DOMIGUEZ, ARIEL CHRISTIAN P.
HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
CEE44
Elements of Spiral Curve
 TS = Tangent to spiral
 SC = Spiral to curve
 CS = Curve to spiral
 ST = Spiral to tangent
 LT = Long tangent
 ST = Short tangent
 R = Radius of simple curve
 Ts = Spiral tangent distance
 Tc = Circular curve tangent
 L = Length of spiral from TS to any
point along the spiral
 Ls = Length of spiral
 PI = Point of intersection
 I = Angle of intersection
 Ic = Angle of intersection of the
simple curve
 p = Length of throw or the distance
from tangent that the circular curve
has been offset
ENGR. FADRIQUELA
 X = Offset distance (right angle
distance) from tangent to any point
on the spiral
 Xc = Offset distance (right angle
distance) from tangent to SC
 Y = Distance along tangent to any
point on the spiral
 Yc = Distance along tangent
from TS to point at right angle to SC
 Es = External distance of the simple
curve
 θ = Spiral angle from tangent to any
point on the spiral
 θs = Spiral angle from tangent to SC
 i = Deflection angle from TS to any
point on the spiral, it is proportional
to the square of its distance
 is = Deflection angle from TS to SC
 D = Degree of spiral curve at any
point
 Dc = Degree of simple curve
DOMIGUEZ, ARIEL CHRISTIAN P. HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
CEE44 ENGR. FADRIQUELA

Formulas for Spiral Curves

Distance along tangent to any point on the spiral:
Y=L−L540R2Ls2Y=L−L540R2Ls2

At L = Ls, Y = Yc, thus,

Yc=Ls−Ls340R2Yc=Ls−Ls340R2

Offset distance from tangent to any point on the spiral:

X=L36RLsX=L36RLs

At L = Ls, X = Xc, thus,

Xc=Ls26RXc=Ls26R

Length of throw:
p=14Xc=Ls224Rp=14Xc=Ls224R

Spiral angle from tangent to any point on the spiral (in radian):
θ=L22RLsθ=L22RLs

At L = Ls, θ = θs, thus,

θs=Ls2Rθs=Ls2R

Deflection angle from TS to any point on the spiral:

i=13θ=L26RLsi=13θ=L26RLs

At L = Ls, i = is, thus,

i=13θs=Ls6Ri=13θs=Ls6R

This angle is proportional to the square of its distance

iis=L2Ls2iis=L2Ls2

Tangent distance:
Ts=Ls2+(R+P)tanI2Ts=Ls2+(R+P)tan⁡I2

Angle of intersection of simple curve:

Ic=I−2θsIc=I−2θs

External distance:
Es=R+PcosI2−REs=R+Pcos⁡I2−R

Degree of spiral curve:

DDC=LLsDDC=LLs
DOMIGUEZ, ARIEL CHRISTIAN P. HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
CEE44 ENGR. FADRIQUELA

At this point, it is necessary to have ascertained the vehicle loading on the road surface.
This is not an indication of the total traffic flow nor is it intended to design the road layout. It is
solely relevant to the engineer and used to design the pavement thickness. This is covered in
more detail and hopefully somewhat better explained on the traffic loading page. Thus you
should now have two pieces of information, the CBR value and a vehicle loading in the left hand
lane (right hand lane outside the UK) in millions of standard axles (msa).

Flexible

Flexible Pavements are constructed of the following materials, details of which can be found
in British Standards2,3.

 Dense Bitumen Macadam (DBM) is a continuously graded material of a relatively low

binder content (100 penetration). It has less resistance to fatigue cracking than other
materials.
 Hot Rolled Asphalt (HRA) is a gap graded material with a high binder concentration (50
Penetration). It is easy to lay and has good fatigue resistance but is susceptible to slow
moving heavy traffic (eg uphill).
 High Density Macadam (HDM) is a continuously graded material with a greater
percentage of finer material than DBM. It is less easy to lay but has high resistance to
cracking and deformation and has the highest stiffness.
 DBM50 is DBM with a 50 penetration binder. It is marginally inferior to HDM but is
superior to ordinary DBM.
 Dense Tar Macadam is similar to DBM but uses a tar binder. This improves performance
but is more temperature susceptible.

Rigid

All rigid and rigid composite should be constructed using Pavement Quality Concrete,
manufactured, cured and laid in accordance with the Specification for Highway Works
(MCHW1)4 series 1000. The use of joints is discussed in the pavement design section

A flexible pavement is constructed of several layers as shown

below: