COORDINATION OF HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL ALINEMENT WITH REGARD TO HIGHWAY ESTHETICS

The vertical and horizontal designs of highways should have a pleasing appearance when combined together. They should also fit gracefully into their surroundings and become acceptable components of the landscape as viewed from outside the highway. The coordination or proper fitting together of the horizontal and the vertical alinements is an important technique for achieving an esthetically pleasing highway alinement design. Even though the safety benefits of esthetically pleasing highways have not been well documented in the past, the literature contains statements about the subtle interrelationship between highway esthetics and highway safety; that is, those things that make a highway beautiful also can make it safer for traffic. In addition, an esthetically pleasing highway also appears to be safer to the users, which is important for their enjoyment of that highway. Definitive guidelines for safe and esthetically pleasing three-dimensional alinements are presented. The recommended practices of both Germany and the United States are discussed and compared. A safety evaluation process called "curvilinear alinement" and its application to superimposed vertical and horizontal alinements are discussed. Several specific items related to highway esthetics and related safety issues are recommended for consideration for inclusion in the next AASHTO policy on geometric design of highways and streets (Green Book).

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1994/1445/1445-008.pdf
• Record URL:
  https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=COORDINATION+OF+HORIZONTAL+AND+VERTICAL+ALINEMENT+WITH+REGARD+TO+HIGHWAY+ESTHETICS&author=B.+Smith&author=R.+Lamm&publication_year=1994
• Availability:
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• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1445, Cross Section and Alinement Design Issues. 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:
  • Smith, Bob L
  • Lamm, Ruediger
• Publication Date: 1994

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: p. 73-85
• Monograph Title: Cross section and alinement design issues
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 1445
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aesthetics; Alignment; Coordination; Curves (Geometry); Geometric design; Guidelines; Highway design; Highway safety; Recommendations
• Uncontrolled Terms: Horizontal alignment; Vertical alignment
• Geographic Terms: Germany; United States
• Old TRIS Terms: Curvilinear alignment
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Research; I20: Design and Planning of Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00675332
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309060516
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Mar 20 1995 12:00AM