Algorithm for Determining the Curvature of the Project Line of a Truck Haul Road and the Rate of Change in Its Curvature

Abstract

It is recognized that a visually smooth and clear road, successfully integrated into the landscape, providing a constant or smoothly variable traffic mode, reduces the tension and fatigue of drivers, thereby contributing to their efficiency. That also reduces transport costs by choosing the most optimal traffic mode. These qualities can be achieved through spatial design method, which consists in creating conditions for safe driving at high speeds. Until now, the spatial road design method has been mainly based on the empirical rules of tracing when using visual images or models for the smoothness and clarity of the designed route of a truck haul road. Based on this method, one makes the necessary corrections to the road by evaluating the original images. Therefore, the effectiveness of the methodological foundations of spatial design of truck haul roads is further increased by providing clarity and visually acceptable curvature of spatial curves, which requires significant development and continued search to find new effective solutions. The work aims to develop an algorithm to evaluate the visual smoothness and clarity of the project line curvature of a truck haul road and the rate of change in its curvature. The article reveals a set of quantitative indicators that sufficiently and completely characterize the visual smoothness and clarity of the central projections of elementary spatial and plane curves. The presented algorithm and the indicators determined based on this algorithm; allow estimating both the visual smoothness and clarity of curves of truck haul roads. The proposed recommendations for the design of spatial curves are checked and refined based on the developed algorithm.