ROAD: Interactive Geometric Design Tool for Transportation Education and Training

Traditionally, transportation engineering students have used engineering drawing techniques to manually lay out lines and curves over contour maps for highway geometric design. The design process requires numerous calculations of stopping sight distance, minimum turning radius, and curve alignments to minimize economic and environmental impact and construction costs. Students usually perform iterative computations to manually meet design criteria and environmental constraints. The traditional approach of learning geometric design is cumbersome and time consuming, limiting students from taking a broader perspective on geometric design. A new software tool, Roadway Online Application for Design (ROAD), was developed to enhance the learning experience for transportation engineering students. This tool allows students to design roadway geometry efficiently and modify the design easily within given economic and environmental parameters. The objective is to provide a comprehensive tool that can be accessed easily by students in order to help them better understand geometric design. ROAD can also generate a three-dimensional roadway geometry model at final design to allow students to place themselves in the driver’s seat and maneuver through the designed roadway at maximum design speed. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)EI.1943-5541 .0000142. © 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers. CE Database subject headings: Geometry; Design; Highways and roads; Engineering education; Training; Transportation engineering. Author keywords: Geometric design; Distance learning; Transportation visualization.