INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY PATNA

CE 324: Transportation Engineering

Assignment-I
Due on: 21st April

1. For a portion of national highway where a descending gradient of 1 in 25 meets with an

ascending gradient of 1 in 20, a valley curve needs to be designed for a vehicle travelling at 90
kmph based on the following conditions.

i. headlight sight distance equal to the stopping sight distance (SSD) of a level terrain
considering length of valley curve> SSD.
ii. comfort condition with allowable rate of change of centrifugal acceleration = 0.5 m/sec3.

Assume total reaction time = 2.5 seconds; coefficient of longitudinal friction of the pavement=
0.35; height of head light of the vehicle =0.75 m; and beam angle = 1°.

What is the length of valley curve (in m) based on the head light sight distance condition? What
is the length of valley curve (in m) based on the comfort condition?

2. While designing a hill road with a ruling gradient of 6%, if a sharp horizontal curve of 50 m
radius is encountered, what should be the compensated gradient at the curve as per the Indian
Roads Congress specifications?

3. A crest vertical curve joins two gradients of +3% and -2% for a design speed of 80 km/h and
the corresponding stopping sight distance of 120m. The height of driver’s eye and the object
above the road surface are 1.20 m and 0.15 m respectively. What is the required curve length
(which is less than stopping sight distance)?

3. A homogeneous half space is subjected to a circular load, 254 mm in diameter. The pressure
on the circular area is 345 kPa. The half space has an elastic modulus of 69 MPa and a Poisson's
ratio of 0.5. Determine the vertical stress, strain and deflection at point A, which is located 254
mm below and 508 mm away from the centre.

4. A homogeneous half space is subjected to two circular loads, each 254 mm in diameter and
spaced at 508 mm on centres. The pressure on the circular area is 345 kPa. The half space has an
elastic modulus of 69 MPa and a Poisson's ratio of 0.5. Determine the vertical stress, strain and
deflection at point A, which is located 254 mm below the centre of one of the wheels.

5. Given the following data for the pavement shown in the figure 1, compute the deflection at
point m, z and r at point o and 1,2,3 and max at point p. a= 152 mm; p = 552 kPa; h1=254
mm; E1 = 173 MPa; μ1 = 0.35 E2 = 110 MPa; μ2 = 0.4. Coordinates of points: m: (z=0, r=0); o:
(z=457, r=305), p: (z=457, r=0).
 Figure 1
6. Given the three layer system shown in figure 2, determine all the stresses and strains at the two
interfaces on the axis of symmetry.

Figure 2

7. The width of the expansion joint is 20 mm in a cement concrete pavement. The laying
temperature is 20°C and the maximum slab temperature in summer is 60°C. The coefficient of
thermal expansion of concrete is 10×10-6 mm/mm/°C and the joint filler compresses up to 50%
of the thickness. Determine the spacing between expansion joints.

8. Design the length and spacing of tie bars given that the pavement thickness is 20 cm and
width of the road is 7m with one longitudinal joint. The unit weight of concrete is 2400 kg/m3,
the coefficient of friction is 1.5, allowable working tensile stress in steel is 1750 kg/cm2, and
bond stress of deformed bars is 24.6 kg/cm2.