Geometric Design of Roads Handbook

Explore the Art and Science of Geometric Design

The Geometric Design of Roads Handbook covers the design of the visible elements of the road—its horizontal and vertical alignments, the cross-section, intersections, and interchanges. Good practice allows the smooth and safe flow of traffic as well as easy maintenance. Geometric design is covered in depth. The book also addresses the underpinning disciplines of statistics, traffic flow theory, economic and utility analysis, systems analysis, hydraulics and drainage, capacity analysis, coordinate calculation, environmental issues, and public transport.

A key principle is recognizing what the driver wishes to do rather than what the vehicle can do. The book takes a human factors approach to design, drawing on the concept of the "self-explaining road." It also emphasizes the need for consistency of design and shows how this can be quantified, and sets out the issues of the design domain context, the extended design domain concept, and the design exception. The book is not simply an engineering manual, but properly explores context-sensitive design.

Changes in geometric design over the last few years have been dramatic and far-reaching and this is the first book to draw these together into a practical guide which presents a proper and overriding philosophy of design for road and highway designers, and students.

This text:

• Covers the basics of geometric design
• Explores key aspects of multimodal design
• Addresses drainage and environmental issues
• Reviews practical standards, procedures, and guidelines
• Provides additional references for further reading

A practical guide for graduate students taking geometric design, traffic operations/capacity analysis, and public transport, theGeometric Design of Roads Handbook introduces a novel approach that addresses the human aspect in the design process and incorporates relevant concepts that can help readers create and implement safe and efficient designs.

Keith Wolhuter is a consultant at Aurecon and was formerly transport planning specialist at South Africa‘s National Treasury.