Chapter Five: Horizontal Alignment Highway Engineering Dr Raad Awad Kattan

Widening on curves
The travelled way on horizontal curves is sometimes widened to make operating conditions on the curve
similar to those on tangents.
Widening is needed for the following reasons :
1-The driver experience difficulties in steering around the curve.
2- the vehicle occupies a greater width as the rear wheel dont track the front wheel.
For 2-lane highway extra width (0.6 -1.25 m) is necessary
W= total widening = W
ps
+ W
m

W
ps
= widening for psychological reasons
W
ps
=
F
9.5 R
V= design speed km/hr, R= curve radius
W
m
=
|
2
2R
(l=wheel base (m) = 3.4m for passenger cars, 6.1m for single unit truck.)
W
m
=
n|
2
2R
for multilane highway n= number of lanes
Example: find the widening necessary for a horizontal curve having R=100m, wheel base =6.1m,
pavement width = 7m, V= 70 km/hr.
W= total widening = W
ps
+ W
m
=
F
9.5 R
+
n|
2
2R

=
7
9.5 1
+
2(.1)
2
2X1
= 0.74+0.37 = 1.11m
If the radius R = 50m , the widening will be = 1.8m (more widening is required)

l

R


l
W
m
Chapter Five: Horizontal Alignment Highway Engineering Dr Raad Awad Kattan

Superelevation
Vehicle moving around a circular curve is subjected to two main forces
1- Outward centrifugal force
2- Inward radial force( due to the frictional effect between tires and roadway)

At high speeds the frictional force is not adequate to counterbalance the centrifugal force.
Therefore the road must be inclined toward the center of the curve to provide an
additional force from the component of the vehicle weight down the slope. This
additional force combined with the inward radial force to counterbalance the outward
radial force.
The inclination of the roadway toward the center of the curve is known as the
superelevation.



W
Wsin

R


W= weight of the vehicle g= acceleration of gravity = angle of inclination
R= radius of the curve
Wsin =
W u
2
gR
cos divided by (W.cos )
tan =
v
2
gR
tan =e (the rate of superelevation) e=
v
2
gR


considering the frictional force between the tires and the roadway
W u
2
gR
cos
w :
2
gR

Chapter Five: Horizontal Alignment Highway Engineering Dr Raad Awad Kattan

e+f
s
=
v
2
gR
f
s
is the coefficient of side friction
e+f
s
=
v
2
127R
v in km/hr, R in meters
example: R= 100m, design speed = 50km/hr, f
s
= 0.15
a-find the rate of superelevation
b-find the coefficient of friction if superelevation is not utilized
1- e+0.15=
5
2
127x1
e=0.05
2- When e=0 f
s
=
5
2
127x1
= 0.197
Exercises
1.Two lane road, V=80 km/hr, R=480 m, f
s
=0.15, Width of the pavement at the horizontal curve=7.5 m.
By how much the outer edge of the pavement is to be raised with respect to the centerline, if the
pavement is rotated with respect to centerline. [Ans: 0.17m]
2-Calculate the minimum radius of horizontal curve ( v=80km/h., e=0.07, f=0.15) [Ans: 230 m]
3-Find the extra widening for W=7m, R=250m, longest wheel base, l=7m, V=70km/hr [Ans:0.662m]
Maximum superelevation
Maximum superelevation rates of 4% and 6% are for urban areas.
Maximum superelevation rates of 10% and 12% in rural areas without ice or snow
Coefficient of side friction
The coefficient of side friction is a function of several variables, including the pavement
type and the vehicle speed, and the type and condition of the tires.






Speed (km/h) Comfortable Side-Friction Factor
40 0.21
50 0.18
55-80 0.15
> 110 < 0.10
Chapter Five: Horizontal Alignment Highway Engineering Dr Raad Awad Kattan


Tangent Runout Length
The length required to transition the outside lane of the roadway from a normal crowned
section to a point where the outside lane have zero (flat) cross slope,

Superelevation runoff length
The length of highway section required to achieve a full superelevated section from a flat
section is known a superelevation runoff.

Attainment of superelevation
methods

1- Crowned pavement is rotated about the center line profile
2- Crowned pavement is rotated about the inside edge
3- Crowned pavement is rotated about the outside edge


Normal Crown Tangent Runout Length Of Runoff

Outside edge

Centreline

Inside edge

Cross section
in pavement
surface

Crowned pavement is rotated about the center line profile









Chapter Five: Horizontal Alignment Highway Engineering Dr Raad Awad Kattan



5% Full superelevation


2%
2%
2%
0%
2% runoff

2%
2%
2%
Tangent runout
2% 2%
2%


2%
0%