HIGHWAY GEOMETRIC DESIGN BY

AUTOCAD LAND DEVELOPMENT

Prepared by:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Abdulqadir O. Muhamad
Kawa Ali Ali
Mahmud M. Tahir
Soran R. Resool
Yasser S. KHDER

Supervised by:
Mr.Salar K.Husain

June/2008

 TO OUR FAMILY WITH RESPECT

AND LOVE.
TO OUR HEAD OF
DEPERTMENT AND TEACHERS.
TO ALL OUR FRENDS.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

All thanks and gratitude is due to "The Merciful God"

I would like to express my head of department
gratitude and thanks to my supervisor, Mr. Salar Khidr
Hussain, for his guidance, continued encouragement, and
advice during the coarse of the research work and the
preparation of the of this thesis.

Finally, our thanks are extended to our all friend and

all those who have helped for preparing this work especially
(Khalid wayse).

Abstract
A safe and efficient land transportation system is an essential
element of sustainable regional or national economy. Roads have been and
continue to be the backbone of the land transportation network that

provides the accessibility for the required mobility to support economic

growth and promote social activities. As more and more advanced and
speedy modes of transportation are developed over time, and as the
economic activities of the human society grow in pace and sophistication,
the roles of roads have multiplied and their importance increased. At the
same time, the potential adverse impacts of road development have also
grown in magnitude, especially when proper planning, design, construction
or management is not carried out.
To fully exploit the benefits of highway development and minimize
possible adverse influences, the study of highway engineering must
expand from merely meeting the basic needs of offering safe and speedy
access from one point to another, to a field of study that not only covers
the structural and functional requirements of highways and city streets,
but also addresses the socio-economic and environmental impacts of road
network development. Traditional engineering curriculum does not
adequately cover these somewhat softer aspects of highway engineering
and the societal roles of highway engineers. It is the intention of this
Research to provide the deserved attention to these topics by devoting
with five chapters on issues related to highway planning and development.
Few professionals will disagree that the highway engineer today must
have sufficient knowledge in the areas of highway financing, access
management, environmental impacts, road safety and noise. The five
chapters should provide the necessary information on the social and
environmental responsibilities of a highway engineer to the undergraduate
student of civil engineering and the graduate research student in highway
engineering. In addition, the highway engineer and the general reader
would find an in-depth up-to-date account of the trend toward
privatization of highway development and financing of highway projects.

LIST OF CONTENTS
AKNOWLEDGENENTS
ABSTRACT

III
IV
4

LIST OF CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES
LIST OF TABLES

V
VIII
IX

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4

1
1
2
3

Importance of highways
Highway geometric design
Computer aided highway design
Objective and scope of the study

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 INTRODUCTION:
2.2 HIGHWAY DESIGN SOFTWAREPACKAGE
2.3 GEOMERIC DESIGN ELEMENT
2.3.1
DESIGN SPEED
2.3.2
SIGHT DISTANCE
2.3.3
HORIZONTAL ALIGNMENT
2.3.4
VERTICAL ALIGNMENT

CHAPTER THREE: GEOMETRIC DESIGN OF

HIGHWAYS

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4
4
4
4
4
5
6
7

7
1. INTRODUCTION:
7
2. DESIGN CONTROLS AND CRITERIA:
7
3.2.1 Road Types
7
3.2.2 Design Vehicles
9
3.2.3 Design Volume
9
3.2.4 Design Speed
10
3.2.5 High Capacity
10
3.2.6 Safety
11
3.2.7 Economic Analysis
:ELEMENT OF GEOMETRIC DESIGN 3.3 11
11
3.3.1 SIGHT DISTANCE
11
3.3.1.1 Stopping Sight Distance (SSD):
13
3.3.1.2 Passing Sight Distance for Two-Lane Highways
(PSD)
16
3.3.2 HORIZONTAL ALIGNMENT
16
3.3.2.1 GENERAL
5

3.3.2.2 PROPERTIES OF CIRCULAR CURVE

3.3.2.2.1 Radius of Curve
3.3.2.2.2 Safe Side Friction Factor ( f )

16
16
17

3.3.2.2.3 Maximum Superelevation Rates ( e max )

3.3.2.2.4 Maximum degree of curvature:
3.3.2.2.5 FORMULA FOR CIRCULAR CURVE:
3.3.3 TRANSITION (SPIRAL) CURVE:
3.3.3.1 GENERAL
3.3.3.2 Length of Spiral
3.3.4 SUPEREVEVATION RUN-OFF
3.3.5 WIDENINIG OF CIRCULAR CURVE
3.3.6 SIGHT DISTANCE ON HORIZONTAL CURVES

18

3.3.7 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR HORIZONTAL

ALIGNMENT

3.3.8 VERTICAL ALIGNMENT (PROFILE)

3.3.8.1 General
3.3.8.2 Grades
3.3.8.2.1 Maximum grades
3.3.8.2.2 Minimum grades

3.3.8.3 CREST CURVE STTOPING SIGHT DISTANCE

3.3.8.4 2_LANE CREST CURVE (PASSING SIGHT
DISTANCE)

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32
34

3.3.8.5 SAG VERTICAL CURVES (STOPPING SIGHT

DISTANCE)

35

CHAPTER FOUR: COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR

HIGHWAY GEOMETRIC DESIGN

40

4.1 Creating New File in AutoCAD Land

Development.
4.2 Importing data points.
4.3 Creating the Surface.
4.4 Putting all Importing data points in the boundary
by the ployline after creating the Surface.
4.5 Creating the Contour Map.
4.6 Creating the Alignment.
4.6.1 Putting the offset of Alignment.

40

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42

4.6.2 Putting the Station on the Alignment

4.6.3 Showing the Horizontal Alignment PI Station
Reports.
4.6.3 Showing the Horizontal Alignment Curve
Reports.
4.6.4 Putting the information in the horizontal
Curves.
4.6.5Making profile.
4.9 Making of Vertical curve between two different
curve grids.
4.10 Edit Vertical Alignments.

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4
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4

List of Figures
Figure

Name

Page

3.1

Element of passing sight distance for tow-lane

highways

14

3.2

20
Circular curve

3.3

25
Widening compounds on open highway curve
(tow-lane highways, one way or two way)

3.4

29
Sag vertical curve and crest vertical curve

3.5

26
Design control for sag vertical curve open
road condition

List of Table
Table

Name

Page
8

3.1

Minimum Turing radii of design vehicle

3.2

Stopping sight distance

12

3.3

Design value

12

3.4

Breaking value

12

3.5

Element of safe passing sight distance for

design of two-lane highways

15

3.6

Minimum radius for design of Rural highways,

Urban freeways and high speed Urban streets
using limiting values of e and f

19

3.7

Maximum radius for use of a spiral curve

transition

22

3.8

Compute k value for length of vertical curve

33

3.9
3.10

Design control for crest vertical

34

Design controls for sag vertical curve

37

10