Geometric Design Consistency on High-Speed Rural Two-Lane Roadways - a PDH Online Course for Engineers, Surveyors and Architects

Geometric Design Consistency on High-Speed Rural Two-Lane Roadways

Course Outline

The Geometric Design Consistency on High-Speed Rural Two-Lane Roadways covers a wide variety of designs and applications that can address the problems encountered on rural roadways. In additions to geometric design alignments, problems also include, elderly drivers and advanced warning signage. This course will discuss the solutions that could be implemented to control or eliminate the problems faced on high-speed rural two-lane roadways. The course materials are based solely on the Transportation Research Board document “Geometric Design Consistency on High-Speed Rural Two-Lane Roadways” as found on the website of the Transportation Research Board.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student would have learned the following:

How roadway geometrics are designed per driver expectations;
How lane width can influence speed;
How Narrow shoulders are associated with increased accidents;
How to determine the Accident Modification Factor (AMF);
Warning signs used in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD);
How to adjust base free flow speed using the formulas in the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM);
How access points effect free flow speed;
How to determine the min. separation of adjacent driveways;
How to determine the stopping sight distance;
How to determine the speed reduction under a Level I and Level II advisory;
Factors that influence the design of roadways;
Crash rates on horizontal curves;
The ideal speeds for vehicles on vertical curves;
Ideal “K” values for vertical curves;
How “very dangerous curves” are defined;
The percentage of drivers over 65 years of age;
Average reaction time for drivers when an event is expected;
Characteristics of older drivers;
How freeways are currently designed for high speed drivers;
The ideal spacing of rest areas;
How speeds increases the severity of crashes;
How to determine the characteristics of various elements of the roadway;
Crash rates of vehicles on tangents; and
When to avoid large differences in horizontal alignments.

Intended Audience and Benefit

Course Introduction

This course will discuss Geometric design consistency as it relates to high-speed rural two-lane roadways. Several examples are given in the text that explains how geometric design solutions are applies to high-speed rural two-lane roadways. This course will provide useful information to determine the proper designs for safe high-speed rural two-lane roadways.

This course covers problems and solutions pertaining to high – speed rural two – lane roadways. The types of problems include crashes such as those that occur on horizontal curves, those due to elderly drivers and many others. Solutions to these problems range from 85th percentile speed design of the geometrics, where to place driveways along the roadway and the placement of advance warning signs, among others. The course materials are based solely on the Transportation Research Board document “Geometric Design Consistency on High-Speed Rural Two-Lane Roadways” as found on the website of the Transportation Research Board. This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Course Content

Geometric Design Consistency on High-Speed Rural Two-Lane Roadways

(http://onlinepubs.trb.com/Onlinepubs/nchrp/nchrp_rpt_502.pdf)

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you still experience any difficulty in downloading or opening this file, you may need to close some applications or reboot your computer to free up some memory.

Course Summary

The proper design of roadways is essential to the safety of all drivers. Certain roadways have specific design criteria that may be different than others of a different purpose, speed and location. This course specifically studies the geometric design consistency of high-speed rural two-lane highways.

This course can be used by anyone with an interest in roadway design, traffic engineering and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). This course is also perfect for anyone that would like to know more information regarding High-speed rural roadways two-lane roadways and the effects on their communities. After reading this course the student will have the knowledge to design safe and efficient high-speed rural two-lane roadways. As always good engineering judgment is paramount in any situation. Utilizing good judgment and the knowledge gained in this course can help to design safer roadways for all drivers.

Related Links

For additional technical information related to this subject, please visit the following websites:

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/
http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/
http://www.its.dot.gov/index.htm

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.