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Virginia Tech

Development of a Tool to Calculate Appropriate Advisory Speeds on Horizontal Curves

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Horizontal curves are a contributing factor for numerous deaths on roadways. The curve characteristics dictate the severity of the curve and require the driver to be more attentive while driving. To address this issue, advisory speeds are posted on horizontal curves to warn drivers to slow down for their safety. There are six main procedures to assign advisory speeds. This paper focuses on two of these methods, finds a connection between the two, and develops an Android Application that can be used to determine an advisory speed for a curve. In this work, a brief summary of the six existing methods for advisory speed assignment are discussed. Pros and cons are included for each for comparison purposes. Next, two of these methods are highlighted by applying them in the field. Data is collected and a relationship between them is determined. Using this relationship, an Android Application is created and the various details of the design process are described. This Application, called CurveAdvisor, allows the user to assign the appropriate advisory speed on a desired horizontal curve. An analysis is then conducted to test the effectiveness of CurveAdvisor. Results indicate that CurveAdvisor is successful in many cases. Finally, contributions and suggestions for future work are included.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Civil Engineering
Department dc:contributor.department
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2015

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Trumpoldt, Julie Marie
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Katz, Bryan J.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Hobeika, Antoine G.
  • Trani, Antonio A.

Subjects

dc:subject × 4

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
vt_gsexam:4355
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/71768

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Trumpoldt, Julie Marie. Development of a Tool to Calculate Appropriate Advisory Speeds on Horizontal Curves. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/71768