UNIT –III

Geometric Design of
highway

Dr. RAM VILAS MEENA

Assistant Professor (Civil Engineering Dept.)
JECRC university Jaipur
B.Tech , M.Tech, Ph.D MNIT Jaipur
Transportation Engineering
What is Geometric Design of
Highways?
• Geometric design deals with the visible elements of a highway.

• It is concerned with the positioning of the visible elements according

to the standards and constraints.

• It includes the design elements of cross-section component, sight

distance, horizontal and vertical alignment etc.
 Basic Principles Of
Geometric Design
• To develop a uniform practice to achieve optimum design standards
for rural roads.

• Geometric features do not allow stage construction.

• Improvements of features like grade , curvature , widening of CD at

later stage is expensive and sometimes impossible in hilly and remote
area.
Therefore, Ultimate geometric requirements to be kept in view right
from the beginning.
• Design standards are absolute minimum.

• Minimum values shall only be applied if technical or economical

considerations are there.

• General effort is to exceed minimum values.

• Geometric design also affects "livability," which is defined as

designing roads to foster broader community goals, including
providing access to employment, schools, businesses and residences,
accommodate a range of travel modes such as walking, bicycling,
transit, and automobiles, and minimizing fuel use, emissions and
environmental damage.
 Rural Roads
• Rural roads refer commonly to Other District Roads and
Village Roads.

• Other District Roads are roads serving rural areas of

production and providing them with outlet to market centres,
tehsil headquarters, block development headquarters, or other
main roads.

• Village Roads are roads connecting villages or group of

villages with each other and to the nearest road of a higher
category.
 Terrain Classification
• The geometric design of a highway is influenced significantly by
terrain conditions.

• Terrain is classified by the general slope of the country across the

highway alignment.

Terrain Classification Cross Slope of the country

Plain 0-10% More than 1 in 10

Rolling 10-25% 1 in 10 to 1 in 4

Mountainous 25-60% 1 in 4 to 1 in 1.67

Steep Greater than 60% Less than 1 in 1.67

 Design Speed (in kmph)
• It is the basic parameter which determines all other geometric
design features.

• Choice of design speed depends on the function of the road as

also terrain conditions.
Road Plain terrain Rolling Mountainous Steep terrain
classification terrain terrain

Ruling Min. Ruling Min. Ruling Min. Ruling Min.

Other District
Roads 50 40 40 35 25 20 25 20

Village Roads 50 40 40 35 25 20 25 20
• Ruling design speed should be the guiding criteria for
correlating the various geometric design features.

• Minimum design speed may be adopted in sections where site

conditions ,including costs, do not permit a design based on
the ruling design speed.

• The 98th percentile speed in the graph of cumulative speed of

vehicle is taken for the purpose of highway geometric design.
Cross-Sectional Elements
 Road Land Width/
Right of Way
• Road land width (also known as Right of way) is the land
acquired for the road purposes, along its alignment.

Mountainous and Steep

Plain and Rolling Terrain
Terrain
Built-up
Road classification Open Area Built-up Area Open Area Area
Normal Range Normal Range Normal Normal
(m) (m) (m) (m) (m) (m)

Other District Roads

15 15-25 15 15-20 15 12

Village Roads 12 12-18 10 10-15 9 9

• If a road is expected to be upgraded to a higher classification in the
foreseeable future, the land width should correspond to the latter.

•In high banks or deep cuts, the land width should be suitably
increased.
Building Line & Control Line
• Building line is defined by a hypothetical line set back from the road
boundary to restrict the building activity within a prescribed distance
from the road.
• It will be desirable to exercise control on the nature of
building activity for a further distance beyond the building line
up to Control lines.
 Recommended Standards for Building Lines and
Control Lines
Road Plain and Rolling terrain Mountainous and Steep
Classificati Terrain
on
Open Areas Built-Up Open Areas Built-Up
Areas Areas
Overall Overall Distance Distance between
width width between Building Line and Road
between between Building-line Boundary (setback) (m)
Building Control and Road
Lines (m) Lines (m) boundary (m)
Other 30 35 3-5 3-5 3-5
District
Roads

Village 25 30 3-5 3-5 3-5

Roads
 Roadway Width
• Roadway width is the sum of widths of pavements or carriageway
including separators if any; and the shoulders.
 Width Of Roadway for Rural-Roads

Road Classification Roadway Width, m at :

Plain and Rolling Mountainous and

Terrain Steep Terrain
Other District Roads 7.5 4.75
-Single Lane Road

Other District Roads 9.0 -

-Two lane Road

Village Road 7.5 4.00

-Single Lane
Roadway Width At Cross-
Drainage Structures
• Cross-drainage structures are difficult to widen at a later stage.
Therefore the roadwidth for them should be decided very
carefully at the planning stage itself

• The desirable roadway width at culvert locations in

mountainous and steep terrain is 4.25m.

• Roadway width at bridges between kerb is as:

Single-Lane Road : 4.25 m
Two-Lane Road : 7.5 m
Multi-Lane Road : 3.5 m per lane + 0.5 m per
carriageway
 Carriageway Width

• The width of carriageway is taken as 3.75m.

• Carriageway width may be restricted to 3.0m, where traffic intensity

is less than 100 motorised vehicles per day and where the traffic is not
likely to increase due to situation, like dead end, low habitation and
difficult terrain condition.
 Shoulder Width
• Shoulder width will be one-half the difference between the
roadway width and carriage way width.

• It is proposed to have {1.875 m to 1.5 m} wide shoulder as the

case may be on both sides of which at least 0.875m is hard
shoulder where required.
 Camber or Cross Slope
• It is the slope provided to the road surface in the transverse
direction to drain off the rain water from the road surface.

• Usually the camber is provided on the straight roads by raising

the centre of the carriageway with respect to the edges,
forming a crown or highest point on the centre line.
• The camber is given a parabolic elliptic, straight line, or
combination of both shape in the cross section.
 Value of Camber
Surface type Camber (%)

Low Rainfall High Rainfall

Intensity Intensity
Earth road 3.0 4.0

WBM Gravel road 2.5 3.0

Thin bituminous road 2.0 2.5

Rigid Pavement or 1.7 2.0

High Type Bituminous Surfacing
Sight Distance
 Sight Distance
• The safe and efficient operation of vehicles on the road
depends very much on the visibility of the road ahead of the
driver.

• Sight Distance available from a point is the actual distance

along the road surface, which is visible ahead to the driver at
any instance.

• Three types of sight distances are :

1) Stopping Sight Distance (SSD)
2) Overtaking Sight Distance (OSD)
3) Intermediate Sight Distance (ISD)
 Stopping Sight Distance
• Stopping sight distance is the clear distance ahead needed by a
driver to bring his vehicle to a stop before meeting a stationary
object in his path on the road.

• Minimum stopping sight distance is given by the sum of :

i. Distance travelled during the perception and brake reaction
time and
ii. The braking distance.
 Perception And Brake
Reaction Time
• It is the time interval between the instant the driver sights a
dangerous object for which a stop is necessary and the instant
the brakes are applied.

• A value of 2.5 sec is considered reasonable for most of the

situations.

• The distance travelled during this time is given as :

 Braking Distance
• Braking distance is the distance required for a vehicle to come
to stop after the brakes are applied.

• On a level road, assuming friction remains constant during

deceleration, Braking Distance is given by :
• The braking distance formula amended to take the effect of

grades into account is :

• Minimum stopping sight distance is given by the sum of the

components d1 and d2.
Stopping Sight Distance for various speeds
Overtaking Sight Distance
• All vehicles do not move at the designated speed and in such
circumstances it is necessary for fast moving vehicles to
overtake or pass the slow moving vehicle.

• Overtaking Sight Distance is the minimum sight distance that

should be available to a driver to enable him to overtake
another vehicle safely.
• Design values for Overtaking Sight Distance :
• Dynamics of the overtaking operation is given in a
Time-Space diagram.
• The trajectory of the slow moving vehicle (B) is shown as a
straight line which indicates that it is traveling at a constant
speed.

• A fast moving vehicle (A) is traveling behind the vehicle B.

• The vehicle A slows down to follow the vehicle B as shown in

the figure with same slope from t0 to t1.

• Then it overtakes the vehicle B and occupies the left lane at

time t3.

• The time duration T = t3 - t1 is the actual duration of the

overtaking operation.
s

Vb X T d2

s
•Thus the overtaking sight distance is :
 Overtaking Zones
• Overtaking Zones are provided when overtaking sight distance
cannot be provided throughout the length of the highway.

• These are zones dedicated for overtaking operation.

• The desirable length of overtaking zones is five times OSD and

the minimum is three times OSD.

Intermediate Sight Distance
• The sections of roads where the customary overtaking sight
distance cannot be provided, should be designed for
Intermediate Sight Distance.

• Intermediate Sight Distance is defined as twice the normal safe

stopping distance i.e. (2 × S.S.D).

• It improves visibility appreciably.

• It give a chance to driver to overtake with caution.

• Recommended Values of Intermediate Sight Distance for different

speeds :
Headlight Sight Distance at
Valley Curve
• For night travel the design must ensure that the road-way
ahead is illuminated by vehicles headlight for a sufficient
length which enables the vehicle to brake to a stop, if
necessary.
This is known as the headlight sight distance.

• It is equal to the safe stopping sight distance.

Sight Distance At
Intersections
 Sight Distance At
Intersections
• At intersections where two or more roads meet, the sight
distance should be provided such that the drivers on either side
should be able to see each other.

• Sight distance at intersections may be used on three possible

conditions:
i. Enabling approaching vehicle to change the speed
ii. Enabling approaching vehicle to stop
iii. Enabling stopped vehicle to cross a main road
Horizontal Alignment
 Horizontal Alignment
• Often changes in the direction are necessitated in highway
alignment due to obligatory points.

• Obligatory are the control points governing the alignment of

highway for e.g. religious place, costly structure, unsuitable
land, bridge site, intermediate town, hill range, high ridges etc.

• The alignment should enable consistent, safe and smooth

movement of vehicles operating at design speeds. It is hence
necessary to avoid those sharp curves and reverse curves
which could not be conveniently negotiated by vehicles at
design speed.
• Various design factors to be considered in the horizontal
alignment are :
 Horizontal Curves
 Super elevation
 Radii of Horizontal Curves
 Transition Curves
 Widening of Carriageway on curves.

• Improper design of horizontal alignment of roads would

necessitate speed changes resulting in increased vehicle
operation cost and higher accident rate.
Horizontal Curves
 Horizontal Curves
• In general, Horizontal curves should consist of a circular
portion, flanked by spiral transitions at both ends.
• Short curves for particularly small deflection angle should be
avoided. Curve length should be atleast 150m for a deflection
angle of 5 degrees and should be increase by 30m for each one
degree decrease in deflection angle.

• Reverse curve, needed in difficult terrain, should have

sufficient length between the two curves for introduction of
requisite transition curve.

• Compound curve may be used in difficult topography but only

when it is impossible to fit in a single curve.
 Super-Elevation
• It is a transverse inclination to the pavement surface.

• To counter act the effect of centrifugal force.

• To reduce the tendency of the vehicle to overturn or skid.

Rv

≈
Fc
α

α e
W 1
Wn Ff

Ff
α
• The super-elevation can be obtained from this expression:
Radii of Horizontal Curve
• On horizontal curve, the centrifugal force is balanced by the
combined effects of super-elevation and side friction.
 • The basic equation for this condition of equilibrium is :

Where :
v = vehicle speed in m/s
V = vehicle speed in km/h
g = acceleration due to gravity in m/ s2
e = superelevation ratio in m/m
f = coeff. of side friction between vehicle tyres and pavement
R = radius in m
 Radii of Horizontal Curve
Classification Plain Terrain Rolling Mountanious Steep terrain
Of Roads Terrain Terrain
Areas Snow Areas Snow
not Bound not Bound
affected Areas affected Areas
By By
Snow Snow

Ruling Absolut Ruling Absolut Ru Ab Ru Ab Ru Ab Ru Ab

Min. e Min. Min. e Min. lin sol lin sol lin sol lin sol
g ute g ute g ute g ute
Mi Mi Mi Mi Mi Mi Mi Mi
n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n.

ODR 155 90 90 60 30 20 33 23 20 14 23 15

Village Road 90 60 60 45 20 14 23 15 20 14 23 15
Horizontal Transition Curve
• A Transition Curve is the curve which is introduced between a
straight and circular curve.

• The radius of the transition curve decreases from infinity at

the tangent point to a designed radius of the circular curve.

• The ideal shape of a transition curve should be such that the

rate of introduction of centrifugal force should be consistent.
 Functions of Transition
Curve
• To introduce gradually the centrifugal force between the
tangent point and the beginning of the circular curve, avoiding
a sudden jerk on the vehicle.

• To enable the driver turn the steering gradually for his own
comfort and security.

• To enable gradual introduction of the desired superelevation

and extra widening of pavement at the start of circular curve.
• Minimum length of the transition curve should be determined
from the following two considerations and the larger of the two
values are adopted for design :
Extra Widening of Pavement
• Extra widening refers to the additional width of carriageway
that is required on a curved section of a road over and above
that required on a straight alignment.

• This widening is done due to two reasons:

i. Mechanical widening

ii. Psychological widening

 Mechanical Widening
• It is due to the additional width required for a vehicle taking a
horizontal curve.

• When a vehicle negotiates a horizontal curve, the rear wheels

follow a path of shorter radius than the front wheels. This
phenomenon is called off-tracking, and has the effect of
increasing the effective width of a road space required by the
vehicle.

• The extra widening of a road with n lanes is given by:

• Let R1 is the radius of the outer track line of the rear wheel, R2 is the

radius of the outer track line of the front wheel l is the distance between

the front and rear wheel.

 Psychological Widening
• There is a tendency for the drivers to drive close to the edges
of the pavement on curves.

• Some extra space is to be provided for more clearance for the

crossing and overtaking operations on curves.

• IRC proposed an empirical relation for the psychological

widening at horizontal curves Wps :
• The Extra Widening of Pavement at Curve as per IRC
guideline is given below:

Radius of Curve
Upto 20 21 - 60 Above 60
(m)

Extra Widening
for 3.75 m wide
0.9 0.6 Nil
single lane
carriageway, (m)
• Length of the transition curve is the highest of the above
values, therefore it taken as 35.1 m or 35 m
Vertical Alignment
 Vertical Alignment
• The Vertical Alignment should provide for a smooth
longitudinal profile, consistent with category of the road and
lay of the terrain.

• The Vertical Alignment of a road consists of

 Gradients and

 Vertical curves
 Gradient
• Gradient is the rate of rise or fall along the length of the road
with respect to the horizontal.

• The positive(ascending) gradient is denoted as +n and the

negative gradient as −n.
 Types of Gradient
• Gradients are divided into the following category:

 Ruling gradient

 Limiting gradient

 Exceptional gradient and

 Minimum gradient
 Ruling Gradient
• The Ruling Gradient or the design gradient is the maximum
gradient with which the designer attempts to design the
vertical profile of the road.

• This depends on the terrain, length of the grade, speed, pulling

power of the vehicle and the presence of the horizontal curve.
 Limiting Gradient
• This gradient is adopted when the ruling gradient results in
enormous increase in cost of construction.

• On rolling terrain and hilly terrain it may be frequently

necessary to adopt limiting gradient.
 Exceptional Gradient
• Exceptional gradient are very steep gradients given at
unavoidable situations.

• They should be limited for short stretches not exceeding about

100 meters at a stretch.

• In mountainous and steep terrain, successive exceptional

gradients must be separated by a minimum 100 meters length
gentler gradient.
 Minimum Gradient
• This is important only at locations where surface drainage is
important.

• Camber will take care of the lateral drainage. But the

longitudinal drainage along the side drains require some slope
for smooth flow of water.

• Therefore minimum gradient is provided for drainage purpose

and it depends on the rain fall, type of soil and other site
conditions
 IRC Specifications for Gradients

Plain Terrain Rolling Terrain

Ruling Gradient
3.3 % 3.3 %

Limiting Gradient
5% 5%

Exceptional Gradient
6% 6%
 Grade Compensation
• While a vehicle is negotiating a horizontal curve, if there is a
gradient also, then there will be increased resistance to traction due
to both horizontal curve and the gradient.

• Grade Compensation can be defined as the reduction in gradient at

the horizontal curve because of the additional tractive force
required due to curve resistance.
Vertical Curves
 Vertical Curves
• Vertical curves are introduced for smooth transition at grade
changes.

• Convex vertical curves are known as Summit Curves.

G1 G2

Summit Vertical Curve

• Concave vertical curves are known as Valley Curves.

G1 G2
Valley Vertical Curve
 Summit Curve
• Summit curves are vertical curves with gradient upwards.

• They are formed when two gradients meet in any of the following
four ways:

a) when a positive gradient meets another positive gradient

b) when positive gradient meets a flat gradient

c) when an ascending gradient meets a descending gradient

 d) when a descending gradient meets another descending
gradient.

• Generally parabolic curves are used in summit curves due to

following reason :

 The ease with it can be laid out and

 It allows a comfortable transition from one gradient to another.

 Design Consideration
• Sight distance requirements for the safety is most important on
summit curves.

• The stopping sight distance or absolute minimum sight

distance should be provided on these curves.

• Where overtaking is not prohibited, overtaking sight distance

or intermediate sight distance should be provided as far as
possible.
• The length of the vertical curves is controlled by sight distance

requirements.

SSD

Line of Sight

G1 G2

h2
h1

L
Length of the Summit Curve
•N is the deviation angle
•h1 driver's eye height (1.2 m) and
•h2 the height of the obstruction
 Valley Curve
• Types of valley curve:

a) when a descending gradient meets another descending gradient

b) when a descending gradient meets a flat gradient

• when a descending gradient meets an ascending gradient

• when an ascending gradient meets another ascending gradient

 Design Consideration
• The most important design factors considered in valley curves
are:

• Impact-free movement of vehicles at design speed and

• Availability of stopping sight distance under headlight of

vehicles for night driving

• Cubic parabola is generally preferred in vertical valley curves

•During night, under headlight driving condition, sight distance
reduces and availability of stopping sight distance under head light
is very important.

•The head light sight distance should be at least equal to the

stopping sight distance.

Head Light Beam Distance (SSD)

G1 headlight beam G2

h1 h2=0

L
Length of the Valley Curve
 Side slope
• Side slope for rural road (where embankment height is less
than 3.0m) is given in the table below:
Condition Slope (H:V)

Embankment in silty/sandy/gravel soil 2:1

Embankment in clay or clayey silt or inundated 2.5:1 to 3:1

condition
Cutting in silty/sandy/gravelly soil 1:1 to 0.5:1

Cutting in disintegrated rock or conglomerate 0.5:1 to 0.25:1

Cutting in soft rock like shale 0.25:1 to 0.125:1

Cutting in medium rock like sandstone, phyllite 0.083:1 to 0.0625:1

Cutting in hard rock like quartzite, granite Near vertical

 References
• IRC : 73-1980 Geometric Design Standards For Rural
Highways
• IRC : 66-1976 Recommended Practice For Sight Distance On
Rural Highways
• PMGSY website (www.pmgsy
.nic.in/circulars/Annex%20III_210108.doc 24/1/2012)
• PMGSY DPR template (www.pmgsy
.nic.in/circulars/DPR_Template.doc 24/1/2012)
• PMGSY operations manual (
http://pmgsy.nic.in/downloads/opman_feb.pdf 28/1/2012)
THANK YOU.