Connecticut State Department of Transportation

CTDOT CONNECT DDE GUIDE VOLUME 3 - OPENROADS DESIGNER ROADWAY MODELING


Section 5 - Superelevation


APPLYING SUPERELEVATION TO A CORRIDOR 
ADDING ADDITION LANES

The Superelevation tools calculate the amount of cross slope or “bank” that should be provided on a horizontal curve to counterbalance, in combination with side friction, the centrifugal force of a vehicle traversing the curve. These tools also compute the superelevation transition length which is the distance required to transition the roadway from a normal crown section to full superelevation. The superelevation transition length is the sum of the tangent runout (TR) and superelevation runoff (L) distances. 

Pavement slopes are initially defined in the template.Superelevation is created and applied after the corridor is defined and the template drops have been assigned. This section will detail how superelevation is computed with OpenRoads as well as how to accurately model the shoulder break for the high side of Superelevation.

Superelevation calculations should be applied as defined in Chapter 8 of the Connecticut Department of Transportation Highway Design Manual.   

The Superelevation tools are located in the Corridors tab, as shown below.

Superelevation Tools on Ribon

The following tools are available:

  • Create Superelevation Sections
  • Create Superelevation Lanes
  • Create Superelevation Lanes by Road Template
  • Calculate Superelevation
  • Edit Superelevation rule File
  • Import Superelevation
  • Assign to Corridor
  • Insert Station Cross-Slope
  • Superelevation Editor
  • Superelevation Report
  • Open Superelevation View

  
APPLYING SUPERELEVATION TO A CORRIDOR
» Create Superelevation Sections

Superelevation Sections for each alignment are normally placed in a separate design file with the Centerlines referenced in. The Create Superelevation tool creates a superelevation section for the specified station range on the centerline to demarcate a stretch of roadway for superelevation calculations.

In this tool the Civil horizontal geometry element is identified, and station limits of the superelevation are defined. Station limits are useful if the horizontal alignment is substantially longer than the project limits. The section is drawn using the selected Feature Definition.  

 

Create Superelevation Sections

The CTDOT XML-formatted rules file containing the superelevation standards/parameters is located in the following location:

...\State of Connecticut\DOT CTDOT_DDE - CONNECT\CT_Configuration\Organization-Civil\_CT_Civil Standards - Imperial\Superelevation

 

» Assign Superelevation to Corridor

After the superelevation values have been computed, the next step in the process is to assign the superelevation sections to a corridor.

Before assigning the superelevation to the corridor, it is necessary to do the following:

  • Attach the reference file containing the superelevation sections to the corridor model.
  • Verify that the template being used in the corridor has the Superelevation Flag set for all pavement points used as candidate superelevation points. This flag is used for automatically setting the point controls.

Superelevation Flag on Point Properties Dialog Box

 

The Assign Superelevation to Corridor tool applies the cross slopes defined on superelevation lanes to the corridor so the superelevated pavement is reflected in the corridor model.

 

Assign Superelevation to Corridor

 

 

ADDING ADDITIONAL LANES

Additional lanes can be added to an existing superelevation section by use of the Create Superelevation Lanes command.

Create Superelevation Lanes