CVEN 635 STREET

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CVEN 635STREET HIGHWAY DESIGN

• Instructor Dominique Lord
• Room 304A (CE/TTI Tower)
• Phone [phone]
• d-lord_at_tamu.edu
• Spring 2007

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TEXTBOOK

• Required Text A Policy on Geometric Design of
  Highway and Streets, 4th Ed., American
  Association of State Highway and Transportation
  Officials (AASHTO).
• Required Text Texas Roadway Design Manual, 2002,
  ftp//ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/gsd/manua
  ls/rdw.pdf
• Highly Recommended
• Schoon, J.G. Geometric Design Projects for
  Highways An Introduction, 2nd Edition, ASCE,
  Reston, Va., 1999.

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TEXTBOOK

• Other relevant material
• Wright, P.H., and Dixon, K. Highway Engineering.
  7th Ed., John Wiley Sons, Hoboken, N.J., 2004.
• Lamm, R., Psarianos, B., and Mailaender, T.,
  Highway Design and Traffic Safety Engineering
  Handbook, McGraw-Hill, New York, New York, 1999.
• Staplin, L., Lococo, K., Byington, S., and
  Harkey, D. Highway Design Handbook for Older
  Drivers and Pedestrians. U.S.DOT/FHWA Publication
  No. FHWA-RD-01-103. Washington, D.C., 2001.

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TEXTBOOK

• Other relevant material
• Fitzpatrick, and Wooldridge, M. NCHRP Synthesis
  299, Recent Geometric Design Research for
  Improved Safety and Operations, Transportation
  Research Board, 2001. http//onlinepubs.trb.org/on
  linepubs/nchrp/nchrp_syn_299.pdf
• The Access Board, Accessible Rights-of-Way A
  Design Guide, 2002. www.access-board.gov
• FHWA, Flexibility in Highway Design, Washington,
  D.C., 2005. http//www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/fl
  ex/index.htm

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GRADING

• Assignments 30 (6-8)
• Term Paper 20
• Projects 40 (2)
• Class Participation 10

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Important Issues in Highway Design

• Automobile Oriented Society
• More cars than drivers (BTS Survey 03)
• Shift from construction of new facilities to
  maintenance of existing facilities (e.g., lane
  widening, paving, intelligent transportation
  systems, etc.)
• Resurgence in highway funding
• Concern for conditions of infrastructure
• Renewed public willingness for public
  expenditures (e.g., current bill in Texas to
  increase funding for highways)
• Reauthorization of transportation funds (286.5B)

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Important Issues in Highway Design

• Fleet of vehicles
• Larger trucks/smaller vehicles
• Better vehicles performance and design (e.g.,
  lower center of gravity, improved acceleration,
  lighter vehicle components, etc.)
• Age of population
• Baby boomers are getting older (20 65 in 2003)
• Safety issues with older (i.e., visual search,
  reaction time, more fragile health, etc.)

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Important Issues in Highway Design

• Value Engineering
• New area that aims to find ways to save money in
  design
• Has been applied in highway design
• Can compromise safety (e.g., Highway 407 in
  Ontario, Canada)
• Liability
• Increasing number of lawsuits (DOTs, Cities,
  MPOs, etc.)
• Usually always based on (un)safety (after crashes
  occur)

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Important Issues in Design

• Safety Audits
• Becoming increasingly popular (liability is a
  factor)
• Explicitly look at all safety components of a
  project (from initial concept to construction)
• Goes beyond design guidelines
• Partial truth good design may avoid many
  problems
• New design criteria under development
• Less focused on vehicle speed
• Sensitive context design

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Important Issues in Design

• Strategic Research
• Operational effects
• Safety effects
• Design tools
• Non-motorized vehicles or users (pedestrians,
  bicyclists)
• Unusual design (large intersections)
• Innovative design (pedestrian crosswalks)
• Technology (influences the design process)
• Low volume roads
• Environmental impacts