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16-Civ-B7 Transportation Planning and Engineering: December 2015

Nivaar worked solution (AI-drafted; not reviewed by a licensed engineer)

  1. Question 1 Crest Curve Sight Distance and an Unsuperelevated Curve
  2. Question 2 Superelevation Design from Coordinate Geometry
  3. Question 3 Moving the Low Point of a Sag Curve onto a Catch Basin
  4. Question 4 Minimum Radius and Length of a Freeway Exit Ramp
  5. Question 5 Curve Stationing on a Three-Tangent Route and a Curb Return Radius
  6. Question 6 AASHTO Flexible Pavement Design for a Rural Interstate
  7. Question 7 Economic Comparison of Two Low-Volume Pavement Sections
  8. Question 8 Marshall Mixture Volumetrics and Asphalt Cement Grading

Start with Question 1 →

Paper format. 98-Civ-B7 Highway Engineering, National Examinations, December 2015. Three hours, open book, any non-communicating calculator. Eight questions of equal value (20 marks each); five solutions constitute a complete paper and only the first five in the answer book are marked. Note 1 invites the candidate to state any assumption made about an ambiguous input, and Note 2 permits any datum that is required but not given to be assumed. All eight questions are solved here, because the set is a study resource rather than a timed attempt.

Reference texts. Garber & Hoel, Traffic and Highway Engineering, 5th ed. (geometric design, sight distance, pavement design); Transportation Association of Canada, Geometric Design Guide for Canadian Roads (superelevation and spiral tables — the paper's Table 2.1.2.5 is TAC page 2.1.2.12); AASHTO, A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets (Green Book) for runoff distribution and relative-gradient limits; AASHTO, Guide for Design of Pavement Structures (1993) for the flexible pavement equation and layer/drainage coefficients; Asphalt Institute MS-2, Asphalt Mix Design Methods and Mamlouk & Zaniewski, Materials for Civil and Construction Engineers, for mixture volumetrics and binder grading.

Check: assumptions carried through this paper. Under the paper's own Note 2 the following values are assumed and stated where used: the AASHTO maximum relative gradient (0.50 % at 80 km/h) and the 70 % / 30 % split of superelevation runoff either side of the PC for two lanes rotated (Question 2); a truck factor of 0.52 for all trucks on a rural Interstate and a lane-distribution factor of 0.70 for three lanes in one direction (Question 6); and a downhill 2 % ramp grade in Question 4, since the freeway is elevated above the local street. Each is flagged again at the point of use with the sensitivity of the answer to it.