DEVELOPING TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES FOR GEOMETRIC DESIGN OF HIGHWAYS

A DISCUSSION IS PRESENTED ON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIAL TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES FOR USE IN GEOMETRIC DESIGN OF HIGHWAYS, WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON INTERCHANGE DESIGN. THE TECHNIQUES PRESENTED PROVIDE THE MEANS OF STEPPING UP ENGINEERING PRODUCTIVITY BY: (1) REDUCING MANPOWER REQUIREMENTS, (2) UTILIZING EFFECTIVELY YOUNG AND INEXPERIENCED ENGINEERS, AND (3) PRODUCING DESIGNS OF HIGHER QUALITY. NEARLY ALL COMPUTATIONS FOR INTERCHANGE DESIGN ARE ELIMINATED BY USE OF THREE-CENTERED CURVE TEMPLATES COUPLED WITH DESIGN TABLES AND GRAPHICS, INCLUDING SLIDE RULE DETERMINATION BY PARABOLIC DISTRIBUTION OF FLARE AND TAPER OFFSETS. GEOMETRIC DESIGN OF INTERCHANGES ALSO IS GREATLY FACILITATED BY THE USE OF ALIGNMENT TEMPLATES. THESE PRECLUDE TEDIOUS GRAPHICAL CONSTRUCTION AS A PREREQUISITE TO CALCULATIONS. DATA TAKEN FROM TEMPLATES ARE FED INTO AN ELECTRONIC COMPUTER TO PRODUCE A COMPLETE SOLUTION. AN ALIGNMENT FOR MOST RAMPS CAN BE SELECTED IN 15 OR 20 MINUTES AND SOLVED ON THE COMPUTER IN ANOTHER 25 MINUTES. BY THIS METHOD, THE ALIGNMENT OF A CLOVERLEAF INTERCHANGE CAN BE COMPLETELY WORKED OUT IN ONE DAY, COMPARED TO A WEEK OR LONGER BY THE PREVIOUS METHOD WITHOUT TEMPLATE AND ELECTRONIC COMPUTER.

• Record URL:
  • https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbproceedings/38/38-015.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 38, pp 321-352, 27 FIG. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Leisch, J E
• Publication Date: 1959

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Monograph Title: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board, Washington, D.C., January 5-9, 1959
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Proceedings
  • Volume: 38
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alignment; Calculation; Cloverleaf interchanges; Computers; Flares; Geometric curves; Geometric design; Graphics; Highway design; Interchanges; Interchanges and intersections; Production; Quality control; Ramps; Tapered traffic lanes
• Candidate Terms: Highway economics
• Uncontrolled Terms: Quality; Templates
• Old TRIS Terms: Graphic methods; Slide rules; Taper
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00203286
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Oct 14 1994 12:00AM