Superelevation

* Superelevation is tilting the roadway to help offset centrifugal forces develo

ped as the vehicle goes around a curve. Along with friction they are what keep a
vehicle from going off the road.
* It permits a vehicle to travel through a curve more safely and at a higher spe
ed than would be possible with a normal crown section.
* For a given degree of curvature, a steeper superelevation is required for a hi
gher design speed than is needed for a lower design speed. For a given design sp
eed more superelevation is needed through sharp curves than for relatively flat
curves.
The maximum rates of superelevation used on roadways are controlled by three fac
tors:
* Terrain conditions (i.e. flat or rolling);
* Type of area (i.e. rural or urban); and
* Frequency of slow-moving vehicles.
STAGES IN SUPERELEVATION
Tangent Run-out (Z)
The length of highway needed to accomplish the change in cross slope from a norma
l crown section to a flat section (or adverse crown removed) or vice versa

Superelevation runoff (Or) Transition Length

The length of highway needed to accomplish the change in cross slope from an adv
erse crown removed to a fully superelevated section or vice versa

Superelevation Development Length (Le)

Superelevation Development Length (Le) is the distance over which superelevation

is developed from the normal cross-fall to full superelevation(Source: USO,Austra
lia)

Two adjacent horizontal curves should be separated by sufficient tangent distanc

es to eliminate any overlap of superelevation runoff length between the two curv
es.

A.Curves with Transition

I)NormalCrown(or)Runout In starts section
II)Adverse CrownRemoved(or) TS (Tangent Spiral)or Transition In start(or)Runout
n
III)Reverse Crown Section
IV)Fully Superelevated Section Start(or) SC (Spiral Curve)or Transition In end(or)
rt
V)Fully Superelevated Section End(or) CS (Curve Spiral) or Transition Out Start(or
d
VI)Reverse Crown Section
VII)Adverse Crown Removed(or) ST (Spiral Tangent)or Transition Out end(or)Runout Ou
t section
VIII)Normal Crown(or)Runout out end section

B.Curves without Transition

I)NormalCrown(or)Runout In start section
II)Adverse Crown Removed(or) Runout In end section
III)Reverse Crown Section
IV)2/3rdSuperelevation(or) Curve Start
V)Fully Superelevated Section Start
VI)Fully Superelevated Section End
VII)2/3rdSuperelevation(or) Curve End
VIII)Reverse Crown Section
IX)Adverse CrownRemoved(or) Runout out start section
X)Normal Crown(or)Runout out end section

ACHIEVING SUPERELEVATION

A. Curves with Transition

The superelevation should be attained gradually over the full length of the tran
sition curve so that the design superelevation is available at the starting poin
t of the circular portion.

B. Curves without Transition

In cases, where transition curve cannot be provided, two-third superelevation ma

y be attained on the straight section before start of the circular curve and bal
ance one-third on the curve. Generally it is termed as 2/3rd 1/3rdrule (67% in stra
ight and 33% in curve portion).

Method of building superelevation

There are three different methods for attaining the superelevation

A.Pavement revolved about centerline

B.Pavement revolved about outer edge
C.Pavement revolved about inner edge
Traffic volume
* It is the number of vehicles crossing a section of road per unit time at any
selected period.
Annual average daily traffic. (AADT) represents the total traffic for a year di
vided by 365, or the average traffic volume per day.
Design Hourly Volume. The design hourly volume (DHV) is usually the 30th highest
hourly volume for the design year, commonly 20 years from the time of construct
ion completion.
Technological University of the Philippines
Chapter 6: Geometric Design of Highways
* Superelevation
* Design Volume
Submitted by:
Navarro, Jamil Arra D.
BSCE 2
Submitted to:
Engr. Madrid