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TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING
CET353
Unit II
Vertical Alignment
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Vertical alignment
The vertical alignment is the elevation or profile of the centre line of the
road.
The vertical alignment consist of grade and vertical curve and it influence
the vehicle speed, acceleration, sight distance and comfort in vehicle
movements at high speed.
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Gradient
• It is the rate of rise or fall along the length of the
road with respect to the horizontal. It is
expressed as a ratio of 1 in x (1 vertical unit to x
horizontal unit). Some times the gradient is also
expressed as a percentage i.e. n% (n in 100).
• Represented by:
+n % + 1 in X (+ve or Ascending)
or -n% - 1 in X (-ve or descending) valley
summit
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Typical Gradients (IRC)
• Ruling Gradient
• Limiting Gradient
• Exceptional gradient
• Minimum Gradient
• Ruling gradient (design gradient):
• It is the maximum gradient within which the designer
attempts to design the vertical profile of road, it depends on
Type of terrain
Length of grade
Speed
Pulling power of vehicles
Presence of horizontal curves
Mixed traffic
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Limiting Gradient:
• Steeper than ruling gradient. In hilly roads, it may
be frequently necessary to exceed ruling gradient
and adopt limiting gradient, it depends on
Topography
Cost in constructing the road
Exceptional Gradient:
• Exceptional gradient are very steeper gradients
given at unavoidable situations. They should be
limited for short stretches not exceeding about
100 m at a stretch.
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critical length of the grade:
• The maximum length of the ascending gradient which a
loaded truck can operate without undue reduction in
speed is called critical length of the grade. A speed of 25
kmph is a reasonable value. This value depends on the
size, power, load, initial speed.
Minimum gradient
• This is important only at locations where surface drainage
is important. Camber will take care of the lateral drainage.
But the longitudinal drainage along the side drains require
some slope for smooth flow of water. Therefore minimum
gradient is provided for drainage purpose and it depends
on the rain fall, type of soil and other site conditions.
• A minimum of 1 in 500 may be su cient for concrete drain
and 1 in 200 for open soil drains.
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Value of gradient as per IRC
Terrain Ruling Limiting Exceptional
gradient gradient gradient
Plain and Rolling 3.3% 5% 6.70%
(1 in 30)
Mountainous terrain 5% 6% 7%
(1 in 20)
Steep terrain up to 5% 6% 7%
3000m (MSL) (1 in 20)
6% 7% 8%
(1 in 16.7)
Steep terrain ( >3000m)
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SUMMIT CURVE
Length of summit curve(L) for SSD
• Case-1(L > SSD)
NS 2 NS 2
L
2
or L
2H 2h 4.4
• Case-2(L < SSD)
L2S
2H 2h
2
or L 2S
4.4
N N
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length of summit curve for OSD
• Case-1(L > OSD)
NS 2 NS 2
L or L
8H 9.6
• Case-2(L < OSD)
8H 9.6
L 2S or L 2S
N N
S=sight distance i.e. SSD, OSD or ISD
N= deviation angle
i.e. algebraic difference between two grade
H=height of driver eye above the carriageway i.e. 1.2 m
h=height of driver eye above the carriageway i.e. 0.15 m
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VALLEY CURVE
Length of valley curve for comfort condition:
1
V
3
2
OR
N
L 2 3.6
L 0.38 NV
C 1
3 2
N= deviation angle i.e. algebraic difference between two grade
C= rate of change of centrifugal acceleration may be taken as 0.6 m/sec³
V= speed of vehicle in kmph
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Length of valley curve for head light sight distance
• Case-1(L > SSD)
NS 2 NS 2
L OR
L
2h1 2S tan 1.5 0.035S
• Case-2(L < SSD)
2h1 2S tan L 2S
1.5 0.035S
L 2S OR
N N
h1=height of head light above the carriesway
α= inclination of focused portion of the beam of light w.r.t horizontal or beam angle .
N= deviation angle i.e. algebraic difference between two grade.
S=head light distance is equal to SSD
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Example -1
• A vertical summit curve is formed at the intersection of
two gradient, +3% and -5%. Design the length of
summit curve to provide a SSD for a design speed of
80 kmph. Assume any other data as per IRC.
Example-2
• A vertical summit curve is to be designed when two
grades, +1/50 and -1/80 meet on a highway. The SSD
and OSD required are 180 and 640 m respectively.
But due to the site conditions the length of the vertical
curve has to be restricted to a maximum value of 500
m if possible. Calculate the length of the summit curve
needed to fulfil the requirements of SSD , OSD or
atleast ISD.
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Example-3
• A valley is formed by a descending grade of 1 in 25
meeting an ascending grade of 1 in 30. design the
length of valley curve to fulfill both comfort condition
and head light distance requirements for a design
speed of 80 kmph. Assume allowable rate of change
of centrifugal acceleration is 0.6 m/sec3
Example-4
• An ascending gradient of 1 in 100 meets a descending
gradient of 1 in 120. a summit curve is to be designed
for a speed of 80 kmph so as to have an OSD of 470
m.
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Grade compensation
• At the horizontal curve ,due to the turning angle α of
the vehicle, the curve resistance develop is equal to
T(1-Cos α). When there is a horizontal curve in
addition to the gradient, there will be a increase in
resistance to fraction due to both gradient and curve.
It is necessary that in such cases the total resistance
due to grade and the curve should not exceeded the
resistance due to maximum value of the gradient
specified.
• Maximum value generally taken as ruling gradient
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Cont….
• Thus grade compensation can be defined as the
reduction in gradient at the horizontal curve
because of the additional tractive force required due
to curve resistance (T−Tcosα), which is intended to
offset the extra tractive force involved at the curve.
• IRC gave the following specification for the grade
compensation.
1. Grade compensation is not required for grades flatter than 4%
because the loss of tractive force is negligible.
2. Grade compensation is (30+R)/R %, where ‘R’ is the radius of
the horizontal curve in meters.
3. The maximum grade compensation is limited to 75/R%.
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Example-1
• While aligning a hilly road with a ruling gradient
of 6%, a horizontal curve of radius 60 m is
encountered. Fond the compensated gradient at
the curve.
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