Class – VII Semester / IV Year

Subject –Transportation Engineering

Unit –2 Highway Geometric Design
Presented by – Jitesh Kumar Jain (Assistant Professor )

Department of Civil Engineering,

Jaipur Engineering College and Research Centre
Jaipur
 VISION
 To become a role model in the field of Civil
Engineering for the sustainable development of
the society

MISSION
1) To provide outcome base education.
2) To create a learning environment conducive
for achieving academic excellence.
3) To prepare civil engineers for the society
with high ethical values.
 PROGRAMME OUTCOMES (PO)

1. Engineering knowledge: Apply the knowledge of mathematics,

science, engineering fundamentals, and an engineering specialization to
the solution of complex engineering problems.
2. Problem analysis: Identify, formulate, research literature, and analyze
complex engineering problems reaching substantiated conclusions using
first principles of mathematics, natural sciences, and engineering
sciences.
3. Design/development of solutions: Design solutions for complex
engineering problems and design system components or processes that
meet the specified needs with appropriate consideration for the public
health and safety, and the cultural, societal, and environmental
considerations
4. Conduct investigations of complex problems: Use
research-based knowledge and research methods including
design of experiments, analysis and interpretation of data, and
synthesis of the information to provide valid conclusions.
5. Modern tool usage: Create, select, and apply appropriate
techniques, resources, and modern engineering and IT tools
including prediction and modeling to complex engineering
activities with an understanding of the limitations.
6. The engineer and society: Apply reasoning informed by the
contextual knowledge to assess societal, health, safety, legal
and cultural issues and the consequent responsibilities relevant
to the professional engineering practice.
7. Environment and sustainability: Understand the impact of the
professional engineering solutions in societal and environmental
contexts, and demonstrate the knowledge of, and need for
sustainable development.
8. Ethics: Apply ethical principles and commit to professional
ethics and responsibilities and norms of the engineering practice.
9. Individual and team work: Function effectively as an
individual, and as a member or leader in diverse teams, and in
multidisciplinary settings.
10. Communication: Communicate effectively on complex
engineering activities with the engineering community and with
society at large, such as, being able to comprehend and write
effective reports and design documentation, make effective
presentations, and give and receive clear instructions.
11. Project management and finance: Demonstrate
knowledge and understanding of the engineering and
management principles and apply these to one’s own work, as
a member and leader in a team, to manage projects and in
multidisciplinary environments.
12. Life-long learning: Recognize the need for, and have the
preparation and ability to engage in independent and life-long
learning in the broadest context of technological change.
 COURSE OUTCOMES
Name of Subject – TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING
Semester- VII Code – 7CE4-01

CO1:-Introduction,modes,development,classification,planning
& alignment of highway in India.
CO2:-Design of highway & desirable properties, testing of
material as per IRC code.
CO 3:-Method of highway construction, Equipment & design
of flexible & rigid pavements as per IRC.
CO4:-Introduction of Railway,Waterways,Airways,Engineering
Importance of geometric design
•The geometric design of a highway deals with the
dimensions and layout of visible features of the highway
such as alignment, sight distance and intersection.
1.The main objective of highway design is to provide
optimum efficiency in traffic operation with
maximum safety at reasonable cost.
2.Geometric design of highways deals with following
elements :
 Cross section elements
 Sight distance considerations
 Horizontal alignment details
 Vertical alignment details
 Intersection elements
Design Controls and criteria
•Design speed
•Topography
•Traffic factors
•Design hourly volume and capacity
•Environmental and other factors

Design speed
•In India different speed standards have been assigned
for different class of road
•Design speed may be modified depending upon the
terrain conditions.
Topography
•Classified based on the general slope of the country.
Plane terrain-<10%
Rolling terrain-10-25%
Mountainous terrain-25-60%
Steep terrain->60%

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

Environmental factors
Aesthetics
Landscaping
Air pollution
Noise pollution
Pavement surface characteristics
Pavementsurfacedependonthetypeofpavementwhichisdecid
edbasedonthe,
•Availability of material
•Volume and composition of traffic
•Soil subgrade
•Climatic condition
•Construction facility
•Cost consideration

The important surface characteristics are:

Friction
Pavement unevenness
Light reflecting characteristics
Drainage of surface water
Friction
•Skidding: when the path travelled along the road surface is
more than the circumferential movement of the wheels due
to their rotation.
•Slipping: when a wheel revolves more than the
corresponding longitudinal movement along the road.

Factors affecting the friction or skid resistance

•Types of pavement surface
•Roughness of pavement
•Condition of the pavement: wet or dry
•Type and condition of tyre
•Speed of the vehicle
•Brake efficiency
•Load and tyrepressure
•Temperature of tyreand pavement
 Smooth and worn out tyresoffer higher friction factor
on dry pavement but new tyrewith good thredsgives
higher friction factor on wet pavement

 IRC recommended the longitudinal co-efficient of

friction varies 0.35 to 0.4 and lateral co-efficient of
friction of 0.15
Pavement unevenness
•Higher operating speed are possible on even surface than
uneven surface.
•It affects,
Vehicle operation cost
Comfort and safety
Fuel consumption
Wear and tear of tyresand other moving parts
•It is commonly measure by an equipment call “Bump
Integrator”
•Bump integrator is the cumulative measure of vertical
undulations of the pavement surface recorded per unit
horizontal length.
•250 cm/km for a speed of 100kmph and more than 350
cm/km considered very unsatisfactory even at speed of 50
kmph.
 Unevenness of pavement surface may be
caused by

 In adequate compaction of the fill, subgradeand

pavement layers.
 Un-scientific construction practices including the use
of boulder stones and bricks as soiling course over
loose subgradesoil.
 Use of inferior pavement material.
 Improper surface and subsurface drainage.
 Improper construction machinery.
 Poor maintenance
Light reflecting characteristics

•Night visibility very much depends upon the light

reflecting characteristics of the pavement surface
•The glare caused by the reflection of head light is high
on wet pavement surface than on dry pavement
particularly in case of black top pavement or flexible
pavement.
•Light colored or white pavement or rigid pavement
surface give good visibility at night particularly during
the rain, and produces glare or eye strain during bright
sunlight.
Highway cross section elements

•Carriageway •Side slope

•Shoulder •Kerb
•Roadway width •Guard rail
•Right of way •Side drain
•Building line •Other facilities
•Control line
•Median
•Camber/ cross slope
•Crown
Carriageway:

•It is the travel way which is used for movement of

vehicle, it takes the vehicular loading .
•It may be cement concrete road or bituminous pavement.
•Width of carriageway is determined on the basis of the
width of the vehicle and the minimum side clearance for
safety.
•As per IRC specification, the maximum width of vehicle
is 2.44m,minimum clearance of 0.68 in case of single lane
and 1.02m in case of double lane.
Shoulder:
•It is provided along the road edge to serve as an
emergency lane for vehicle.
•It act as a service lane for vehicles that have broken down.
•The minimum shoulder width of 4.6 m so that a truck
stationed at the side of the shoulder would have a clearance
of 1.85m from the pavement edge.
•IRC recommended the minimum shoulder width is 2.5 m
•It should have sufficient load bearing capacity even in wet
weather.
•The surface of the should be rougher than the traffic lanes
so that vehicles are discouraged to use the shoulder as a
regular traffic.
•The colourshould be different from that of the pavement
so as to be distinct.
 shoulder

Cycle track

Footpath
Width of the roadway or formation width:

•It is the sum of the width of the carriageway or pavement

including separators if any and the shoulders.

Right of way:
•It is the total area of land acquired for the road along its
alignment.
•It depends on the importance of the road and possible
future development.
•It is desirable to acquire more width of land as the cost of
adjoining land invariably increases very much , soon after
the new highway is constructed.
Building lane:
•Inordertoreservesufficientspaceforfuturedevelopmentofroa
ds,Itisdesirabletocontrolthebuildingactivitiesoneithersideoft
heroadboundary,beyondthelandwidthacquiredfortheland.

Control lines:
•Inadditionto“buildingline”,itisdesirabletocontrolthenatureo
fbuildinguptofurther“setbackdistance”.
Traffic separators or median:
•The main function is to prevent head on collision
between the vehicle moving in opposite direction.
•Channelize traffic into streams at intersection.
•Segregate slow traffic and to protect pedestrians.
•IRC recommends a minimum desirable width of 5 m
and may be reduce to 3 m where land is restricted.
•The minimum width of median in urban area is 1.2m.
Cross slope or camber:
•It is the slope provided to the road surface in the
transverse direction to drain off the rain water from the
road surface.
•To prevent the entry of surface water into the
subgradesoil through pavement.
•To prevent the entry of water into the bituminous
pavement layer.
•To remove the rain water from the pavement surface as
quick as possible and to allow the pavement to get dry
soon after the rain.
•It is expressed as a percentage or 1V:Nh.
•It depends on the pavement surface and amount of
rainfall.
Shape of the cross slope:

•Parabolic shape(fast moving vehicle)

•Straight line
•Combination of parabolic and straight line
Too steep slope is not desirable because of the following
reasons
•Uncomfortable side thrust and unequal wear of the tyres as well as
road surface.
•Problem of toppling over highly laden bullock cart and truck.
•Tendency of most of vehicle travel along the centre line.

Kerb:
•It indicates the boundary between the pavement and shoulder.
•It is desirable to provide kerbs in urban areas.
•It is of three types

1-Low or mountable kerb:

•It allow the driver to enter the shoulder area with little difficulty.
•The height of the this type of shoulder kerb is about 10 cm above the
pavement edge with slope to help the vehicle climb the kerbeasily.
2-Semi-barrier kerb:
•It is provided on the periphery of a roadway where the
pedestrian traffic is high.
•Height of about 15 cm above the pavement edge with a
batter of 1:1 on the top 7.5 cm.
•It prevents parking the vehicle but during emergency it is
possible to drive over this kerbwith some difficulty.

3-Barrier type kerb:

•It is provided in built-up area adjacent to the foot paths
with considerable pedestrian traffic.
•The height of the kerbis about 20 cm above the pavement
edge with a steep batter of 1V:0.25H.
Guard rail

•It is provided at the edge of the shoulder when the

road is constructed on a fill exceeds 3 m.
•It is also provided on horizontal curve so as to
provide a better night visibility of the curves under the
head light of the vehicle.
Road margins

Parking lane:
•These are provided on urban roads to allow kerbparking
•As far as possible only parallel parking should be allowed as it is safer for
moving vehicle.
•It should have sufficient width say 3m

Lay bay:
•These are provided near the public conveniences with guide map to enable
driver to stop clear off the carriageway.
•It has 3m width,30m length with 15m end tapers on both sides.

Bus bays:
•These may be provided by recessing the kerbto avoid conflict with moving
traffic.
•It is located atleast75m away from the intersection
Frontage road:
•These are provided to give access to properties along an important highway with
control access to express way or free way
•It may run parallel to the highway and are isolated by separator.

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

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

Footpath:
•These are provided in urban areas when the vehicular as well as pedestrian traffic are
heavy.
•To protect the pedestrian and decrease accident.
•Minimum width of 1.5m is provided.
Guard rails
Bibliography
•Khanna, S. K., & Justo, C. E. G. “Highway
engineering”. NemChand& Bros.
•IRC Codes.