An Introduction to Geometrics for Roads and Streets

J. Paul Guyer, P.E., R.A., Fellow ASCE, Fellow AEI

Course Outline

1. GENERAL
2. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
3. GEOMETRIC DESIGN FOR ROADS AND STREETS

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

Learning Objective

Upon completion of this course you will:

• Learn about traffic volume and composition effects on street and road geometrics;
• Learn how roads and streets are classified for geometric design purposes;
• Learn about design controls that result from topographic and land use considerations;
• Learn how traffic volumes are expressed in units of ADT and DHV;
• Find out how vehicle speed influences road and speed geometric design;
• Learn the fundamentals of roadway capacity design;
• Learn about pavement cross slop design;
• Find out about standard curb configurations and where they are used; and
• Learn about design of shoulders for roadways.

Intended Audience

This course is intended for civil engineers and other professional engineers and construction managers wanting an introduction to geometric design of streets and roads.

Benefit for Attendee

This course will give professional engineers and others an introduction to the geometric considerations in roadway design.

Course Introduction

This is an introduction to the characteristics and constraints that drive geometric design of streets and roads.

About Course Author

Paul Guyer is a registered mechanical engineer, civil engineer, fire protection engineer and architect with over 35 years experience in the design of buildings and related infrastructure.  For an additional 9 years he was a senior-level advisor to the California Legislature on infrastructure and capital outlay issues.  He has designed and supervised the design of hundreds of construction projects requiring the preparation of detailed working drawings and specifications for federal, state and local public agencies and private companies.  He is a graduate of Stanford University and has held numerous national, state and local positions with the American Society of Civil Engineers and National Society of Professional Engineers.

Course Content

The course content is contained in the following PDF file:

An Introduction to Geometrics for Roads and Streets

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

After completion of this course you will be prepared to address the geometric considerations for streets and roadway design projects.

Quiz

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

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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.

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