Superelevation Part 1: the Alignment

Getting Superelevation values to be correctly applied to design requires a few things to be in place.  This is the first in a series of write ups that I hope will help you:

1. Alignment needs a design speed set.
2. Superelevation values need to be calculated for the alignment.
3. Assembly type must be selected.
4. Subassembly values need to be set.

This post is about the first two items.  

FIRST: setting a design speed

A Design Speed(s) will need to be set within the Alignment Properties dialog box >  Design Criteria tab.  The screen shot of metric drawing (below) the speed has been set to 60 KMH.
 
If there are no Design Speed set, and an attempt to calculate Superelevation is made an error message will pop up.

SECOND:  calculating the Superelevation.

The Superelevation values need to be calculated.  Start by selecting the alignment > from the contextual ribbon > Modify panel > select Calculate/Edit Superelevation button:

If the alignment does not contain superelevation data a dialog box will prompt users to Calculate superelevation now or to Open the superelevation curve manager:
 
If the option to Calculate superelevation now is selected; it will walk through a 4 page wizard: Roadways Type, Lane, Shoulder Control, Attainment will be shown in dialog box:

Once values have been calculated they can be seen by selecting the alignment from model space > from the contextual ribbon > Modify panel > select the View Tabular Editor button:
 
The editor will give access to the values via the PANORAMA palette, if issues in design are found they will be highlighted.  Below the “Overlap” column shows a warning, as there is not enough tangent distance from Curve 2 to Curve 3:
 
With Superelevation values calculated, the design points can be labeled:
 
Depending on the label style configuration, the key stations can be highlighted as needed:

This post only covers be beginning of the configurations needed, shown below the corridor cross section shows no Superelevation values applied, at STA 670 mid curve, as the default 2.00% grade is held where it should be 4.00% on full Superelevation:
 
As mentioned above, this is only the first part of what needs to happen to make superelevation applied to cross sections.  

Find how to solve the Superelevation riddle in the following posts :
•    Part 2:  Configuring the Assembly & Subassembly
•    Part 3:  Spilling the Gutters
•    Part 4:  Rolling off the Shoulders

For more blogs such as this, please visit our IMAGINiT Civil Solutions Blog Page.

About the Author

Civil Applications Expert<br><br>As an Applications Expert, Leo is responsible for supporting, training and implementation of software for survey and civil engineering professionals. He has more than 17 years of experience helping large and small, public and private clients in the eastern United States.

More Content by Leo Lavayen