Highway and Railroad Engineering

CEPC0203

Quiz 2 – Solutions

In a braking test, a vehicle traveling at a speed of 30 kph was stopped by applying brakes fully and
the skid marks were 5.70m in length. Determine the average skid resistant of the level pavement
surface.

Given:
𝑢 = 30.00 kph 𝐷𝑏 = 5.70 m (skid marks made)
𝐺=0 𝑓 =?

𝑢2
𝐷𝑏 =
254(𝑓 ± 𝐺)
302
5.70 =
254(𝑓 + 0)
𝒇 = 𝟎. 𝟔𝟐

Compute the intermediate sight distance for a freeway with a design speed of 80 kph if the
perception time is assumed to be 2.5 seconds with a skid resistance of 0.70.

Given:
𝑢 = 80.00 kph 𝑡 = 2.50 s 𝑓 = 0.70
𝐺=0 𝑆𝑆𝐷 =?

𝑢2
𝑆𝑆𝐷 = 0.278𝑢𝑡 +
254(𝑓 ± 𝐺)
802
𝑆𝑆𝐷 = (0.278 × 80 × 2.50) +
254(0.70 ± 0)
𝑺𝑺𝑫 = 𝟎𝟗𝟏. 𝟔𝟎 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

Situation 1: A car traveling at 130 kph locks up its wheel and skids up a 3% incline before crashing
into a stationary massive concrete pedestal and coming to a complete stop. The skid marks leading
up to the pedestal are 90 m long. The coefficient of friction between the tires and the road is 0.35.

How far would the car have skidded if it had not hit the pedestal?

Given:
𝑢 = 130.00 kph 𝐷𝑏 =?
𝐺 = +3% 𝑓 = 0.35

𝑢2
𝐷𝑏 =
254(𝑓 ± 𝐺)
1302
𝐷𝑏 =
254(0.35 + 0.03)
𝐷𝑏 = 175.09 meters

Page 1 of 6
 𝐷𝑏 − 90 = 175.09 − 90 = 𝟖𝟓. 𝟎𝟗 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

What was the speed of the car at impact?

Given:
𝑢1 = 130.00 kph 𝑢2 =? 𝐷𝑏 = 90 meters (distance at impact)
𝐺 = +3% 𝑓 = 0.35

𝑢1 2 −𝑢2 2
𝐷𝑏 =
254(𝑓 ± 𝐺)
1302 −𝑢2 2
90 =
254(0.35 + 0.03)
𝒖𝟐 = 𝟗𝟎. 𝟔𝟑 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

Situation 2: A car skidded going into an intersection, struck a pedestrian, and continued until it hit
a tree. Based on the damage to the front of the car, it is estimated that the car was doing 10 kph at
impact with the tree. The length of the skid marks was measured at 42 m. The road is on a downhill
grade of 5%. A test car skidded 15.5 m on the same section of the road when braked from a speed
of 45 kph to a halt.

What is the coefficient of friction between the tires and the pavement?

Given:
𝑢 = 45.00 kph 𝐷𝑏 = 15.50 meters
𝐺 = −5% 𝑓 =?

𝑢2
𝐷𝑏 =
254(𝑓 ± 𝐺)
452
15.50 =
254(𝑓 − 0.05)
𝒇 = 𝟎. 𝟓𝟔

What is the probable speed of the car involved in the accident when the brakes were applied, in
kph?

Given:
𝑢1 =? 𝑢2 = 10 kph 𝐷𝑏 = 42 meters
𝐺 = −5% 𝑓 = 0.56

𝑢1 2 −𝑢2 2
𝐷𝑏 =
254(𝑓 ± 𝐺)
𝑢1 2 − 102
42 =
254(0.56 − 0.05)
𝒖𝟏 = 𝟕𝟒. 𝟕𝟓 ≈ 𝟕𝟓 𝐤𝐩𝐡

Page 2 of 6
If the perception-reaction time of the driver is 1.50 seconds, what could have been his minimum
total stopping distance to avoid the crash, in kph?

Given:
𝑢 = 75 kph 𝑡 = 1.50 seconds 𝑆𝑆𝐷 =?
𝐺 = −5% 𝑓 = 0.56

𝑢2
𝑆𝑆𝐷 = 0.278𝑢𝑡 +
254(𝑓 ± 𝐺)
752
𝑆𝑆𝐷 = (0.278 × 75 × 1.5) +
254(0.56 − .05)
𝑺𝑺𝑫 = 𝟕𝟒. 𝟑𝟑 ≈ 𝟕𝟒 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

A car traveling at 105 kph applies a brake and stopped at a distance of 105 m. The coefficient of
friction between the tires and that road is 0.5. If the perception reaction time is 1.5 seconds, what is
the grade of the road?

Given:
𝑢 = 105 kph 𝑡 = 1.50 seconds 𝑆𝑆𝐷 = 105 m
𝐺 =? 𝑓 = 0.50

𝑢2
𝑆𝑆𝐷 = 0.278𝑢𝑡 +
254(𝑓 ± 𝐺)
1052
105 = (0.278 × 105 × 1.50) +
254(0.50 ± 𝐺)
𝑮 = +𝟎. 𝟐𝟎𝟗𝟏 = 𝟐𝟎. 𝟗𝟏%

Situation 3: A 3-degree simple curve is used to connect two highways whose bearings are S 11 W
and S 47 W.

What is the length of the curve in meters?

Page 3 of 6
Given:
𝐷° = 3° 𝐼 = 47° − 11° = 36° 𝑆 =?

3600°
𝑅=
𝜋𝐷°
3600°
𝑅=
𝜋 × 3°
𝑅 = 381.9719 meters

𝜋
𝑆 = 𝐼𝑅
180°
𝜋
𝑆 = 36° × × 381.9719
180°
𝑺 = 𝟐𝟒𝟎 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

What is the external distance in meters?

𝐼 𝑅
cos=
2 𝐸+𝑅
36° 381.9719
cos =
2 𝐸 + 381.9719
𝑬 = 𝟏𝟗. 𝟔𝟔 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

What is the tangent distance in meters?

𝐼 𝑇
tan =
2 𝑅
36° 𝑇
tan =
2 381.9719
𝑻 = 𝟏𝟐𝟒. 𝟏𝟏 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

What is the middle ordinate in meters?

𝐼 𝐸+𝑀
sin =
2 𝑇

36° 19.66 + 𝑀
sin =
2 124.11
𝑴 = 𝟏𝟖. 𝟔𝟗 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

What is the chord length in meters?

𝐼 𝐶/2
cos=
2 𝑇
36° 𝐶/2
cos =
2 124.11
𝑪 = 𝟐𝟑𝟔. 𝟎𝟕 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

If sta. PI is 23+555, what is the stationing at PT?

𝑠𝑡𝑎. 𝑃𝑇 = 𝑠𝑡𝑎. 𝑃𝐼 − 𝑇 + 𝑆

Page 4 of 6
 𝑠𝑡𝑎. 𝑃𝑇 = [23 + 555] − [0 + 124.11] + [0 + 240]
𝒔𝒕𝒂. 𝑷𝑻 = 𝟐𝟑 + 𝟔𝟕𝟎. 𝟖𝟗

Situation 4: A simple curve of railroad has a degree of 6 degrees and a length of 140m. Determine
the following:

Given:
𝐷° = 6° 𝑆 = 140 meters

What is the central angle of the curve?

Since it’s railroad, we’re using chord basis:

𝜋
𝑆 = 𝐼𝑅
180°
𝜋
140 = 𝐼 × 𝑅 ×
180°
𝑰 = 𝟒𝟏. 𝟗𝟖°

What is the tangent length in meters?

𝐼 𝑇
tan =
2 𝑅
41.98° 𝑇
tan =
2 191.0732
𝑻 = 𝟕𝟑. 𝟑𝟏 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

What is the stationing at PT if PI is at 53+360?

𝑠𝑡𝑎. 𝑃𝑇 = 𝑠𝑡𝑎. 𝑃𝐼 − 𝑇 + 𝑆
𝑠𝑡𝑎. 𝑃𝑇 = [53 + 360] − [0 + 073.31] + [0 + 140]
𝒔𝒕𝒂. 𝑷𝑻 = 𝟓𝟑 + 𝟒𝟐𝟔. 𝟔𝟗

What is the deflection angle (δ) at sta. 53+405.50

𝑆 𝐿
=
𝐼 𝛿
140 (53 + 405.50) − [(53 + 360) − (0 + 073.31)]
=
41.98° 𝛿
𝜹 = 𝟑𝟓. 𝟔𝟑°

The angle of intersection of a circular curve is 4230’. If the external distance is 25.42 m, determine
the length of the curve.

Page 5 of 6
 𝐼 𝑅
cos =
2 𝑅+𝐸
42°30′ 𝑅
cos =
2 𝑅 + 25.42

𝑅 = 348.4468 meters

𝜋
𝑆 = 𝐼𝑅
180°
′
𝜋
𝑆 = (42°30 ) × × 348.4468
180°
𝑺 = 𝟐𝟓𝟖. 𝟒𝟕

What is the distance measured from road’s centerline going to the chord.

Middle ordinate

Page 6 of 6