Objectives
The module is devoted to the study of design horizontal and vertical alignment of a linear transport infrastructure. In particular, contents of a preliminary and final design of a transport infrastructure with particular emphasis on roads are exposed. Notes on the design of railways and airports are also briefly reviewed. The module aims to provide the basic methods to analyze the location of the alignment on the ground in relation to its functional, geometric, economic and safety aspect and to identify design and construction criteria of the several road elements. First, a brief description of the economic analysis of investments in the transport sector with special reference to the analysis benefits / costs is briefly reported. Main features of models currently used to forecast transport demand are also reviewed. Different phases of the design of the roadway horizontal and vertical alignment in accordance with current legislation are described together with LOS evaluation procedure and the design features of the road junctions. Finally problems associated with road construction and stability of the body, the characterization of mixtures used in the superstructure and pavement design methods are examined.
Course program
- Concepts on technical and economic aspects of the design roads to traffic and design
- Design criteria for road intersections
- Concepts of Probability and Statistics
- Uninterrupted and interrupted traffic flow theory
- Gap acceptance and queueing theory for the evaluation of level-of-service (LOS)
- LOS evaluation of Unsignalized intersections
- LOS evaluation of Signalized intersections
- LOS evaluation of ramps and weaving areas
- Concepts of road and pavement construction
- Introduction to the empirical and mechanistic approach to the pavement design
