Highway & Airport Engineering

Code : CT 231

Lecturer : Dr. Nasser Mohammed Abdallah

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Reading
• Traffic and Highway Engineering, FOURTH EDITION,
Nicholas J. Garber Lester A. Hoel

References
• Geometric Design and Structural Design of highways,
Staff of Highway and Traffic Engineering, Cairo University

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Lecture # 1

INTRODUCTION

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Introduction
• Highway Characteristics
There are two primary categories of service provided by
highways and highway systems:

▫ Accessibility
▫ Mobility
“ Accessibility” refers to the direct connection to land uses provided by highways
This accessibility comes in the form of curb parking, driveway access to
off-street parking, bus stops, taxi stands, loading zones, driveway access to
loading areas, and similar features.
“Mobility” refers to the through movement of people, goods, and vehicles from
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Point A to Point B in the system.
Before

Chattanooga, TN
After
Mobility or Access?
Why?

Chattanooga, TN
What can we Do?
Highway System Components

1. Vehicle
2. Driver (and peds./bikes)
3. Roadway
4. Consider characteristics, capabilities,
and interrelationships in design

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Factors Influencing Highway Design
Highway design is based on specified design standards and
controls which depend on the following roadway system
factors:
• Functional classification
• Design hourly traffic volume and vehicle mix
• Design speed
• Design vehicle
• Cross section of the highway, such as lanes, shoulders, and
medians
• Presence of heavy vehicles on steep grades
• Topography of the area that the highway traverses
• Level of service
• Available funds
• Safety
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• Social and environmental factors
Highway Classification
A- According to Location
- Urban Roads
• Limited-access facilities (Expressways)
• Arterials
• Collectors (Major or Minor)
• Local streets
- Rural highways
• Freeways
• 1st Class
• 2nd Class
• Local
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Hierarchy of Highway Classifications

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Highway Classification
B- According to Cross section

-Two-way two lanes

-Multilane Divided

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Typical Cross Section for Two-Lane Highways

Typical Cross Section for Multilane Highways (half section) 13

Highway Classification in Egypt

- Divided highways,
- Main roads, and
- Regional roads

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Highway Location Study

 Basic Principles for Hwy Location

• Roadway elements (curvature, grade, etc) must blend

with each other to produce a system that provides for
the easy flow of traffic at the design capacity, while
meeting design criteria and safety standards.

• Should cause minimal disruption to historic and

archeological sites and other land-use activities

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Factors Considered in the Location Process
• Topography and geology

• Social and demographic characteristics (including land use

and zoning patterns)

• Terrain and soil conditions

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Factors Considered in the Location Process
• Directness of route

• Functionality of route – industry

and people

• Crossing of other transportation

facilities (roads, railroads, rivers)
• Roads – right angle

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Factors Considered in the Location Process
• Environmental
-Animal habitat

-Recreational, historic and archeological sites

-Noise, air, and water pollution

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Factors Considered in the Location Process
• Economic
 Construction

 Maintenance costs

 Road user costs

 Road user benefits (i.e. travel time)

 Dislocations of people or businesses

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 Location Steps

• Identify corridor limits

• Identify 3 classes of geographic constraint
• Define alternative alignments – each one
different to satisfy requirements
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Traffic Study
Daily Volume
• Daily volumes are used to establish trends over time,
and for general planning purposes.
• There are four daily volume parameters that are
widely used in traffic engineering:

▫ Average annual daily traffic (AADT).

▫ Average annual weekday traffic (AAWT).
▫ Average daily traffic (ADT).
▫ Average weekday traffic (AWT).
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 Daily Volume

• Average annual daily traffic (AADT).

• The average 24-hour volume at a given location over a

full 365-day year; the number of vehicles passing site

in a year divided by 365 days (366 days in a leap year).

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Daily Volume

• Average annual weekday traffic (AAWT).

• The average 24-hour volume occurring on weekdays

over a full 365-day year; the number of vehicles passing

a site on weekdays in a year divided by the number of

weekdays (usually 260).

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 Daily Volume

• Average daily traffic (ADT).

• The average hour volume at a given location over a

defined time period less than one year; a common

application is to measure an ADT for each month of the

year.

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 Daily Volume

• Average weekday traffic (AWT).

• The average hour weekday volume at a given location

over a defined time period less than one year; a common

application is to measure an AWT for each month of the

year.

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Daily Volume
• AADT Applications
▫ Estimation of highway use
▫ Estimation of trends
▫ Economic feasibility evaluation
▫ Planning
▫ Maintenance
• ADT Applications
▫ Planning
▫ Measurement of current demand

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Hourly Volume
• Volume varies considerably over the 24 hours of the day,

• Rush Hours
• Peak Hour

• Highways and controls must be designed to adequately

serve the peak-hour traffic volume in the peak direction
of flow.

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Design Volume
 Usually hourly volume
 Which hour?
 Average hourly volume – inadequate design
 Maximum peak hour – not economical
 Hourly volume used for design should not be exceeded
very often or by very much
 Usually use 30th highest hourly volume of the year
 On rural roads 30 HHV is ~ 15% of ADT
 Tends to be constant year to year 29
Design
• In design, peak-hour volumes are sometimes
estimated from projections of the AADT. (?)

• Directional Design Hour Volume (DDHV),

• K = Proportion of daily traffic occurring during Peak hour

• D = Proportion of peak hour traffic traveling in the peak
direction of flow.

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DDHV
• 30th peak hour of the year
▫ (K represent it)
• D and K would decrease by increasing development
density (?)
• K and D should be monitored regularly.

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Relationship between Peak Hour and Annual
Average Daily Traffic on Rural Highways

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Design Speed in Green Book
(suggested minimum design speed)

Urban
Locals 20-30 mph
Collectors 30 mph+
Arterials 30-60 mph

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Capacity Analysis

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Objectives
 Review LOS definition and determinants
 Define capacity and relate to “ideal” capacities
 Review calculating capacity using HCM
procedures for basic freeway section
 Focus on relations between capacity, level-of-
service, and design

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Level of Service (LOS)
• Concept – a qualitative measure describing
operational conditions within a traffic stream and
their perception by drivers and/or passengers
• Levels represent range of operating conditions
defined by measures of effectiveness (MOE)
• How can be described:
-Freedom on choice own speed
-Freedom on choice maneuvers
-Density
• How to measured:
- Running speed
- Volume capacity ratio (v/c)
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Level-of-Service Characteristics

Source: Adapted from the AASHTO Green Book. 37

Design Level of Service (LOS)

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 Capacity – Defined
 Capacity: Maximum hourly rate of vehicles or persons
that can reasonably be expected to pass a point, or
traverse a uniform section of lane or roadway, during a
specified time period under prevailing conditions (traffic
and roadway)
 Different for different facilities (freeway, multilane, 2-lane
rural, signals)
 Why would it be different?

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 Ideal Capacity
• Freeways: Capacity • Multilane Suburban/Rural
(Free-Flow Speed) 2,200 pcphpl (60 mph)
2,400 pcphpl (70 mph) 2,100 (55 mph)
2,350 pcphpl (65 mph) 2,000 (50 mph)
2,300 pcphpl (60 mph) 1,900 (45 mph)
2,250 pcphpl (55 mph)
• 2-lane rural – 2,800 pcph
• Signal – 1,900 pcphgpl

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Ideal Capacity
Assumptions (Ideal Conditions, all other conditions
reduce capacity):
• Only passenger cars
• No direct access points
• A divided highway
• FFS > 60 mph
• Represents highest level of multilane rural and suburban
highways

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Multilane Highways
 Intended for analysis of uninterrupted-flow highway
segments
• Signal spacing > 2.0 miles
• No on-street parking
• No significant bus stops
• No significant pedestrian activities

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Source: HCM, 2000
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Step 1: Gather data
Step 2: Calculate capacity
(Supply)
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Source: HCM, 2000
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Source: HCM, 2000
Factors affecting capacity
A-Road Factors
1-No. of Lanes and Lane width
2-Shoulder width
3-Horizontial and vertical alignments (Terrain )
4-Lateral clearance
5-Pavement surface condition

B-Traffic Factors
1-Truck percent
2-Traffic speed
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Cross Section Elements
1. Surface Type:
- Asphalt concrete (flexible pavement).
- Plan, simply reinforced & continuously reinforced concrete
(rigid pavement).
- Surface treatment for shoulders.

Choice depending on :(‫(اختيار نوع السطح يعتمد علي‬

a. Applied stresses .(‫(االجهادات المسلطة‬
b. Environmental conditions .(‫(الظروف المناخية المحيطة‬
c. Available materials .(‫(المواد المتوفرة‬
d. Common practice .(‫(الخبرة الشائعة‬
e. Cost .(‫(الكلفة‬
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Cross Section Elements
2. Cross Slop:
0.01 – 0.03 "high type surface"
0.08 "low type surface" shoulders

3. Lane Width:
- Standard = 3.65m
- In practice = 3.75 m
- +0.25m (at shoulders) & +0.5m (at median if barrier curb is
found).
Where +0.25m & 0.50m marginal strips.

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Cross Section Elements
4. Shoulder: - Surface treatment
Width = 2.5 - 3.0m
Cross-slop = 5 - 8% = 0.05 - 0.08
5. Curbs:
- Barrier (for pedestrian) (‫(ال يمكن اجتيازه بالجراجات‬
- Mountable (‫(يمكن اجتيازه بالجراجات‬
- Curb & Gutter (‫(أنواع من األرصفة تحوي نظام تصريف‬

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Cross Section Elements
6. Guard rail (by sheet and column):
Used at hazardous points:
- at high fill > 3.0m
- steep grades (‫(انحدار شديد‬
- sharp curvature (‫(انحناء شديد‬
- sudden change in alignment
- restricted sight (foggy ‫(مناطق الرؤية المقيدة) (ضبابي‬
- near rivers and lakes < 10 - 15m
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Cross Section Elements
7. Median:
For:
- Separating opposite flow
- Future expansion

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Cross Section Elements
8. Side walk :(‫(طريق المشاة‬

9. Side slop:
a. Cut slop:
- For normal soil (clay, silt, sand), & h ≤ 6.0m:
H:V = 2:1, … ..., 4:1 (favorable 4:1 ‫(المفضلة‬

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Cross Section Elements
- For normal soil, & h > 6.0m:
(has to be design according to slop stability theory)

- For rocky soil:

Hard (H:V) = 1:10 … 1:5

Medium (H:V) = 1:4 … 1:3

Sift (H:V) = 1:2 with steps

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Cross Section Elements

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Cross Section Elements
10. Vertical clearance:
For roads = min. 5.50m
For railway = min. 6.50m
For walkway = min. 2.50m
For main rivers = min. 6.50m
For other rivers = min. 3.50m
For high tension lines = min. 8.8 -10m
11. Right of way (‫ < (حرم الطريق‬80m
Freeway ≈ 200m
Highway ≈ 100m
Used for: future expansion (‫(التوسع‬, safety ( ‫(األمان‬,
maintenance .(‫(الصيانة‬
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