Highways and Highway TransportationChatburn, George R.
History
Highways and Highway Transportation
Chatburn, George R.
Roads; Transportation
The longer radii allow the turns to be made without slowing up the
traffic, providing there is proper superelevation of the outer
edge. The longer the radius, that is, the flatter the curve, the
less superelevation is required, and the less the tipping sensation
experienced by slow-moving vehicles on the turn. Moreover, on short
curves a considerable widening of the pavement is required in order
that the inner and outer edges, and therefore all traffic lanes, may
have the same degree of curvature. Also, clear vision for the longer
distances necessary for fast-moving traffic is easier to obtain on flat
than on sharp turns.
The minimum grade of a roadway is usually a question of drainage,
but the character and quantity of traffic is a determining factor in
the establishment of steeper grades. Passenger cars can more easily
negotiate grades than can commercial trucks. The average passenger car
shifts to second gear at about a 7 per cent grade and there is very
little shifting necessary on a long 6 per cent grade, hence for such
cars 6 per cent may be considered a maximum for the high-speed gears.
This same car will have to drop into low at about 10 per cent. Hence
from the standpoint of the convenience of operating a passenger car
there is no justification in going to great expense to cut a 10, or a
9, or an 8 per cent grade to a 7 per cent grade. For the average 5-ton
truck 4 per cent and 8 per cent are the maximum grades for convenient
running in high and intermediate. There may and possibly are many other
reasons for cutting grades wherever possible. Where time is an element
economy is effected by the possible speeds on grades.
The width of the roadway will likewise be influenced by the quantity
and character of traffic. With slow-going wagons a width of 8 feet was
sufficient for one lane of traffic, but with the automobile safety
demands 10, and the Good Roads Conference of 1922 voted that no road
should be less than 22.
The best type of foundation and surface is a factor of quantity and
class of traffic, and while as yet all engineers do not agree, the
numerous experiments now being made may lead to standardization.
Just as an example may be mentioned the change that has taken place
in the effect of vehicles on waterbound macadam. Under horse-drawn,
iron-wheeled wagons and carriages this was considered an ideal
pavement. The horses’ shoes and the iron tires wore off of the stones
a sufficient amount of dust to keep the road crust well cemented. The
rubber tires of the automobile do not do that; furthermore, what dust
is on the road is picked up and scattered to the winds. The force of
the drive wheels also is sufficient to loosen the stones and roll them
from their bed, causing the roadway to ravel and disintegrate rapidly.
These arguments might be multiplied indefinitely, but enough has
been given to demonstrate the value to the road planner and the road
designer of a traffic census.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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