James Cedrick B.

Barba
SPEED IMPLICATIONS
MODULE:8 DESIGNS CRITERIA FOR HIGHWAYS
AND RAILROAD Research shows that lower speeds lead to fewer and
less serious crashes.
Definition of terms: ➢ There are two reasons for this:
• At higher speeds a rider or a driver has less
time to react to a situation and therefore
AASHTO: American Association of State Highway there is a greater likelihood that an error will
and Transportation Officials result in a crash; and
Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT or ADT) : • The momentum and kinetic energy of a
refers to traffic volume or flow on a highway as vehicle increases rapidly with speed. The
measured by the number of vehicles passing a sudden dissipation of this energy in a crash
partial station during a given interval of time. means that the injury to occupants is more
severe.
Observed Traffic Volume: Volume may be stated • Current Speed Limits
on hourly or estimated 30th hour volume commonly - The current speed restrictions are set out in
used for design purposes. Some highway agencies Chapter IV– Traffic Rules, in Republic Act
use traffic volume for 5 minutes interval to distinguish No. 4136 Land Transportation and Traffic
short peak movements of vehicles. Code. The rules indicate that a motorist shall
drive at a safe speed determined by the
driver based on the road environment
CONSISTENCY conditions. There are however maximum
allowable speeds for different road
The most crucial rule in highway design is environments
consistency. That is, by ensuring that every aspect
of the road meets the expectations of every driver, • On open country roads with no "blind
-Drivers expect the highway agency to provide corners" not closely bordered by habitation:
them with: The maximum speed for passenger cars and
• Clear information and guidance through a motorcycles is 80 kph and for motor trucks and
variety of road signs. buses, 50 kph.
• Avoiding abrupt changes in the traffic as well • On “through streets" or boulevards clear of
as the road standards. traffic, with no "blind corners“:
when so designated, the maximum speed for
passenger cars and motorcycles is 40 kph and for
DESIGN SPEED motor trucks and buses, 30 kph.
• On city and municipal streets, with light
AASHTO (American Association of State Highway traffic, when not designated "through
and Transportation Officials) defined Design Speed streets”:
as: The maximum speed for passenger cars,
• The speed determined for design and motorcycles, motor trucks and buses is 30 kph.
correlation of the physical feature of a
highway that influence vehicles operation. It The following sections describe where certain speed
is the maximum speed that can be restriction could be appropriate.
maintained over a specified section of the
highway when weather and traffic conditions High-risk Pedestrian Areas– 40 kph
are so favorable that the design features of - Vulnerable road users, especially
the highway govern.” pedestrians, are particularly vulnerable at
• "The design speed be set to the greatest higher speeds.
degree possible, to satisfy the needs of • Low risk pedestrian areas– 60 kph
nearly all drivers both today and throughout - On roads through built-up areas where there
the road anticipated life." are not so many pedestrians. It is appropriate
to allow motorized traffic to travel more
quickly.
The AASHTO practice is to classify first the highway
as Rural or Urban, then as Freeways, Arterials, The following sections describe where certain speed
Collectors and Local. restriction could be appropriate.

– Rural collectors and local facilities: 80kph - On a high-standard duplicated carriage

• classified as flat, rolling, or mountainous. route with only infrequent access from surrounding
houses, an 80 kph speed limit would be reasonable.
100kph - A speed limit of 100 km/h would only be
appropriate on high-speed expressways with a low
crash rate. The geometry of these expressways
should be of a high standard, and there should be no
roadside dangers. If risks cannot be eliminated or
James Cedrick B. Barba
mitigated, they should be protected by a safety
barrier.
SPEED RESTRICTION SIGN
- Intersection capacity (priority and
Good speed management practice depends on movements, traffic signal phasing, num ber
speed limit signs being placed in visible locations of lanes, etc.
and repeated frequently enough for motorists to be
certain of which speed zone they are in. • Appropriate capacity should be
developed during the design stage of
• At the start of a new speed zone, a speed a road project to ensure smooth
limit sign should be erected on theleft and operation. Actual traffic assessments
right sides of the road. as well as an investigation of
• Then within the first kilometer, there should prospective use are essential for
be two (2) farther pairs of repeater speed determining the road's capacity to
limit signs. ensure that safety is not
• After that, repeater signs should be placed at compromised once the facility is
one kilometer spacing. operational
• Repeater signs should also be placed before • Ideal capacity of a road is 2.000
and after all major intersections to confirm vehicles/hour (vph). However, based
the speed limit to all traffic turning into the on several surveys conducted in
road being considered. Metro Manila for various
infrastructure projects, it was found
that the maximum volume is achieved
POOR ROAD STANDARDS only at a level of 1,400 vph on
expressways and 1,100 for urban
• If the road geometry or surface quality is arterials.
inadequate, it may be reasonable to set a
lower speed restriction than usual until the
road can be improved. Lower speeds
TRAFIC FORECASTS
compensate for the road's dangerous
characteristics. • Experiences in the Philippines indicated that
• An 80 kph or 90 kph speed limit may also be traffic forecasts for expressways (tolled
appropriate on lower standard expressways facilities) are usually optimistic. This may be
if there are serious road hazard within the seen as a factor to boost revenue forecasts
clear zone which would cause injury to the to make the road appear more interesting to
occupants of an out of control vehicle. investors.
• The opposite can be true in planning urban
arterials as forecasts are often below actual
ROAD CAPACITY traffic counts once the facility is in operation.
• The latter has more impact on traffic safety
• The maximum number of vehicles that have since it could mean more traffic is using the
a reasonable expectation of traveling through road than the volume for which it is originally
a certain segment of a lane or a roadway in designed. Further, road maintenance is often
one direction or both directions during one compromised when traffic exceeds the
hour under prevailing road and traffic forecasts (e.g. thickness of pavement, lane
conditions, as defined by the US Highway width, maintenance budget, etc.
Capacity Manual (HCM).
• Generally, road capacity with respect to road
sections is measured in terms of level-of-
service. This is designated with letters ‘A’ and ROAD TYPE
‘F’ with ‘A’ the most ideal condition and ‘F’ the • The basic functional types of roads are
saturated condition where volume is equal to locals, collectors, arterials and freeways
the road capacity. ➢ Two major considerations in the classification
• In regard to intersections, capacity is of highway functional types are; access to
generally measured in terms of ‘degree of land use and mobility.
saturation’ • On the two extremes, the design of local
The capacity of a route can be affected by the streets emphasizes access with little
following factors: consideration for mobility, while the design of
freeways emphasizes mobility with limited
- Number of Lanes; access.
- Lane and shoulder width; • The design of collectors and arterials falls in
- errain and road gradient; between, with collectors emphasizes more
- Traffic composition; for access and arterials favors mobility.
- Side friction such as the presence of road
furniture and pedestrians;
James Cedrick B. Barba
• AASHTO policies accept a dually divided 16
lanes roadway with four lanes in each
direction for an inner freeway and four more
DESIGN VEHICLE • There are some instances where a reversible
lane is located at the center of freeways with
There are generally four classes of design unbalanced heavy traffic flow.
vehicles:
➢ passenger cars
➢ buses LEVEL OF SERVICE CONSIDERATION
➢ trucks, and
• The geometric design of highways, such as
➢ recreational vehicle
horizontal and vertical bends, gradients, lane
width, number of lanes, and so on, impacts
vehicle travel speed and interaction given a
• The passenger car category includes sport fixed volume of traffic flow and vehicle
utility vehicles, minivans, vans, and composition.
pickup trucks. • The outcome of such effect is the observable
• The bus and truck categories include buses operational performance of the highway,
and trucks of all sizes, respectively. qualitatively represented by the highway
• The highway designer should exercise his level of service.
judgment in selecting the appropriate design • The highway designer should strive to
vehicle for design control, based on the provide a LOS that is as high as possible.
intended use of the facility. AASHTO (2001) has published a list of
• Turning radius limits the design of horizontal acceptable LOS for different road types.
curves.

Important vehicle characteristics that affect the Railroad - Highway Separation

minimum turning radius are:
• If the highway is to go over the railroad, the
➢ minimum centerline turning radius, structure itself is lighter and the highway load
➢ wheelbase, is much smaller than the railroad loads.
➢ track width • If the highway goes under the railroad,
➢ and out-of-track width. special provision is required for the removal
of rainwater that falls within the opposing
area.
• AASHTO has provided the templates for • If the ground water is high in the vicinity of
turning paths of 17 design vehicles traveling the crossing, the roadway must be sealed
at 15 km/h. The minimum design turning, against leakage and be made heavy enough
center line turning and minimum inside to prevent from floating.
radius are listed below.

DESIGN CRITERIA FOR RAILWAYS

DRIVE CHARACTERISTICS
• A highway's geometric design should take Equilibrium speed
into account users, particularly drivers'
performance restrictions. The vision, • When a vehicle negotiates a curved track at
perception, reaction, focus, and comfort of a a speed that causes the resultant force of
driver are all limited, which can have an the vehicle's weight and radial acceleration
impact on highway safety and efficiency. to be perpendicular to the plane of the rails,
the vehicle is said to be in equilibrium and
• The information received by a driver needs not subjected to any imbalanced radial
time to be processed before a response acceleration.
action takes place. A well-known study on • This particular speed is called the
the brake-reaction time has been made by equilibrium speed. The equilibrium speed,
Johannson and Rumar (1971). as such, is the speed at which the effect of
the centrifugal force is completely balanced
by the cant provided.
NUMBER OF LANES
• The number of lanes in a segment of the
highway is determined from the estimated Maximum permissible speed
traffic volume for the design year (AADT) and
• This is the highest speed permitted to a train
highway lane capacity at expected level of
on a curve taking into consideration the
service.
radius of curvature, actual cant, cant
James Cedrick B. Barba
deficiency, cant excess, and the length of where V is the velocity (metres per second) and R is
transition. the radius of curve (metres).
• On curves where the maximum permissible
speed is less than the maximum sectional • This radial acceleration produces a
speed of the section of the line, permanent centrifugal force which acts in a radial
speed restriction becomes necessary. direction away from the centre. The value of
the centrifugal force is given by the formula:–
Force=mass ×acceleration F = m× (V2/R) =
(W/g) × (V2/R)
• where F is the centrifugal force (tonnes), W
Cant deficiency is the weight of the vehicle (tonnes), V is the
speed (metre/sec), g is the acceleration due
• Cant deficiency (Cd) occurs when a train to gravity (metre/sec2), and R is the radius of
goes faster than the equilibrium speed the curve (metres)
around a curve. It's the discrepancy between To counteract the effect of the centrifugal
the theoretical cant needed for such fast force, the outer rail of the curve is elevated
speeds and the real cant available. with respect to the inner rail by an amount
equal to the superelevation.
When both wheels exert equal pressure on
the rails and the superelevation is sufficient
Cant Excess to bring the resultant of the centrifugal force
and the force produced by the vehicle's
• When train moves around a curve at a slower weight at right angles to the plane of the top
pace than the equilibrium speed, this is surface of the rails, a condition of balance is
known as Cant excess (Ce). It's the disparity obtained. The difference in the heights of the
between the real cant offered and the curve's outer and inner rails is known as
theoretical cant needed at such a slow equilibrium superelevation in this state of
speed. equilibrium.
• The limiting values of cant excess have also
been prescribed. Cant excess should not be
more than 75 mm on broad gauge and
65mmonmetregauge forall types of rolling
stock.

Cant gradient and cant deficiency gradient

• These indicate the increase or decrease in
the cant or the deficiency of cant in a given
length of transition.
• A gradient of 1 in 1000 means that a cant or
a deficiency of cant of 1 mm is attained or lost
in every 1000 mm of transition length.
Rate of change of cant or can’t deficiency
• When traveling at the maximum permissible
speed, this is the rate at which cant
deficiency increases while passing over the
transition curve.
• For example, a rate of 35 mm per second
means that a vehicle will experience a
change in cant or a cant deficiency of 35 mm
in each second of travel over the transition
curve.

Centrifugal Force on a Curved Track

• A vehicle has a tendency to travel in a
straight direction, which is tangential to the
curve, even when it moves on a circular
curve. As a result, the vehicle is subjected to
a constant radial acceleration:– Radial
acceleration,
g = V2/R
James Cedrick “gwapo” Barba
Short
HIGHWAY ALIGNMENT The alignment between two terminal stations
The position or layout of the center line of the should be short and as far as possible be straight,
highway on the ground is called the alignment. but due to some practical considerations deviations
may be needed.
Two Types of Highway Alignment
• Horizontal alignment Economical
• Vertical alignment The alignment should be economical in its cost of
construction, maintenance and traffic operation.
Horizontal alignment
The projection of highway alignment in the Comfort
horizontal plane is termed as the horizontal The alignment should be fixed such that it provides
alignment. This covers the horizontal path of the comfort to the drivers and the passengers.
road either it's straight or curved or both.
Utility
Vertical alignment The alignment should offer maximum utility by
The projection of highway alignment in the vertical serving maximum population by connecting
plane is called vertical alignment. This deals with intermediate important towns and group of villages.
the gradients, slopes and leveling of the ground.
Natural Aspects
Importance of Highway Alignment The alignment should pass through regions of
Deciding the highway alignment is the most crucial natural beauty and scenery to have good natural
part of road construction. Once the alignment is aspects.
fixed and constructed as per plan, it is difficult to
transform it because of increment in the cost of
FACTORS CONTROLLING HIGHWAY
adjoining land and development of expensive ALIGNMENT
structures by the side of the road. A small error in
Government Alignment
the Highway alignment can increase the cost of
As road projects need large investments, the
construction.
government should be clear about the requirement
Improper alignment of road would result in one of the road (when, what, how and why to construct).
or more of the following disadvantages:
Obligatory Points
• Increase in construction cost
The controlling points which govern the highway
• Increase in maintenance cost
alignment are known as obligatory points.
• Increase in vehicle operation cost
• Increase in accident rates ➢ They are further divided into positive
obligatory points and negative obligatory
REQUIREMENTS OF HIGHWAY points.
ALIGNMENT
➢ Safe POSITIVE OBLIGATORY POINTS – Points
➢ Easy through which the alignment should pass:
➢ Utility • Existing Road: The alignment should be fixed
➢ Natural Aspects such that the newly constructed road should link to
➢ Short the existing road. It reduces the cost of
➢ Economical construction.
➢ Comfort • Intermediate Town: If there is the possibility of a
straight road between point A and B and there lies
Safe the intermediate town at C as shown, then the road
It should be safe both from the construction and needs to link the intermediate town reducing the
operating point of view, especially at slopes, change in highway alignment.
embankments, and cutting. It should have safe • Bridge site/Existing Bridge: The road linking with
geometric features. the bridge must not be curved and to include this
bridge in the road portion, the highway alignment
Easy
may be changed.
The alignment should be easy to construct and
• Mountain: When the road has to cross a row of
maintain. It should be easy for the operation of
hills, mountain pass may be the suitable alternative.
vehicles. To the maximum extent, easy gradients
and curves should be provided.
James Cedrick “gwapo” Barba
NEGATIVE OBLIGATORY POINTS – Points • Resisting Length: The ineffective rise and
through which alignment should not pass: excessive fall should be minimum.

➢ Valleys, ponds, and marshy land need to be OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

avoided. • Drainage: The alignment needs to be fixed such
➢ Religious places are linked up with human that the number of cross drainage structures is
sentiment so cannot be destroyed for fixing less.
the road alignment. • Political Pressure: The pressure from the
➢ Costly structures present in the way of government to run the highway alignment in the
alignment should be considered and the way they decide also affects the selection of
road alignment should be fixed such that it highway alignment.
won't destroy those costly structures as the • Monotony: Setting the straight alignment leads to
value of compensation for such structures monotonous driving. So a small bend is provided to
will be more. make the driver aware and alert. The roads are
➢ Conservation areas and restricted zones. designed as forgiving roads.
➢ Densely populated area.
➢ The road should not be within the boundary
of the country.

TRAFFIC (TYPE, AMOUNT AND FLOW

PATTERN)
The alignment should be according to the traffic
amount and flow pattern. The number of lanes can
be determined as:
As Number of lanes = Traffic Volume / Traffic
Capacity.

GEOLOGICAL CONDITIONS
Geologically stable hill slope must be considered
while selecting the highway alignment.

GEOMETRIC DESIGN
Various factors regarding geometric design as the
radius of curve, sight distance, gradient determines
the highway alignment.

AVAILABILITY OF CONSTRUCTION
MATERIALS AND LABOR
The construction works become easier and
economical when the construction materials are
near the place of highway alignment.

Economy
The construction, operation, and maintenance work
should be economical. So, highway alignment is
selected keeping these things in mind.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATION IN HILL ROADS

• Stability: The road should be aligned with the hill
side that is stable. Excessive cutting and filling may
affect their stability.
• Drainage: Adequate drainage facilities need to be
provided across the road and the number of cross
drainage structures need to be less during
construction.
• Geometric Standards: Geometric design
parameters also affect the construction of roads.