COTM 3102:

ROAD &
BRIDGE
CONSTRUCTIO
NI
Chair, infrastructure Design &
Construction ,EIABC
 CHAPTER 4-ROAD SAFETY
CONSIDERATIONS & DESIGN
 SUPER-ELEVATION
 When a vehicle negotiate a curve and move along
the curve, it changes its direction continuously,

 The change in direction involves a radial

acceleration of magnitude
V2
ar 
R of magnitude F = m*a
 Hence, a centrifugal force c r

will be developed to take the vehicle out of the

lane or SLIDE
 The practical solution for such problem is to
2
bank or super-elevate the outer lane of the
road
Fc

Fc

Fc

3
4
 SUPER-ELEVATION

Rv

≈
Fc
α
F cn
F cp
α e
W Ff 1
Wn
y Ff
x Wp N
α
N
 WV 2  WV 2 5
W sin   f s  W cos   sin    cos 
 gRv  gRv
SUPER ELEVATION EQUATION
 WV 2
 WV 2
W sin   f s  W cos   sin    cos 
 gRv  gRv
2
V
tan   f s  1  f s tan  
gRv
V2
e  fs  1  f s e 
gRv Where:
2 e=rate of super
V elevation
e  fs  fs= coefficient of
gRv friction
2 R= radius of horizontal
V curve
Rv  6

g  f s  e in meter
V= Design Speed in m/s
MINIMUM RADIUS OF CIRCULAR CURVE

 NB: The Equation V2 Provides the

Rv 
g  f s  e
minimum Radius of a circular horizontal curve.

7
EXAMPLE-1
a) What is the minimum radius of a circular
horizontal curve allowable for a roadway
with design speed of 100Km/hr. if the
allowable rate of super elevation is 0.08 and
coefficient of friction is 0.12.
b) What will be the rate of supper elevation if
the radius of the curve increased to 500m

8
SELECTION OF E AND FS
 Practical limits on super-elevation (e)
 Climate
 Constructability
 Adjacentland use
 Frequency of slow moving vehicle

 Side friction factor (fs) variations

 Vehicle speed
 Pavement texture
 Tire condition
 The recommended values for “e” and “f” are
9
LIMITS OF SUPER ELEVATION
 The maximum super elevation limit is set to
 prevent slow moving vehicles from sliding and
 In urban areas to keep parking lanes relatively level
and to keep the elevation differences between the
road way and the adjacent land uses & intersections
 According to AASHTO the maximum super
elevation is
 12% for rural roads;
 8% for rural road way for which ice or snow would
likely to present
 4-6% for urban roads
 According to ERA 2002 geometric design
manual
 8% for rural road sections 10

 4% urban road sections

SIDE FRICTION FACTOR

11

From AASHTO’s A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets 2004 &
ERA Geometric Design Manual 2002
MINIMUM RADIUS TABLES

12

From ERA Geometric Design Manual 2002

EXAMPLE -2
1. In a horizontal alignment a circular curve is to be
inserted;
a) What is the minimum radius of curvature allowable
for a road way with a 85Km/hr design speed,
assuming the maximum allowable super-elevation
rate is 8% and side friction is 0.14?

b) Compare the above calculated radius of the curve

with the recommended value of ERA 2002
geometric design manual for the above design
speed.

c) If the designer provides a curve of 300m radius,

what will be the actual super elevation rate for the
curve? 13
EXERCISE -1
 Two tangents meet at station 2+450 at intersection angle of
142°38’. If the road is designed for a design speed of 90Km/hr
and the allowable rate of super elevation is 8%. Determine
the station of PT if coefficient of side friction is 0.12 .

EXERCISE -2
 Two tangents meets at station 2+251 at a deflection
angle of 36°. If a circular curve is inserted so that it
meets the backward tangent at a control point of station
2+151 measured along the tangent. Determine
a) The radius of the curve & the station of PT after the
curve is inserted
b) The super-elevation of the curve if the design
speed is 120km/hr and coefficient of friction be
0.12
c) What will happen to the value of the super 14
elevation if the design speed decreased to
85Km/hr
 Should we super-elevate all circular
curves of any radius?????????

 NO!!!!!!!! We don’t need to introduce

super-elevation for curves of extremely
long radius.

Example-3:
Determine the radius of circular horizontal curves for
which supper-elevation is not needed or the normal
crown slope of 2% of the road kept unchanged. Take
the side friction b/n the tire & the road surface to be
0.12 and the design speeds to be; 120, 100, 90, 80, 70
& 60 Km/hr 15
ATTAINMENT OF SUPER ELEVATION
 Super elevation can be attained by rotating the pavement
 With respect to the center or
 With respect to the inner edge
The diagram which show the manner of the transition or
attainment of the super elevation is known as Super
elevation Diagram
Consists of Runoff and Tangent Runout sections
 Runoff: length of roadway needed to accomplish a change in outside
lane cross slope from zero to full superelevation
 Runout: length of roadway needed to accomplish a change in outside
lane cross slope from normal rate to zero

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17
SUPER-ELEVATION TRANSITION

18
SUPERELEVATION TRANSITION

19
SUPER-ELEVATION DIAGRAM

20
LENGTH OF TRANSITION SPIRAL/
SUPER-ELEVATION RUNOFF
Transition Curves (Spirals)
 Curves provided for smooth transition
from tangent to curve or vice versa.
 the centrifugal force is developed slowly.
 It should be applied on high speed road
on sharp curve.
 It permits the provision of super
elevation in proportion to increase in
curvature from the straight on to a
circular curve.
 Danger of over turning and side sliding
of vehicles are eliminated.
Transition Curves (Ct’d)
 A transition curve has a constantly
changing radius.
 For large radius curves, transition
curves are not normally required.
 Transition curves are not a requirement
for certain roads, particularly those of
lower classification, where there is
insufficient justification for the
additional survey and design work
required.
 For Ethiopian roads, transition curves
are a requirement for trunk and link
road segments having a design speed
of equal to or greater than 80 km/hr.
Transition Curves (Ct’d)
 The most common type of
curve used in highways as a
transition is the cubical spiral .
 The standard equation of a
cubical spiral is given by:
l3
T 1’
Y
Y 6RLs
l
Ls

Where Ls= Total length of the transition

curve
R= Radius of the circular curve
l= distance measured along the curve
Y= perpendicular offset from the tangent
 The transition curves are introduced at both the ends of a
circular curve by shifting the circular curve inwards as in
the figure below. 24
 tio n
l sec
r a
S pi
Ts

25
Transition Curves (Ct’d)
Summary of Equation of Transition
Curves
 Consider the following Circled section
Spiral on previous
x
S.C
slide: Let O be center of the
circular curve
dy
R be radius of the
R
o
circular curve
B
∆s S.C be junction of the
r
transition and circular
Y
Ls curves
 B be any point on the
l
transition curve l
distance from T.S.
= deflection angle of
spiral from tangent
T.S section to any length l .
Transition Curves (Ct’d)
 Referring to the above figure:
l2

2 LsR


At l= Ls,  becomes max and
called as the spiral angle, ∆s.
 s Ls / 2 R

 Offset of any point on the

transitionl 3 curve from the
tangent,
Y  x is:
6 LsR
Transition Curves (Ct’d)
 The distance through which the
circular curve is shifted to
accommodate the transition curve is
known as the shift, P. 2
Ls
P
24 R
 Tangent length of the combined curve,
Ls 
Ts   R  P tan
2 2
 where, Ls/2= q from figure
above

c
Length of the circular curve:
Lc 20 o       and      c   2 s
D
 LENGTH OF TRANSITION SPIRAL/
SUPER-ELEVATION RUNOFF
 There are different ways of fixing the length of
transition curve. However, the two very common
methods are:
1. Using definite rate of change of radial
acceleration
3
V
Ls 0.0214
RC

29
2. Constant rate change of super-elevation
runoff
 This method is normally based on appearance and
comfort criteria's.
 The values are recommended by design manuals in
the formh of 1:200; 1:250; or 1:300 e.t.c
e Where:
D L= length of transition curve (m)
L e= rate of super-elevation
h= height raised by the edge of the
outer lane due to full super-elevation
TS
(m)
D= width of outer lane (m)
h=D*e
Center line
If the rate of change of super-elevation(relative
gradient) is given as 1:200, then
h/L=1/200 30
=> L=200h=200*D*e
 The larger of the two computed values will be taken for design.
31
32
SUPER-ELEVATION RUNOFF -
CONTROLS
 In cases where there is a spiral or transition
curve, the super elevation attainment is
incorporated fully with in the transition curve

 However, if there is no transition curve; 2/3

of the super-elevation run off will be in the
tangent and the rest 1/3 of the super-
elevation run off will be accommodated in
the curve.

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SPIRAL CURVES

No Spiral

Tangent-to-curve

Tangent-to-spiral-to curve

Spiral

34
35
EXAMPLE -3
 A 2.5% crown sloped two-lane highway (of
3.6m/lane) has a design speed of 90Km/hr. If
a 400m radius horizontal curve is used to
connect the two tangents and assume the
rate of radial acceleration C=0.8m/s3 .
Taking side friction to be 0.1 determine:
a) The rate of super elevation
b) The length of super elevation runoff &
tangential runout
c) Draw the super-elevation diagram assuming
rotation about the inner edge.
36
EXERCISE-4
 A two-lane highway of width 7.2m involves a
horizontal circular curve to connect two
tangents which meet at a deflection angle of
32o and station of 14+120. If the highway
has been designed for a maximum design
speed of 110Km/hr with a maximum super-
elevation rate of 8% and the rate of radial
acceleration to be 0.8m/s3, coefficient of side
friction 0.12 and normal crown slope 2.5%.
determine:
a) The length of radius of the curve
b) The length of super elevation runoff &
tangential runoff
c) Determine the stations of TS, SC, CS and ST 37

d) Draw the super-elevation diagram assuming rotation about

the center line.
EXERCISE-5
 A 2.5% crown sloped Four-lane highway (of
3.6m/lane) has a design speed of 95Km/hr. If a
400m radius horizontal curve is used to
connect the two tangents at station 2+310
and deflection angle of 25o without transition
spiral. Taking the rate of super-elevation runoff
to be 1/200 and side friction 0.1, determine:
a) The rate of super elevation
b) The length of super elevation runoff & tangential
runoff
c) Draw the super-elevation diagram assuming
rotation about the centerline.
38
WIDENING OF CURVES
 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:
1. On curves vehicles occupy a greater width because
the rear wheels tracks inside the front wheels
2. The tendency of the drivers to ply away from the
edge of the carriageway as they drive on a curve.
 Hence, we provide widening for both reasons and
the first is referred as the mechanical widening
and the second is called the psychological 39
widening.
 WIDENING OF CURVES
1. Mechanical Widening
 When a vehicle negotiates a horizontal curve,
the rear wheels follow a path of shorter radius
than the front wheels as shown in figure below.
 This phenomenon is called off-tracking, and has
the effect of increasing the effective width of a
road space required by the vehicle. R1=the radius of
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,
n =is the number of
40
lanes,
Wm= mechanical
widening
 WIDENING OF CURVES
=> (R2)2 = (R1)2 +l2
=>
(R2)2 = (R2-Wm)2 +l2
=>
(R2)2 = (R2)2-2R2Wm+(Wm)2 +l2

=>
2R2Wm- (Wm)2 = l2………………………but Wm2 ≈ 0
 2R2Wm2 = l 2
Wm = l
.

 2R2 ....if the number of lane is n

and for large radius, R2 ≈ R, which is the mean radius
of the curve, then Wm is given by
Wm = nl2
. 41

2R
 WIDENING OF CURVES
2. Psychological widening
 There is a tendency for the drivers to drive close
to the edges of the pavement on curves. Hence,
some extra space is to be provided for more
clearance for the crossing and overtaking
operations on curves

 Thiswidening due to psychological reason is a

function of speed and given by an empirical
formula: Wp= 0.1 V Where:
√R V= design sped in
Km/hr
R=Radius of the curve
42
in meter
Wp= Widening in meter
 WIDENING OF CURVES
 Therefore, the total widening of curve is
given by
We = W m + W p Where:
V= design sped in
We= nl2 . + 0.1 Km/hr
V R=Radius of the curve
2R √R in meter
n= number of lane
l= is the distance
between the front and
rear wheel in meter
Example: 3
1.Find the Curve widening required for a two lane road with a
circular curve of radius 250m and design speed of 70Km/hr.
Assume the longest wheel base of the design vehicle is 7m.
2.Determine the curve widening required for the circular curves
you designed on the above examples of 6,7 and 8. take the 43
longest wheel base of the design vehicle to be7m.