Chapter 1 Introduction to Highway Engineering and Traffic Analysis

350 Pages·2014·15.25 MB·English

Principles of
Highway Engineering and
Traffic Analysis

Principles of
Highway Engineering and
Traffic Analysis
Fifth Edition
Fred L. Mannering
Purdue University
Scott S. Washburn
University of Florida
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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CHAPTER 6 PHOTOS Scott S. Washburn, University of Florida
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mannering, Fred L.
Principles of highway engineering and traffic analysis / Fred L. Mannering, Scott S. Washburn. -- 5th ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-118-12014-9 (hardback)
1. Highway engineering. 2. Traffic engineering. I. Washburn, Scott S. II. Title.
TE147.M28 2012
625.7--dc23
2011053436
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Preface

INTRODUCTION

The first four editions of Principles of Highway Engineering and Traffic Analysis
sought to redefine how entry-level transportation engineering courses are taught.
When the first edition was published over two decades ago, there was a need for an
entry-level transportation engineering book that focused exclusively on highway
transportation and provided the depth of coverage needed to serve as a basis for
future transportation courses as well as the material needed to answer questions likely
to appear on the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) and/or Principles and Practice of
Engineering (PE) exams in civil engineering. The subsequent use of the various
editions of this book, over the years, at some of the largest and most prestigious
schools in the U.S. and throughout the world suggests that a vision of a concise,
highly focused, and well written entry-level book is shared by many educators.

APPROACH

This fifth edition of Principles of Highway Engineering and Traffic Analysis
continues the spirit of the previous four editions by again focusing exclusively on
highway transportation and providing the depth of coverage necessary to solve the
highway-related problems that are most likely to be encountered in engineering
practice. The focus on highway transportation is a natural one given the dominance
of highway transportation for people and freight movement in the U.S. and
throughout the world. While the focus on highway transportation is easily
accomplished, identifying the highway-related problems most likely to be
encountered in practice and providing an appropriate depth of coverage of them is a
more challenging task. Using the first four editions as a basis, along with the
comments of other instructors and students who have used previous editions of the
book, topics that are fundamental to highway engineering and traffic analysis have
been carefully selected. The material provided in this book ensures that students learn
the fundamentals needed to undertake upper-level transportation courses, enter
transportation employment with a basic knowledge of highway engineering and
traffic analysis, and have the knowledge necessary to answer transportation-related
questions on the civil engineering FE and PE exams.

MATHEMATICAL RIGOR

Within the basic philosophical approach described above, this book addresses the
concern of some that traditional highway transportation courses are not as
mathematically challenging or rigorous as other entry-level civil engineering courses,
and that this may affect student interest relative to other civil-engineering fields of
study. This concern is not easily addressed because there is a dichotomy with regard
vi Preface
to mathematical rigor in highway transportation, with relatively simple mathematics
used in practice-oriented material and complex mathematics used in research. Thus it
is common for instructors to either insult students’ mathematical knowledge or vastly
exceed it. This book strives for that elusive middle ground of mathematical rigor that
matches junior and senior engineering students’ mathematical abilities.

CHAPTER TOPICS AND ORGANIZATION

The fifth edition of Principles of Highway Engineering and Traffic Analysis has
evolved from nearly three decades of teaching introductory transportation
engineering classes at the University of Washington, University of Florida, Purdue
University, and Pennsylvania State University, feedback from users of the first four
editions, and experiences in teaching civil-engineering licensure exam review
courses. The book’s material and presentation style (which is characterized by the
liberal use of example problems) are largely responsible for transforming much-
maligned introductory transportation engineering courses into courses that students
consistently rate among the best civil engineering courses.
The book begins with a short introductory chapter that stresses the significance of
highway transportation to the social and economic underpinnings of society. This
chapter provides students a basic overview of the problems facing the field of
highway engineering and traffic analysis. The chapters that follow are arranged in
sequences that focus on highway engineering (Chapters 2, 3, and 4) and traffic
analysis (Chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8).
Chapter 2 introduces the basic elements of road vehicle performance. This
chapter represents a major departure from the vehicle performance material presented
in all other transportation and highway engineering books, in that it is far more
involved and detailed. The additional level of detail is justified on two grounds. First,
because students own and drive automobiles, they have a basic interest that can be
linked to their freshman and sophomore coursework in physics, statics, and
dynamics. Traditionally, the absence of such a link has been a common criticism of
introductory transportation and highway engineering courses. Second, it is important
that engineering students understand the principles involved in vehicle technologies
and the effect that continuing advances in vehicle technologies will have on
engineering practice.
Chapter 3 presents current design practices for the geometric alignment of
highways. This chapter provides details on vertical-curve design and the basic
elements of horizontal-curve design. This edition of the book has been updated to the
latest design guidelines (Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets,
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington,
DC, 2011).
Chapter 4 provides a detailed overview of traditional pavement design, covering
both flexible and rigid pavements in a thorough and consistent manner. The material
in this chapter also links well with the geotechnical and materials courses that are
likely to be part of the student’s curriculum. This edition of the book is significantly
revised with new examples and new sections on pavement distresses and
mechanistic-empirical approaches to pavement design.
Chapter 5 presents the fundamentals of traffic flow and queuing theory, which
provide the basic tools of traffic analysis. Relationships and models of basic traffic-
Preface vii
stream parameters are introduced, as well as queuing analysis models for
deterministic and stochastic processes. Considerable effort was expended to make the
material in this chapter accessible to junior and senior engineering students.
Chapter 6 presents some of the current methods used to assess highway levels of
performance. Fundamentals and concepts are discussed along with the complexities
involved in measuring and/or calculating highway level of service. This edition of the
book has been updated to the latest analysis standards (Highway Capacity Manual
2010, Transportation Research Board, National Academy of Sciences, Washington,
DC).
Chapter 7 introduces the basic elements of traffic control at a signalized
intersection and applies the traffic analysis tools introduced in Chapter 5 to signalized
intersections. The chapter focuses on pretimed, isolated signals, but also introduces
the reader to the fundamentals of actuated and coordinated signal systems. Both
theoretical and practical elements associated with traffic signal timing are presented.
This edition of the book has been updated to the latest analysis standards (Highway
Capacity Manual 2010, Transportation Research Board, National Academy of
Sciences, Washington, DC).
Chapter 8, the final chapter, provides an overview of travel demand and traffic
forecasting. This chapter concentrates on a theoretically and mathematically
consistent approach to travel demand and traffic forecasting that closely follows the
approach most commonly used in practice and contains a section on the traditional
four-step travel-demand forecasting process. This chapter provides the student with
an important understanding of the current state of travel demand and traffic
forecasting, and some critical insight into the deficiencies of forecasting methods
currently used.

NEW AND REVISED PROBLEMS

This edition includes many new examples and end-of-chapter problems.
Additionally, many end-of-chapter problems carried over from the previous edition
have been revised. Users of the book will find the end-of-chapter problems to be
extremely useful in supporting the material presented in the book. These problems
are precise and challenging, a combination rarely found in transportation/highway
engineering books.
The end-of-chapter problems have also been reorganized and grouped under
headings indicating the section of the chapter to which the problems apply.

NEW TO THIS EDITION

In this edition we have once again made several enhancements to the content and
visual presentation, based on suggestions from instructors. Some new features in this
edition of the book include:

New example and end-of-chapter problems. Many new example and end-of-
chapter problems have been added to improve the pedagogical effectiveness of the
book.
U.S. customary units. The third and fourth editions of the book included both U.S.
customary and metric units. To keep costs down in terms of overall page count (over
viii Preface
60 pages were dedicated to metric tables and figures and metric versions of examples
and end-of-chapter problems that, surveys showed, were rarely if ever used by most
instructors) and to keep students focused on a single measurement system used
almost exclusively in the United States, this new edition includes only U.S.
customary units.
Revised Chapter 3. Chapter 3 has been revised to include the latest information
from the recently published A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets,
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington,
DC, 2011.
Significantly revised Chapter 4. Chapter 4 has been substantially revised to be more
tightly focused with new examples and revised sections.
Mechanistic-empirical approach to pavement design. In addition to traditional
pavement design procedures, Chapter 4 now provides an introduction to the newer
mechanistic-empirical pavement design procedures.
Revised Chapter 6. Chapter 6 has been revised to include the latest information
from the recently published Highway Capacity Manual 2010, Transportation
Research Board, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.
Revised Chapter 7. Chapter 7 has been revised to include the latest information
from the recently published Highway Capacity Manual 2010, Transportation
Research Board, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.

WEBSITE

The website for this book is www.wiley.com/college/mannering and contains the
following resources:

Solutions Manual. Complete solutions to all the problems in the book, for both U.S.
Customary and metric units.
Metric Units Supplement. All tables, figures, example problems, and end-of-chapter
problems for which metric units can be applied are now included in a stand-alone
supplement document.
Lecture Slides. Lecture slides developed by the authors, which also include all of the
figures and tables from the text.
In-Class Design Problems. Design problems developed by the authors for in-class
use by students in a cooperative-learning context. The problems support the material
presented in the chapters and the end-of-chapter problems.
Sample Exams. Sample midterm and final exams are provided to give instructors
class-proven ideas relating to successful exam format and problems.

Visit the Instruction Companion Site section of the book website to register for a
password to download these resources.

Fred L. Mannering
Scott S. Washburn