A presentation on

Presented By:
Dr. Jitendra Gurjar
Assistant Professor

Department of Civil Engineering, NIT Srinagar

 Vertical Alignment
o The vertical alignment of a road
consists of gradients (straight
lines in a vertical plane) and ver-
tical curves.
o The vertical alignment is usually
drawn as a profile, which is a
graph with elevation as vertical
axis and the horizontal distance
along the centre line of the road
as the horizontal axis.
 Vertical Alignment
Gradients
oGradient is defined as the rise or fall corresponding to some hor-
izontal distance.
oRise with respect to horizontal distance is called Upward gradi-
ent (+n %)
oFall with respect to Horizontal distance is called Downward
Gradient (-n %).
 Vertical Alignment
Gradients
oBefore finalizing the gradients, the construction cost, vehicular oper-
ation cost and the practical problems in the site also has to be consid-
ered.
oUsually steep gradients are avoided as far as possible because of the
difficulty to climb and increase in the construction cost.
oThe effect of long steep gradient on the vehicular speed is consider-
able.
oThis is particularly important in roads where the proportion of heavy
vehicles is significant.
 Vertical Alignment
Gradients
oDue to restrictive sight distance at uphill gradients the speed of traf-
fic is often controlled by these heavy vehicles.
oAs a result, not only the operating costs of the vehicles are increased,
but also capacity of the roads will have to be reduced.
oFurther, due to high differential speed between heavy and light vehi-
cles, and between uphill and downhill gradients, accidents abound in
gradients.
Vertical Alignment
 Vertical Alignment
Types of Gradients

o Ruling gradient
o Limiting gradient
o Exceptional gradient
o Minimum gradient
 Vertical Alignment
Types of Gradients Ruling gradient

oThe ruling gradient or the design gradient is

the maximum gradient with which the designer
attempts to design the vertical profile of the
road.
oThis depends on the terrain, length of the
grade, speed, pulling power of the vehicle and
the presence of the horizontal curve.
oIn flatter terrain, it may be possible to provide
flat gradients, but in hilly terrain it is not eco-
 Vertical Alignment
Types of Gradients Ruling gradient

oThe ruling gradient is adopted by the designer by considering a par-

ticular speed as the design speed and for a design vehicle with stan-
dard dimensions.
oBut our country has a heterogeneous traffic and hence it is not possi-
ble to lay down precise standards for the country as a whole.
oHence IRC has recommended some values for ruling gradient for
different types of terrain
 Vertical Alignment
Types of Gradients Limiting gradient

oThis gradient is adopted when the ruling gradient results in enor-

mous increase in cost of construction.
oOn rolling terrain and hilly terrain it may be frequently necessary to
adopt limiting gradient.
oBut the length of the limiting gradient stretches should be limited
and must be sandwiched by either straight roads or easier grades.
 Vertical Alignment
Types of Gradients Exceptional gradient

oExceptional gradient are very steeper gradients given at unavoidable

situations.
oThey should be limited for short stretches not exceeding about 100
metres at a stretch.
oIn mountainous and steep terrain, successive exceptional gradients
must be separated by a minimum 100 metre length gentler gradient.
oAt hairpin bends, the gradient is restricted to 2.5%.
 Vertical Alignment
Types of Gradients Mini-
mum gradient
oThis is important only at loca-
tions where surface drainage is
important.
oCamber will take care of the lat-
eral drainage.
oBut the longitudinal drainage
along the side drains require some
slope for smooth flow of water.
 Vertical Alignment
Types of Gradients Minimum
gradient
oTherefore minimum gradient is pro-
vided for drainage purpose and it de-
pends on the rain fall, type of soil and
other site conditions.
oA minimum of 1 in 500 may be suffi-
cient for concrete drain and 1 in 200
for open soil drains are found to give
satisfactory performance..
 Vertical Alignment
Representation of Gradients
oThe positive gradient or the ascend-
ing gradient is denoted as (+n) and the
negative gradient or descending gradi-
ent as (−n).
oThe deviation angle N is: when two
grades meet, the angle which measures
the change of direction and is given by
the algebraic difference between the
two grades [n1 − (−n2)] = n1 + n2 = α1 +
α2.
 Vertical Alignment
Representation of Gradients

o Example: 1 in 30 = 3.33% ≈ 2º is a steep gradient,

while 1 in 50 = 2% ≈ 1º10’ is a flatter gradient.
o IRC Specifications for gradients for different roads.
 Vertical Alignment
Creeper Lane
oCreeper lane When the uphill climb is extremely long, it may be de-
sirable to introduce an additional lane so as to allow slow ascending
vehicles to be removed from the main stream so that the fast moving
vehicles are not affected.
oThere are no hard and fast rules as when to introduce a creeper lane.
But generally, it can be said that it is desirable to provide a creeper
lane when the speed of the vehicle gets reduced to half the design
speed.
 Vertical Alignment
Creeper Lane
oWhen there is no restrictive sight distance to reduce the speed of the
approaching vehicle, the additional lane may be initiated at some dis-
tance uphill from the beginning of the slope.
oBut when the restrictions are responsible for the lowering of speeds,
obviously the lane should be initiated at a point closer to the bottom of
the hill.
oAlso the creeper lane should end at a point well beyond the hill crest,
so that the slow moving vehicles can return back to the normal lane
without any danger.
oIn addition, the creeper lane should not end suddenly, but only in a ta-
pered manner for efficient as well as safer transition of vehicles to the
normal lane.
 Vertical Alignment
Grade Compensation
oWhile a vehicle is negotiating a horizontal curve, if there is a gradi-
ent also, then there will be increased resistance to traction due to both
curve and the gradient.
o In such cases, the total resistance should not exceed the resistance
due to gradient specified.
oFor the design, in some cases this maximum value is limited to the
ruling gradient, and in some cases as limiting gradient.
oSo if a curve need to be introduced in a portion which has got the
maximum permissible gradient, then some compensation should be
provided so as to decrease the gradient for overcoming the tractive
loss due to curve.
 Vertical Alignment
Grade Compensation
oGrade compensation can be defined as the reduction in gradient at
the horizontal curve because of the additional tractive force required
due to curve resistance (T−Tcosα), which is intended to offset the ex-
tra tractive force involved at the curve.
oIRC gave the following specification for the grade compensation.
o Grade compensation is not required for grades flatter than 4%
because the loss of tractive force is negligible.
o Grade compensation is [30+R/R] %, where R is the radius of
the horizontal curve in meters.
o
Vertical Alignment
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve
o A vertical curve provides a transition between two sloped road-
ways, allowing a vehicle to negotiate the elevation rate change at a
gradual rate rather than a sharp cut.
oThe design of the curve is dependent on the intended design
speed for the roadway, as well as other factors including drainage,
slope, acceptable rate of change, and friction.
oGenerally two types of vertical curves are there to adopt for the
vertical alignment. They are:
o Summit curve
o Valley curve
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Summit curve
o Summit curve is a vertical curve
adopted mainly when the gradient
is upwards.
o In case of summit curve simple
parabola is considered as best
curve shape.
o There are four different cases are
involved in adoption of summit
curve as follows
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Summit curve
o When a positive gradient meets an-
other positive gradient [Figure a].
o When positive gradient meets a flat
gradient [Figure b].
o When an ascending gradient meets
a descending gradient [Figure c].
o When a descending gradient meets
another descending gradient [Figure
d].
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Summit curve: Design Criteria
oWhen a fast moving vehicle travels along a summit curve, there is
less discomfort to the passengers.
oThis is because the centrifugal force will be acting upwards while the
vehicle negotiates a summit curve which is against the gravity and
hence a part of the tyre pressure is relieved.
oAlso if the curve is provided with adequate sight distance, the length
would be sufficient to ease the shock due to change in gradient
oOn summit curves, centrifugal force acting upwards hence the springs
of vehicle is not compressed and therefore passenger comfort is not a
issue.
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Summit curve: Design Criteria
osight distance requirements for the safety is most important on sum-
mit curves.
oThe stopping sight distance or absolute minimum sight distance
should be provided on these curves.
owhere overtaking is not prohibited, overtaking sight distance or in-
termediate sight distance should be provided as far as possible.
o
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Summit curve: Design Criteria
oOn summit curves, centrifugal force acting upwards hence the springs
of vehicle is not compressed and therefore passenger comfort is not a
issue.
o Design of summit curve as a square parabola because the rate of
change of slope is decreasing always so more sight distance available at
the top of curve.
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Length of Summit curve when L> S
o The situation when the sight dis-
tance is less than the length of
the curve is shown in figure.
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Length of Summit curve when L< S
o The situation when the From the basic geometry, one can
sight distance is greater write
than the length of the
curve is shown in figure.

Therefore for a given L, h1 and h2 to

get minimum S, differentiate the
above equation with respect to h1
and equate it to zero. Therefore,
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Length of Summit curve when L< S

Now we can substitute n back to get

the value of minimum value of L for
a given n1, n2, h1 and h2. Therefore,
Solving the quadratic equation for
n1,.
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Length of Summit curve when L< S
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Length of Summit curve
Sight Height of Height of object Formula
Distance (S) driver’s eye above pavement
(h1) surface (h2)

When L>S
SSD 1.2 m 0.15m L = Ns2 / 4.4
OSD/ISD 1.2m 1.2m L = Ns2 / 9.6
When L<S
SSD 1.2 m 0.15m L = 2s – 4.4/N
OSD/ISD 1.2m 1.2m L = 2s – 9.6/N
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Valley curve
o Valley (Sag) curves are those curves which have convexity down-
wards.
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Valley curve

o They are formed under the four follow-

ing conditions:
 When a negative gradient meets an-
other mild negative gradient (a)
 When a negative gradient meets a
level zero gradient (b)
 When a negative gradient meets
with a positive gradient (c)
 When a positive gradient meets an-
other steeper positive gradient (d)
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Valley curve: Design Consideration

o There is no restriction to sight distance at valley curves during day

time.
o But visibility is reduced during night.
o In the absence or inadequacy of street light, the only source for vis-
ibility is with the help of headlights.
o Hence valley curves are designed taking into account of headlight
distance.
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Valley curve: Design Consideration

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

stopping sight distance.
o There is no problem of overtaking sight distance at night since
the other vehicles with headlights could be seen from a consid-
erable distance
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Valley curve: Design Consideration

o In valley curves, the centrifugal force will be acting downwards

along with the weight of the vehicle, and hence impact to the ve-
hicle will be more.
o This will result in jerking of the vehicle and cause discomfort to
the passengers.
o Thus the most important design factors considered in valley
curves are:
o impact-free movement of vehicles at design speed and
o availability of stopping sight distance under headlight of vehi-
cles for night driving.
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Length of Valley curve

o For gradually introducing and increasing the centrifugal force

acting downwards, the best shape that could be given for a val-
ley curve is a transition curve.
o Cubic parabola is generally preferred in vertical valley curves.
o The valley curve is made fully transitional by providing two
similar transition curves of equal length.
o The transitional curve is set out by a cubic parabola y = bx3
where b = 2N/3L2.
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Length of Valley curve

o The length of the valley transition curve is designed based on

two criteria:
 Comfort criteria; that is allowable rate of change of cen-
trifugal acceleration is limited to a comfortable level of
about 0.6m/sec3.
 Safety criteria; that is the driver should have adequate head-
light sight distance at any part of the country
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Length of Valley curve: Comfort criteria

o The length of the valley curve

based on the rate of change of
centrifugal acceleration that will
ensure comfort.
o Let c is the rate of change of ac-
celeration, R the minimum ra-
dius of the curve, v is the design
speed and t is the time, then c is
given as
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Length of Valley curve: Safety criteria

o Length of the valley curve for headlight distance may be de-

termined for two conditions:
o length of the valley curve greater than stopping sight dis-
tance
o length of the valley curve less than the stopping sight
distance.
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Length of Valley curve: Safety criteria: L>SSD

o The sight distance available will

be minimum when the vehicle is
in the lowest point in the valley.
o This is because the beginning of
the curve will have infinite ra-
dius and the bottom of the curve
will have minimum radius which
is a property of the transition
curve.
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Length of Valley curve: Safety criteria: L>SSD
o Let us consider
 N is the deviation angle
in radians.
 h1 is the height of head-
light beam.
 α is the head beam incli-
nation in degrees and S
is the sight distance.
 The inclination α is ≈ 1
degree.
 From the geometry of the
figure,
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Length of Valley curve: Safety criteria: L>SSD
o Let us consider
 N is the deviation angle
in radians.
 h1 is the height of head-
light beam.
 α is the head beam incli-
nation in degrees and S
is the sight distance.
 The inclination α is ≈ 1
degree.
 From the geometry of the
figure,
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Length of Valley curve: Safety criteria: L<SSD

o In this case the minimum sight distance is from the beginning of the
curve.
o The important points are the beginning of the curve and the bottom
most part of the curve.
o If the vehicle is at the bottom of the curve, then its headlight beam
will reach far beyond the endpoint of the curve whereas, if the vehicle
is at the beginning of the curve, then the headlight beam will hit just
outside the curve.
o Therefore, the length of the curve is derived by assuming the vehicle
at the beginning of the curve .
 Vertical Alignment
Vertical Curve Length of Valley curve: Safety criteria: L<SSD
o From the figure,