450 400 300 200 150 150
Length,m

10.2 Climbing Lanes

a. Climbing lanes are provided on road upgrades for slow moving heavy vehicles to allow drivers
of light vehicles to move without reducing speed when they encounter slow moving heavy
vehicles.
b. Climbing lanes are to be provided if the length of the grade is such that a speed reduction of
a more than 25kmph of fast moving vehicle occurs(see Table 10-2)
Value of F depends on the rolling resistance of the piling material of the escape ramp. It should
be found by actual testing.
11 10
e. Design of vertical curve is controlled by K-valuea and length of the curve (L-value).
K and L are related as follows:

... ... ... ... ... ... ... 10-3

Where,
K-maximum radius of curvature i.e. curvature at the vertex of the parabola of the vertical
curve divided by 100, m/%.
L-Length of the vertical curve,m
A- algebraic difference of longitudinal grades of the vertical alignment,%

10.4.1 Summit Curves

(see also annex 24.5)

a. Minimum length of summit curve L is to be found from the consideration of providing a sight
distance(S) throughout the curve equal to stopping distance(Table 8-1) or overtaking
distance(Table 8-2) whichever gives the higher value.
b. From the consideration of providing sight distance equal to stopping distance the height of
and the object are taken as 1.2m and 0.15m above pavement surface
respectively.
When sight distance(S) is less than L

... ... ... ... ... ... ... 10-4

In this case

... ... ... ... ... ... ... 10-5

When sight distance(S) is more than L

... ... ... ... ... ... ... 10-6

Where, Figure 10-1: Emergency Escape Ramp

L-Length of summit curve ,m 10.4 Vertical Curves

A-Algebraic difference in approach grades,%
a. When two straight sections of a road in longitudinal profile meet at a point, vertical curves are
S- sight distance taken equal to the stopping distance, m provided for smooth travel along the road.

c. From the consideration of providing sight distance equal to the overtaking distance or twice b. The type of vertical curves is selected in such a way that the rate of change of grade
the stopping distance for single lane road (whichever is higher) throughout the curve is uniform.
1.2 m above pavement surface.
c. A quadratic parabola satisfies the above condition and should be used for vertical curves
When sight distance (S) is less than L design.
d. If the convexity of the curve is upwards it is called a summit curve otherwise a valley curve.

a
The physical meaning of K-value is the length of vertical curve per unit algebraic difference of
grades. It gives the minimum radius (i.e. radius at the vertex) of parabola if algebraic difference of
grades is expressed in absolute value and not in %.
13 12
 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 10-11 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 10-7

When stopping distance(S) is more than L In this case

... ... ... ... ... ... ... 10-12 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 10-8

Where, When sight distance (S) is more than L

L-Length of valley curve ,m
... ... ... ... ... ... ... 10-9
A-Algebraic difference in approach grades,%
S-stopping distance, m Where,

c. Minimum length of valley curve (L) from the consideration of the riding comfort of the L-Length of summit curve ,m
passengers and overloading on the suspension system of the automobile is found as follows: A-Algebraic difference in approach grades,%
S-overtaking distance or twice the stopping distance (whichever gives greater value), m
... ... ... ... ... ... ... 10-13
d. Higher of the values from (b) and (c) above should be taken for design.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... 10-14 e. Minimum length of the summit vertical curves should be taken from the graph on Figure 24-3.
f. It is easier to design vertical summit curve based on the K-value since it takes values of both
Where, L and A into consideration (K=L/A). Minimum value of K for various design speeds are given
below in Table 10-3.
L-Length of valley curve ,m
A-Algebraic difference in approach grades,%
g. When the change of grade at vertical curve is very small it is always better to provide a
vertical curve as per the following table than not to provide at all.
V-design speed in km/h
Table 10-3: Minimum value of K for summit curves
d. Higher of the values from (b) and (c) are to be adopted in the design.
Design Speed,km/h 20 30 40 60 80 100 120
e. Minimum length of the valley vertical curves should be taken from the graph on Figure 24-5.
f. As in the case of summit curve minimum value of K for valley curves for various design K,m/% 2 4 29 94 231 427 807
speeds are given below in Table 10-4
10.4.2 Valley Curves
g. When the change of grade at vertical curve is very small it is always better to provide a
vertical curve as per the following table than not to provide at all. (see also annex 24.6)
Table 10-4: Minimum value of K for valley curves a. The length (L) and K-value of vertical valley curve should be selected based on the required
night visibility by the headlight of the vehicle of at least stopping distance as given on Table
Design 8-1 or based on the riding comfort of the passengers and overloading on the suspension
20 30 40 60 80 100 120
Speed,km/h system of the automobile.
K,m/% 3 6 17 42 111 236 441 b. Minimum length of valley curve (L) from the consideration of night visibility of road surface by
the illumination by the head light is to be found as follows(taking 0.75m as height of mounting
o
of head light above pavement surface, and 2 as the angle of illumination of the headlight):
11 ROAD CROSS SECTION ELEMENTS
When stopping distance(S) is less than L
11.1 Carriageway
... ... ... ... ... ... ... 10-10
a. The standard width of carriageway shall be as shown on the following table. Total width of
pavement shall be determined based on the volume of the traffic and capacity of each lane as
given on art. 5. In this case

15 14
e. The median should be of uniform width in a particular section of the highway. However, where Table 11-1Width of Carriageways, m
changes are unavoidable, a transition of 1 in 20 must be provided. Multilane pavements width per
Single lane road Intermediate lane
lane
11.4 Formation or Roadway Width
3.75
a. Formation width shall be a total of widths of carriageways, medians and shoulders as
discussed in previous paragraphs. (upto 3.0 m in difficult 5.5 3.5
terrain)
11.5 Camber
b. In case of single lane roads it is recommended to have two treated shoulders on either side to
a. All straight sections of roads shall have a camber or crossfall as given on the Table 11-3. make a total width of 5.5m of treated surface.
b. On roads with undivided carriageways the camber shall be on both directions from the centre
line of the road. On roads with divided carriageways unidirectional camber can be provided. 11.2 Shoulder
c. However on some sections of hill roads with undivided carriageway a unidirectional camber a. The width of shoulders on either side of the carriageway shall be at least 0.75m.
can be adopted. In this case the adverse effect of negative camber on movement of vehicles Recommended width of shoulder for various classes of roads is given below in Table 11-2.
on curves should be properly checked. b. For protection of pavement from water percolating under it from shoulder it is recommended
Table 11-3 Camber, % to treat at least a 0.50-0.75m wide strip of shoulder near the edge of the pavement with
impervious to water surfacing.
Pavement type Cement Concrete Bituminous Gravel Earthen
Camber, % 1.5 to 2.0 2.5 4.0 5.0 c. If a small gap(<1m) of untreated shoulder is formed between the edge of the pavement and
edge of the side drain in hill roads it is recommended to treat this gap with appropriate surface
d. On straight sections of roads, shoulders should have a higher crossfall than that of the treatment.
carriageway by 0.5%. Table 11-2 Width of Shoulders, m
Road Class Class I Class II Class III Class IV
11.6 Superelevation
Minimum
a. Superelevation is provided on horizontal curves. Value of superelevation is calculated using 3.75 2.5 2.0 1.5
following formula: shoulder width, m

d. For mountainous and steep terrains the above values can be reduced to a minimum value for
... ... ... ... ... ... ... 11-1 a lower class of the road but not less than 0.75m.

Where, e. It is desirable that the color and texture of shoulders be different from those of the
carriageway.
e-value of superelevation, m/m
f. This contrast serves to clearly define the carriage way at all times, particularly at night and
R-Radius of horizontal curve during inclement weather, while discouraging the use of shoulders as additional through
V-Design Speed, km/h lanes.

f-co-efficient of lateral friction, depends on the vehicle speed and taken as in Table 24-4 g. Very wide shoulders (more than 3.75m wide) are also not desirable due to tendency of
vehicles misusing it as a carriageway.
b. Maximum superelevation to be provided is limited to:
In plain and rolling terrain 7% 11.3 Medians
In snow bound areas 7% a. For roads with 4 or more lanes, it is recommended to provide medians or traffic separators.
Medians should be as wide as possible.
In hilly areas not bound by snows 10%
b. A minimum median width of 5m is recommended. But a width of 3m can be adopted in areas
c. Minimum value of superelevation should be equal to the rate of camber of the pavement.
where land is restricted.
d. The rate of introduction of superelevation (i.e. longitudinal grade developed at the pavement
c. In mountainous and steep terrains maximum possible width of median dictated by the
edge compared to through grade along the centre line) should be such as not to cause
topography should be provided. In such situations simple barriers may be provided to function
discomfort to travelers or to make the road unsightly.
as a median or individual carriageways could be designed at different levels.
e. Rate of change of the outer edge of the pavement should not be steeper than 1 in 150 in plain
d. On long bridges and viaducts the width of the median may be reduced to 1.5m, but in no case
and rolling terrain and 1 in 60 in mountainous and steep terrain in comparison with the grade
this should be less than 1.2m.
of the centre line.

17 16
11.8 Typical Cross Sections 11.7 Side slopes
a. Side slopes of embankment and cuttings depend on the type of fill/cut materials and
height/depth of filling/cutting.

b. Recommended side slopes for embankments are given below. But wherever possible flatter
slopes are recommended for aesthetic reason and traffic safety.
Table 11-4: Embankment Side Slopes

Height, m Side Slope(vertical:horizontal)

<1.5 1:4

1.5-3.0 1:3

3.0-4.5 1:2.5

4.5-12.0 1:2

>12.0 Design specially

c. 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.
d. Recommended values of side slopes in cutting are given in Table 11-5
Table 11-5 Cuttings side slopes

Soil type Side Slope(vertical:horizontal)

Ordinary Soil 1:2 to 1:1

1 1
Disintegrated rock or conglomerate 1: /2 to 1: /4
1
Soft rock, shale 1: /4 to 1: 1/8
1 1
Medium Rock 1: /12 to 1: /16

Hard Rock Almost vertical

19 18
c. On roads with divided carriageway, left hand side lateral clearance should be as given on (a.)
and (b.) above.
d. Right hand side clearance should be 2.0 m (desirable) with 1.5m minimum.

11.9.3 Vertical clearances

e. A vertical clearance of 5.0m measured from the crown of the road surface shall be provided
for whole roadway width on all roads. No obstructions shall be made on this space.
f. Vertical clearance for high voltage electric cables from the road surface shall be as shown in
Table 11-7
Table 11-7 Vertical Clearances for Electric wires and cables
Voltage,kV Minimum Vertical Clearance,m
1 6
110 7
132 7.5
220 8
330 8.5
550 9
720 16

12 TRAFFIC SIGNS AND SAFETY

a. -
published by the DOR with amendments made thereafter. Road safety notes published by the
DOR shall be consulted.

13 MISCELLANEOUS ROAD APPERTUANCES

13.1 Guard Rails and Safety Barriers

a. Guard Rails and safety barriers are provided in places where serious damage to vehicle and Figure 11-1: Road sections
people may occur when an out of control vehicle may leave the roadway or hit other objects.
11.9 Right of Way and Clearances
b. Road edge barriers are provided near the edge of the road with steep slopes (more than 1:4)
or there is a drop of more than 3m or on the outer edge of sharp horizontal curves to protect 11.9.1 Right Of Way
the vehicles from falling off.
a. Right of way for different types of roads shall be as follows:
c. They are provided to protect the vehicle from hitting roadside objects e.g. overhead bridge
Table 11-6: Right of way
piers, large sign posts, large trees, walls, ends of bridge parapets located near the edge of
the carriageway. Road Type Total Right of Way,m

d. Usually flexible type steel wire rope barriers or semi-rigid type steel beam barriers or rigid Highways 50
type RCC barriers are used as barriers. Feeder Roads 30
e. Median Barriers are provided along the edge of medians on divided highways to protect the District Roads 20
traffic on both carriageways to cross-over the median and prevent head-on collisions or hitting
other objects on the medians. 11.9.2 Lateral clearances
f. Road Safety Notes published by the Department of Roads should be consulted for selection a. For a single carriageway road that goes through an underpass, whole width of the roadway
and installation of safety barriers. (carriageway plus shoulder widths) should be cleared in lateral direction.
b. If footpaths are provided minimum lateral clearance should be width of footpath plus 1.0 m.
21 20
Figure 13-2 Road Hump

13.3 Bicycle Tracks

a. In all roads with ADT of more than 4000 PCU and movement of bicycles more than 1000
nos/day bicycle tracks should be constructed. The minimum width of each lane of the bicycle
track should be 1.2m for each direction of movement.

b. The track should be constructed on a separate formation or at least 1 m away from the edge
of the roadway.

13.4 Pedestrian Facilities

13.4.1 Footpaths
Figure 13-1: Safety Barriers
a. Provision of footpaths should be made on all roads passing through populated areas.
b. On high traffic non-urban roads footpaths should be constructed outside of the roadway on 13.2 Road Humps
separate formation or buffer areas should be established so as to separate them from the
carriage way. a. No road humps shall be provided on road located in non urban areas. They can be provided
on slow speed roads (speed <30 kmph, only on class IV roads) on some urban areas if their
c. Width of the footpath depends on the volume of anticipated pedestrian traffic. But a minimum necessity is justified.
width of 1.5 m is required.
b. The width of the hump shall not be less than 3.7m.It should have a parabolic shape as shown
d. In case of narrow footpaths(<1.8m wide) a passing zone of a minimum width of 1.8m and on the figure with maximum height of 0.1m at the crown.
length of 2.0 m is to be provided at every 50m or less for passing of two wheelchairs.
c. The faces of the humps shall be painted with 200 mm wide alternating black and white stripes
e. The minimum width of footpaths for various volumes of pedestrian traffic should be as shown at 45 deg slopes.
in Table 13-1

23 22
 Table 13-1: Width of footpath

Hourly Design Flow(bothways) of 15 min peak

Footpath width,m
period

Upto 500 1.5

500-1500 2.0

1500-2500 2.5

2500-3500 3.0

13.4.2 Pedestrian Crossings

a. Grade separated pedestrian crossings should be provided where pedestrian volume, traffic
volume, intersection capacity, and other conditions favor their use, although their specific
Figure 13-3 :Bus Lay Bys Plan location and design require individual study.
b. They may be warranted where there are heavy peak pedestrian movements, such as at
13.6 Curbs central business districts, factories, schools, or athletic fields, in combination with moderate to
a. Curbs or vertical type (with vertical road side face) and heavy vehicular traffic or where unusual risk or inconvenience to pedestrians would otherwise
or sloping type(with sloping roadside face). result.

b. The height of curbs ranges from 10 to 20 cm. c. Overpass/underpass crossings should be easier to use(than directly crossing the road), well
lighted to enhance the sense of security and well ventilated(especially on long underpasses).
c. Barrier curbs are designed to discourage vehicles leaving the pavement. Mountable curbs are
provided at medians or channelizing islands. d. Walkways for pedestrian separations should have a minimum width of 2.5 m. Greater widths
may be needed where there are exceptionally high volumes of pedestrian traffic.
d. Vertical curbs should not be used along freeways or other high-speed roads.
e. Overpasses should have a minimum vertical clearance of 5.0m and underpasses 2.5m.
e. Design may vary in shape or size. But they should be good in appearance and strong.
f. All overpass/underpass pedestrian crossings should be provided with ramp for wheelchairs or
f. Some recommended designs are shown in Figure 13-4 other alternative measures (e.g. lifts) for comfortable movement of disabled people. Maximum
grade on the ramps should not be steeper than 8%.

13.5 Bus Lay Bys

a. To be fully effective, bus lay bys should incorporate
a deceleration lane or taper to permit easy entrance to the loading area,

a standing space sufficiently long to accommodate the maximum number of vehicles

expected to occupy the space at one time, and

a merging lane to enable easy reentry into the carriage way.

b. A taper of about 5:1, longitudinal to transverse, is a desirable minimum for deceleration lane
c. The standing space should provide about 15 m of length for each bus.
d. The width of standing space should be at least 3.0 m and preferably 3.75 m.
e. The merging or reentry taper may be somewhat more abrupt than the deceleration taper but,
preferably, should not be sharper than 3:1.
Figure 13-4 Typical curb designs f. If bus lay bys are located near the intersections, it is preferable to locate them on departure
side(far side) of the intersection.

25 24
Table 13-3 Type of lining of side drains 13.7 Road Lighting
Longitudinal slopes,% a. Rural highways should be designed with an open cross section and horizontal and vertical
Type of lining alignment of a fairly high type. Accordingly, they offer an opportunity for near maximum use of
Sandy Soil Clayey Soil vehicle headlights, resulting in reduced justification for fixed highway lighting.

No lining required <1 <2 b. Provision of artificial lighting should be made on all roads near populated areas, on major
bridges, bus stops, roads and railroads intersections (up to a distance of 250m from the point
Grass turfing 1~3 2~3 of intersections), tunnels and approaches to them and toll plazas.

Stone Rip
c. Light mounting poles should be at least 9m high(but mounting heights of 10 to 15 m are
3~5 3~5 usually preferable). They should be located outside the edge of the roadway or on wide
Rap,masonry,concrete
central medians.
Stepping >5 >5
d. Level of illumination should be 30 lux on important high speed roads and 15 lux on other main
roads.
Subsurface Drainage
a. Subsurface water table should always be kept 1 to 1.2 m below the subgrade level to protect e. The ratio of minimum to average illuminations should be about 0.4.
pavement layers from excessive moisture.
13.8 Road Drainage
b. If it is difficult to achieve the above difference in levels, subsurface drains need to be
provided. a. For long life of pavement and other components of a highway system, the subgrade should
be kept at optimum moisture level and avoided to be over wetted.
c. To save road subgrade from detrimental effects of moisture from the capillary rise of water a
layer of granular materials is provided between the subgrade and the highest level of b. Water should be drained away from the road and ground surface as well as under the surface
subsurface water. by a system of surface and subsurface drainage.

d. Sometimes geotextiles are laid over the subgrade soil to stop the migration of small clay Surface Drainage
particles upwards that increase the capillary rise of water to the pavement. a. Water is drained from the road surface with adequate camber of both the carriageway and the
e. Subsurface drains are constructed with 150mm-200mm dia perforated pipes with well shoulder.
designed filter material around them and subsequently wrapped by geotextile with adequate b. Road side drains are provided in all cut sections to remove water in the longitudinal direction.
longitudinal slopes. Numbers and spacing of subsurface drains should be decided by the
design.
c. Toe-of-slope road side drains are constructed in low fill(<0.8m filling height) sections to
convey water away to water courses

14 ACCESS CONTROL d. Intercepting or catch water drains are placed on back of the top of cut slopes to intercept
surface water. Distance of these drains from the edge of the cutting should not be less than
a. For smooth flow of traffic and reducing ribbon development on non-urban highways number of 5m.
accesses to it from side roads should be restricted.
e. Flumes are provided to carry collected water down deep cuts or high fill slopes.
b. No direct access is allowed on class I roads.
f. Drains should be provided with minimum 0.5% longitudinal grade.
c. Access to private property from class II, III and IV roads should not be at less than 300m
interval. g. Trapezoidal shape of drains is preferred.

d. If parallel service road (frontage road) is provided the connection from these roads to h. For calculating design discharge on roadside drains following return periods should be taken.
highways should not be at less than 750m interval. Table 13-2 : Return periods for calculating design discharges

15 PAVEMENT Road Class I and II III IV

a. The selection of pavement type is determined based on the traffic volume and composition, Return Period in 50 33 25
soil characteristics, weather, performance of pavements in the area, availability of materials, years
energy conservation, initial cost, and the overall annual maintenance and service-life cost.
i. Outlets from the side drains should be provided at no more than 500m intervals.
b. Pavement surface type provided should be consistent with the selected design speed for the
highway. j. Sides and bottoms of the drains should be lined according to the longitudinal slope of the
drain as shown in Table 13-3.Size of the drain should be worked out based on the discharge,
c. For selection and design of road pavements guidelines published by the Department of longitudinal slope and type of lining.
Roads shall be followed.

27 26
16.2 Types of intersections 16 ROAD INTERSECTIONS
a. Intersections may be at grade (roads crossing at the same level) or grade separated(roads
crossing at different levels). 16.1 Acceleration Deceleration (speed-change) Lanes
b. Grade separated intersections with ramps are called interchanges. They may be simple a. For facilitating change of speed by vehicles diverging from or merging into high speed roads
without any ramps. acceleration and deceleration lanes are provided.

c. Type of intersection depends on the volume of traffic on crossing roads and angle of crossing. b. Acceleration and Deceleration lanes are provided at intersections, at bus stops, at fueling and
servicing stations and at resting spots.
d. Intersection at grade is not allowed when one of the crossing roads is a class I road.
c. These lanes are provided when future traffic on them is expected to be more than ADT of
e. Roads should cross each other at right angle as far as possible 1000 PCU.
f. Approach sections of intersecting grades should not be steeper than 4%. d. The width of these lanes is kept the same as the lane width of the highway.
g. Detailed design for each intersection should be carried out separately. e. At the place of merging and diverging these lanes are provided with taper.
h. For a general guidance following graph can be used to select the type of intersections.

1. Simple intersection
2. With channelizing islands on secondary road
3. With channelizing islands on both roads
4. Grade separated intersections

ADT on secondary road,PCU

ADT on main road,PCU Figure 16-1: Deceleration(a) and Acceleration(b) Lanes
f. Lengths of acceleration and deceleration lanes are kept equal to the distance required for the
vehicle to increase the speed from 20km/h to the design speed with an acceleration of 1m/s2
Figure 16-2: Intersection type selection
and reduce the speed from the design speed to a speed of 20km/h with a deceleration of
2
2m/s respectively.
17 STRUCTURES
g. Based on the above the length of acceleration and deceleration lanes and length of taper for
17.1 Bridges, culverts and other cross drainage structures various design speed is given in Table 16-1

a. Cross drainage structures having length of more than 6m are called bridges. Table 16-1: Length of acceleration, deceleration lanes and tapers

b. Other cross drainage structures are culverts, causeways (simple) and vented causeways. Design Speed, Length of Length of Length of
km/h Accelerating decelerating taper,m
c. These structures shall be designed and constructed as per Nepal Bridge Standards-2067 with Lane,m lanes,m
revisions, if any.
d. The full width for the approach roadway should be provided across all new bridges. 60 130 70 30

80 240 120 60
17.2 Retaining Walls
a. On steep cross slopes of hills, volume of filling may be considerably high and cutting slopes 100 370 190 70
are unstable.
120 540 270 80
b. To minimize the volume of fillings and to stabilize the slopes retaining walls are constructed.

29 28
r. Illumination of tunnels should be changed gradually from entrance to the interior so as to c. Retaining walls are designed to withstand the lateral pressure from the soil or the filling
provide smooth light adaptation. To achieve this, sometimes the entrance of the tunnel is materials so as to be stable against overturning, sliding, foundation failure due to excessive
located on slight horizontal curvature or covered by gratings. bearing pressure with adequate structural strength.
s. Minimum and desirable clearances for tunnel are shown in Figure 17-1 d. Vehicle load is replaced by an equivalent surcharge of additional height of filling materials for
design.
e. When the height of retaining walls becomes large, overpass or half-bridges are constructed.

17.3 Road Tunnels

a. Although road tunnels are very costly, they are often constructed if after rigorous economic
analysis they substantially reduce the cost of construction, maintenance and vehicle operation
costs of roads especially on hilly areas.

b. Highway tunnels are usually constructed either by mining method or cut and cover method.
c. Tunnels are usually constructed with two lanes. In four lane roads two separate two lane
tunnels are constructed.
d. The minimum roadway width between curbs should be at least 0.6 m greater than the
approach carriageway, but not less than 7.2m.
e. The curb or sidewalk should be 0.5m minimum on either side of the pavement.
f. The total clearance between walls of a two lane tunnel should be a minimum of 9 m

g. Minimum vertical clearances inside the tunnels should be 5.0m.

h. Tunnels should be as shortest as possible.
i. As far as possible tunnels should be constructed with straight horizontal alignment which
simplifies the construction, reduces the cost and it is easy to provide adequate sight distance
on tunnels.
j. Vertical alignment of the tunnel should be decided based on the economic balance between
construction costs and operating and maintenance expenses.
k. Ventilation costs depend on length, grades, natural and vehicle-induced ventilation, type of
system, and air quality constraints.
l. Maximum gradient of the road in tunnels should be 4% and minimum 0.4%(From drainage
consideration)
m. Tunnels of length less than 300m are constructed with one directional gradient and more than
300 m with two way grades with maximum height at the centre.
Figure 17-1Typical tunnel clearances
n. Tunnels of more than 150m length should be provided with artificial ventilation.
18 MAINTENANCE
o. Maximum speed of air inside the tunnels(without considering the motion of air due to
a. Maintenance of Road should be carried out as per the guidelines provided by the movement of vehicles) from artificial ventilation should be 6m/s.
DOR(Routine, Recurrent, Periodic, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction).
p. Tunnels of more than 300m length on straight sections or 150m on curved sections of non-
urban roads or all tunnels on urban roads should be illuminated with artificial lighting.
19 AESTHETICS AND LANDSCAPE DESIGN
q. Illumination of tunnels at the level of carriageway should not be less than:
Following rules for aesthetic and landscape design of highways should be followed during design:
30 lux at night
a. Road alignment should be consistent throughout without any sudden change of design
standards. 400-750 lux during day time near the portals and 30 lux at the middle.

b. Radii of curves should be selected as high as possible. Sharp curves should be avoided on
high , long fills.

31 30
g. Selection of species and their architectural composition with the surrounding landscape c. Length of horizontal curves should be long enough to avoid the appearance of a kink.
should be entitled to specialized landscape designers, architects and professionals in this
d. Parametre A (where A2=RL, R-radius of horizontal curve,L-length of transition curve) of the
field.
clothoid for transition curve should be within 0.4R to 1.4R. Length of transition curve should
not be less than ¼ of the length of the circular curve.
21 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATION
e. Horizontal and vertical alignments of the road should not be designed independently but in
a. All roads should be designed and constructed with proper assessment of all Environmental coordination with each other so as to produce a smoothly flowing line that is nicely blended
and Social aspects and their impacts. with the surrounding ground contour. Proper coordination in this respect will ensure safety,
b. Environment Protection Acts and Rules of Government of Nepal should be followed. improve utility of highway and contribute to overall aesthetics.

c. All design elements of highways should properly blend with the surrounding elements of f. Length of straight sections and curved sections in the plan must be almost equal.
nature. g. Maximum length of straight sections in plan should be limited to 3-5km
d. Road alignment should avoid preserved zones like national parks, historical monuments and h. Two curves in the same direction separated by a short straight should be avoided.
other sensitive to flora, fauna and people.
i. Compound curves should be avoided as far as possible.
e. Highways should be located away from the populated areas so as to minimize the
disturbance to people from construction activities and noise from moving vehicles. j. As far as possible horizontal and vertical curves should be overlapped. It is desirable that
ical
f. As far as possible road alignments should be located on wind leeward (opposite to windward) curves should be offset to a distance not more than ¼ of the length of shorter of these curves.
side of the populated areas so as to minimize the effect of dust and smoke pollution during
construction and vehicle movement. k. Sharp horizontal curve should be avoided at or near the apex of the pronounced vertical
curves. The minimum radius of the sag vertical curve(100 times K-value) should be at least 6
g. Proper provisions of path should be made for migration of animals across the roads located in times the radius of overlapping horizontal curve.
forest areas.In access controlled highways provisions of under/overpass bridges for
movement of people should be made at required intervals. l. Ends of horizontal curves should not coincide with the beginnings of vertical curves.

h. Provisions of sound barriers should be made on roads passing through populated areas. m. Sharp vertical curves at the end of long straight sections or curved sections of large radius
should be avoided.
i. Removal of top soil before road construction should be done and used for land recultivation,
reclamation and road slope stabilizations. n. It is recommended to evaluate the spatial smoothness of the designed road by constructing
the perspective views simulating the views that would be seen by the driver on the road after
j. Bio-engineering techniques should be applied on road slope stabilization. construction.
k. Road side arboriculture should be implemented. o.
l. Road embankments should be constructed using imported materials as far as possible. Road appearance on the land, and a sensuous, rhythmic continuity for the driver. This effect results
side excavation and burrow pits should not be encouraged especially on highly fertile lands. from following the natural contours of the land, using graceful and gradual horizontal and
vertical transitions, and relating the alignment to permanent features of the landscape such as
m. Quarries for construction materials should be properly managed and provisions for rivers or mountains.
reinstatement to an acceptable condition should be made in the project.
p. In many multilane hill roads, there is a potential for designing a divided highway with
n. Dust/smoke producing pavement technology shall not be adopted near populated areas. independent horizontal and vertical alignments for each direction of traffic with minimization of
adverse effects on environment.
22 ROADSIDE SERVICE FACILITIES
a. Location and general design of gas filling stations along the highways and their spacings
20 ROADSIDE ARBORICULTURE
should be as per the guidelines published by the Department of Roads. a. Roadside plantation of trees and shrubs should be encouraged as far as possible on all urban
b. Highway motels, camping stations and technical service centres should be provided and non-urban roads
preferably at 50-100km distances. b. For roadside plantation ornamental and flowering species are selected.
c. Telephone booths should be provided at least at 20 km distance. c. Trees are usually planted on roadsides and shrubs are planted on medians for good visibility.
d. Highway police control rooms, and emergency medical service centres should be provided on d. Wide crowned trees are not preferred for roadside plantation.
highways.
e. Crown of the trees planted on roadsides should not go beyond the edges of the pavements.
e. In order to permit the motorists to easily leave the roadway for vehicle inspection, scenic
lookouts and rests, a number of lay-bys, parking lots and recreational areas should be f. In rural open areas it is desirable to plant trees at a distance of 12m from the edge of
provided on highways. carriageways.

33 32
23 GLOSSARY f. Recreational areas should be set out away from the main highway separating by a dividing
strip planted with tall trees that attenuate the vehicular noise from the adjacent highway. They
Average Daily Traffic (ADT)- ADT is the total volume of traffic across a road section during a should be located on scenic sites e.g. mountain pass, top of a hill or other sites with pleasant
given time period (in whole days), greater than one day and less than one year, divided by the view of nature. They should be provided with wash rooms, public toilets and drinking water
number of days in that time period.
facilities.
Bridge- A high level cross drainage structure across the roads with more than 6m length.
Bus lay by- A bus lay-by (also called bus turnout) is a special zone on the side of the main
roadway for primarily buses to stop in order to pick up and drop off passengers.
Design Speed-It is the maximum safe speed that can be maintained over a specified section of
highway when conditions are so favorable that the design features of the highway govern
Camber-Transverse slope given to the road surface to facilitate drainage.
Carriageway- The portion of the roadway for the movement of vehicles, exclusive of shoulders
Climbing Lane-It is an extra lane in the upgrade direction of a highway for use by heavy vehicles
whose speeds are significantly reduced by the grade
Culvert- A cross drainage structure on the road usually less than 6m length.
Formation or Subgrade- It is the top surface of the embankment or cutting where the roadway
rests
Lateral Clearance-It is the horizontal distance between the extreme edge of the carriageway to
the face of the structure
Level of Service (LOS)-It is a qualitative measure describing operational conditions within a
traffic stream and their perception by drivers/passengers.
Lux- is the SI unit of luminance, measuring luminous flux per unit area. It is equal to one lumen
per square metre. It can be understood as a measure of the total "amount" of visible light present,
per unit area of a surface.
Medians-That portion of a divided highway separating the traveled ways for traffic in opposite
directions including inside shoulders.
Right of Way-A general term denoting land, property of interest therein, usually in a strip,
acquired for or devoted to transportation purposes.
Roadway: The portion of a highway, including shoulders, for vehicular use. A divided highway
has two or more roadways.
Shoulder- A shoulder is the portion of the roadway contiguous with the carriageway that
accommodates stopped vehicles, emergency use, and lateral support of subbase, base, and
surface courses.
Superelevation-One sided transverse slope given to the pavement surface on curved sections of
the road
Vertical Clearance-It is the height above the highest point of the carriageway to the lowest point
of overhead structure.

35 34
24.2 Sight Distance Formulas 24 ANNEXES
24.2.1 Stopping Distance 24.1 Recommended Design Parameters for various classes of Roads
Stopping distance is calculated as a sum of the
Table 24-1 Recommended design Parameters
a)distance travelled by the vehicle during perception and brake reaction time(first term in Road Class
equation 24.1) and Design Parameter Remarks
I II III IV
b)the braking distance(second term in equation 24.1) Design Capacity, PCU
>20000 5000-20000 2000-5000 <2000
day
... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24-1 P-120, P-100 P -80 P-600
R -100 R-80 R-60 R -400
Where, Design speed, km/h
M-80 M-60 M-40 M-30
V-design speed S-60 S-40 S-30 S-20
t-perception and brake reaction time, taken as 2.5 s No. of lanes 4 min. >=2 2 <2
a
Lane width,m 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.75 or 5.5
- co-efficient of longitudinal friction, depends on the speed (taken as per Table 24-2)
Shoulder P, R-3.75 P, R-2.5 P, R-2.0 P, R-1.5
Table 24-2 : Coefficient of longitudinal friction width(minimum),m M,S-2.5 M,S-2.0 M,S-1.0 M,S-0.75

Speed(km/h) 5.0 (3.0 in

restricted
20 0.40
areas)
30 0.39 Recommended
Viaducts and - - -
40 0.39 Median width,m
bridges-1.5
60 0.38 Absolute
80 0.36 minimum-1.2

100 0.35 Minimum radius of hor. P-1730 P-870 P-440 P-200

Curve(when R-870 R-440 R-200 R-70
120 0.34 See Table 9-1
superelevation is not M-440 M-200 M-70 M-30
24.2.2 Overtaking Distance provided) ,m S-200 S-70 S-30 S-20

a. Overtaking distance is calculated considering the optimum condition in which the overtaking P-807/441 P-427/236 P-231/111 P-94/42
Minimum K- value for
driver can follow the vehicle ahead for a short time while he assesses his chances for R-427/236 R-231/111 R-94/42 R-29/17 See Table 10-3
vertical
overtaking, pulls out his vehicle, overtakes the other vehicle at design speed of the highway, M-231/111 M-94/42 M-29/17 M-4/6 See Table 10-4
and returns to his own lane before meeting any oncoming vehicle from the opposite direction curves(summit/valley)
S-94/42 S-29/17 S-4/6 S-2/3
travelling at the same speed.
P-4 P-5 P-6 P-7
b. Time components for various maneuvers and corresponding overtaking distances are given Maximum longitudinal R-5 R-6 R-7 R-9
below in Table 24-3 See Table 10-1
gradient,% M-6 M-7 M-9 M-10
S-7 S-9 S-10 S-12

P-Plain,R-Rolling,M-Mountainous,S-Steep

a
3.0 m in difficult situations
37 36
Table 24-4 : Coefficient of lateral friction Table 24-3 :Overtaking Distance Calculations

Speed(km/h) f Time Components,s

120 0.09 Overtaking
Speed, km/h For
100 0.12 For Opposing Distance,m
Overtaking Total
80 0.14 Vehicle
Maneuvers
60 0.17
40 9 6 15 165
40 0.23
30 0.28 60 10.8 7.2 18 300
20 0.33
80 12.5 8.5 21 470
e. Radius of curve calculated from the above consideration usually gives a very sharp curve. As
a consequence passengers travelling on such curves experience discomfort with high lateral 100 14 9 23 640
force acting on their body.
120 16 10 26 880
f. So where site conditions permit it is recommended that radius of horizontal curve be decided
based on the lateral force acting on the passenger caused by the centrifugal force thereby
limiting the ratio of lateral to vertical forces to 0.15. 24.3 Horizontal Curve
g. From the consideration of passengers comfort a. Radius of horizontal curve is selected based on the following criteria:
The centrifugal force developed on the vehicle negotiating a horizontal curve should not
... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24-3 be more than the balancing force of friction and superelevation.

Where, The vehicle should be stable against overturning.

R-Radius of Horizontal Curve, m The road should be visible to a sufficient distance that is illuminated in a horizontal plane
by the headlight of the vehicle during night driving time.
V-Design speed in km/h
The visibility of the road ahead should not be obstructed by objects on the inner side of
24.4 Elements of a Clothoid the horizontal curve.

a. Length of transition curves is decided based on the allowable rate of change of centrifugal The wear and tear of vehicle tires should be minimum.
acceleration acting on the vehicle so that the driver can steer the vehicle easily from straight Passengers and drivers of the vehicle should not feel excessive lateral force from the
section to a circular curve section of the road. view point of comfort of travel.
b. Among all above criteria the first one usually governs in the road design.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24-4
c. Radius of horizontal curves is decided in such a way that the centrifugal force acting on the
Where, vehicle is balanced by superelevation and side friction.

L = minimum length of spiral, m; d. Basic equation for finding the radius of horizontal curve from the condition of equilibrium of
centrifugal force, superelevation and friction is given below:
V = speed, km/h;
R = curve radius, m; ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24-2

3
C = rate of increase of lateral acceleration, m/s ( , subject to the condition Where,

) R-Radius of Horizontal Curves, m

b. It is not possible to place a transition curve between straight and circular sections if following V-Design speed in km/h
condition is not fulfilled e- Superelevation provided

... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24-5 f- co-efficient of lateral friction, depends on the speed (taken as per Table 24-4)
Where,
L-length of the spiral,m

39 38
l- length of the spiral from BC to the current point(x s,ys) -Deflection angle, in radians
xc,yc-abscissa and ordinate of any point on the circular curve(origin of coordinates at the BCC with R-Radius of circular curve,m
direction of abscissa along the tangent at that point)
Since is always less than , from the above it follows that
L-length of the spiral
... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24-6 i.e L cannot be more than .
T- tangent length
c. No transition curve is required if the lateral shift (S in Figure 24-1) of the circular curve due to
IP-Intersection point
transition curve is less than 0.25m.i.e.
Lc-length of the circular curve
s-shift of the spiral ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24-7
-Deflection angle
Where,
-angle of the spiral
L-length of the spiral,m
Coordinates of points along the spiral are found as follows: R-Radius of circular curve,m

... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24-8

... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24-9

Where,

-Parametre of the spiral

Length of the circular curve equals( in radians)

... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24-10

Coordinates of circular curve are calculated as follows

... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24-11

... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24-12

Shift s equals

... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24-13

Figure 24-1: Elements of a transition or spiral curve
Angle of the spiral (in radians) equals Notations to Figure 24-1:
BC-Beginning of the curve
... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24-14
EC-End of the curve
Length of the tangent T equals BCC-Beginning of the circular curve
ECC-End of the circular curve
R-Radius of the circular curve
xs,ys- abscissa and ordinate of any point on the spiral(origin of coordinates at tangent point or BC
with direction of abscissa towards IP)

41 40
 S-stopping distance, m
... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24-15
h1 - surface, m(taken as 1.0m)
h2-height of object above the pavement surface, m(taken as 0.1m)
24.5 Summit Curve
c. Minimum length of summit curve from the consideration of overtaking distance and twice the
stopping distance is to be found as follows:
a. The length (L) and K-value of vertical summit curve should be selected based on

When overtaking distance or twice the stopping distance (whichever is higher)(S) is less than the required visibility of at least stopping distance as given on Table 8-1. For this purpose
L 2 m above the road surface and any object
lying on the roads surface to be 0.15m high.

i.e. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24-18 the required visibility of at least overtaking distance as given on Table 8-2 or twice the
stopping distance 2 m
above the road surface.
When stopping distance(S) is more than L

i.e. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24-19

When S<L
Where, h1=1.2m
h2=0.15m for stopping sight distance
h2=1.2m for overtaking sight distance
L-Length of summit curve ,m
A-Algebraic difference in approach grades,%
S-stopping distance, m
h1 and h2- surface, m(taken as 1.2m)
Minimum length of summit vertical curve can be found from the following graph (see Figure
24-3) which is a plot of the above formulas. When S>L
h1=1.2m
h2=0.15m for stopping sight distance
h2=1.2m for overtaking sight distance

Figure 24-2: Summit Curve

b. Minimum length of summit curve from the consideration of stopping distance is to be found as
follows:
When stopping distance(S) is less than L

i.e. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24-16

When stopping distance(S) is more than L

i.e. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24-17

Where,
L-Length of summit curve ,m
A-Algebraic difference in approach grades,%

43 42
 Minimum Length of Summit Curve
2000

1800

1600

1400

1200

1000

800
Figure 24-4: Valley Curve from headlight illumination criteria

Length of summit Curve(L),m

d. When stopping distance(S) is less than L 600
L>S
400
i.e. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24-20
L<S
200
When stopping distance(S) is more than L

0
i.e. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24-21
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Where, Algebraic Difference of Grades,A(%)

L-Length of valley curve ,m Figure 24-3: Minimum Length of Summit Vertical curve
A-Algebraic difference in approach grades,%
24.6 Valley Curve
S-stopping distance, m
a. The length (L) and K-value of vertical valley curve should be selected based on the required
H-height of headlight above the pavement surface, m (taken as 0.75m) night visibility by the headlight of the vehicle of at least stopping distance as given on Table
-half of the angle of the headlight beam, deg (taken as 1 deg) 8-1 or based on the riding comfort of the passengers and overloading on the suspension
system of the automobile.
e. Minimum length of valley curve (L) from the consideration of the riding comfort of the
passengers and overloading on the suspension system of the automobile is found as follows:
b. On valley curves during night driving the top of the headlight beam should illuminate the road
to a distance more than the stopping distance

i.e .... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24-22 c. For calculation of the distance illuminated by the headlights, the height of headlight above the
road surface (H) is assumed to be 0.75m and the total angle of the headlight beam (2 ) is
Where, assumed to be 2 deg.

L-Length of valley curve ,m

A-Algebraic difference in approach grades,%
V-design speed in km/h
2
a-maximum allowable overloading coefficient(taken as 0.3 m/s )

45 44
 24.7 References

Length of valley Curve(L),m

INDEX
acceleration, 28, 39 K-value, 13, 14, 32, 42, 44
access, 2, 27, 33 landscape design, 31
ADT, vi, 2, 23, 35 length of valley curve, 15, 45
aesthetic, 18, 31 Levels of Services, 4
barriers, 16, 21, 33 lighting, 26, 30
bicycle track, 23 Local Roads Network, 2
Bridge, 29, 35 Lux, 35
bus lay bys, 24 medians, 16, 17, 21, 25, 26, 32
camber, 7, 17, 26 National Highways, 1
capacity, 3, 4, 15, 24, 47 pavement, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 25, 26, 27, 30,
carriageway, 2, 8, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 26, 30, 33, 35, 43, 45
35 pedestrian, 23, 24
classification, 1, 3 plantation, 32
Climbing Lane, 35 quadratic parabola, 12
Climbing lanes, 10, 11 radius, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 32, 36, 38, 39
Cross Section, 15 retaining walls, 29, 30
Culvert, 35 Right of way, 20
Curbs, 25 Road Humps, 22
deceleration, 24, 28 set-back distance, 9
design speed, 5, 8, 10, 15, 27, 28, 37, 45 shoulder, 16, 20, 26, 35
Design Speed, 5, 7, 10, 14, 15, 17, 28, 35 sight distance, 5, 6, 9, 13, 14, 30
Design Vehicles, 3 slopes, 18, 21, 22, 26, 27, 29
District Roads, 1 Strategic Roads Network, 2
drainage, 10, 26, 29, 30, 35 summit curve, 12, 13, 14, 15, 42, 43
Emergency escape ramps, 11 superelevation, 7, 8, 17, 36, 38
extrawidening, 8 terrain, 2, 3, 4, 5, 16, 17
Feeder Roads, 1 Terrain, 5
footpaths, 20, 23 Transition Curves, 7
Formation width, 17 tunnels, 26, 30, 31
Functional Classification, 2 Urban Roads, 1
gradients, 10, 11 valley curve, 12, 14, 15, 44, 45
hair pin bends, 7, 8 vertical clearance, 21, 24
Intersections, 28, 29 vertical curves, 12, 14, 15, 32, 36

48