Department of Civil Engineering

Highway and Transportation Engineering

CVG 4150 Fall 2016 (A&B)
ASSIGNMENT # 01
Issued September 28, 2016 Due Date: October 05, 2016 at 5:00 PM
Drop off location:
Filing Cabinet in the lower mezzanine (CBY-A0.5) in the Civil Engineering Department

Q1/
A driver takes 3.2 sec to react to a complex situation while traveling at a speed of 55 mile/h.
How far does the vehicle travel before the driver initiates a physical response to the situation
(i.e., putting his or her foot on the brake)?
Q2/
A driver traveling at 60 mile/h rounds a curve on a level grade to see a truck overturned across
the roadway at a distance of 400 ft. If the driver is able to decelerate at a rate of 10 ft/sec2, at
what speed will the vehicle hit the truck? Plot the result for reaction times ranging from 0.50 to
5.00 sec in increments of 0.5 sec. Comment on the results.
Q3/
A car hits a tree at an estimated speed of 35 mi/h on a 3% downgrade. If skid marks are of 100
ft observed on dry pavement (f = 0.45), followed by 250 ft (f = 0.20) on a grass-stabilized
shoulder, estimate the initial speed of the vehicle just before the pavement skid was begun.
Q4/
Drivers must slow down from 70 mile/h to 60 mile/h to negotiate a severe curve on a rural
highway. A warning sign for the curve is clearly visible for a distance of 100 ft. How far in
advance of the curve must the sign be located in order to ensure that vehicles have sufficient
distance to safely decelerate?
Use the standard reaction time and deceleration rate recommended by AASHTO for basic
Braking maneuvers.
Q5/
How long should the yellow signal be for vehicles approaching a traffic signal on a 2%
downgrade at a speed of 35 mile/h? Use a standard reaction time of 1.0 sec and the standard
AASHTO deceleration rate.

CVG 4150 Fall 2016 (Assignment 1)

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Q6/
What minimum radius of curvature may be designed for safe operation of vehicles at 70 mile/h
if the maximum rate of superelevation (e) is 6% and the maximum coefficient of side friction (fs)
is 0.10?

Q7/
The design speed of a multilane highway is 60 mile/h. What is the minimum stopping sight
distance that should be provided on the road if (a) the road is level and (b) the road has a
maximum grade of 4%? Assume the perception-reaction time 2.5 sec.

Q8/
The acceleration of a vehicle takes the form

= 3.6 0.06

where v is the vehicle speed in ft /sec. The vehicle is traveling at 45 ft /sec at time to.
(a) Determine the distance traveled by the vehicle when accelerated to a speed of 55 ft /sec.
(b) Determine the time at which the vehicle attains a speed of 55 ft /sec.
(c) Determine the acceleration of the vehicle after 3 sec.
Q9/
What is the distance required to stop an average passenger car when brakes are applied on a
2% downgrade if that vehicle was originally traveling at 40 mile/h and a = -11.2 ft/sec2?

Q10/
A driver on a level two-lane highway observes a truck completely blocking the highway. The
driver was able to stop her vehicle only 20 ft from the truck. If the driver was driving at 60
mile/h, how far was he/she from the truck when she first observed it?

CVG 4150 Fall 2016 (Assignment 1)

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