Abstract
Freeways typify accessibility, which is a parameter related to the development of a country. A developing country, such as Mexico, is concerned with an emergent construction market of freeways, which has been a target for Portuguese construction companies since the Portuguese economic and construction crisis in 2008.In the earlier stages of a freeway project, the ubiquitous use of software calculations along with geometric standards restrictions is performed automatically and may introduce loss of sensitivity to the designer.This paper addresses this concern by presenting a Standards comparison between Mexico and Portugal, focusing on the elements of design and a comparative multi-criteria analysis adapted from Kalamaras et al. (2000). Through six case studies, this paper analyses the Standards’ influence on the horizontal alignment outcome, the radial uncompensated accelerations and the Brückner curves, concluding with the multi-criteria analysis results.
Highlights
The term freeway appeared in the last century, after World War I, and its implementation was fostered by the job creation and the military (Vahrenkamp 2010) which resembles to the quick movement of troops, the strategic purpose of the Roman Empire
There are two other types of speed used in freeway design: the operating speed, which is in free-flow conditions, matching the 85th percentile distribution of observed speeds, and the running speed, at which a vehicle travels over a section depending on the traffic that Mexican standards consider as off-peak hour traffic
Highway design, freeway design, has several similarities around the world and significant differences depending on the regulations applied
Summary
The term freeway appeared in the last century, after World War I, and its implementation was fostered by the job creation and the military (Vahrenkamp 2010) which resembles to the quick movement of troops, the strategic purpose of the Roman Empire. Once Mexico gathered an emergent construction market to improve self-development through accessibility, the link between Portuguese companies and the Mexican Government strengthened. In Mexico, despite the primary function of mobility carried by the concept of freeway in free flow conditions, particular entrances that connect farms and houses to the freeway are quite common; level intersections do not seem to be a restriction. There are two other types of speed used in freeway design: the operating speed, which is in free-flow conditions, matching the 85th percentile distribution of observed speeds, and the running speed, at which a vehicle travels over a section depending on the traffic that Mexican standards consider as off-peak hour traffic.
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