CPD Certificate in Geometric Road Design

Details

4-day course

CPD Credit: 28 hours, C1 / C2

Course Overview

Road design is the assembly of the three-dimensional features of a road that are related to its operational quality and safety.

This course focuses on the full design process to produce safe, sustainable, efficient roads for Ireland. It concentrates on the key objectives of a sustainable design operating at its optimum safety and efficiency under Irish conditions. The course provides a background to the current design methods employed in Ireland utilising the relevant TII Publications.

Principles and concepts are explained for a broad foundation of road design. This includes the fundamentals of determining route corridor location based upon the existing environment and constraints.

Each of the geometric design elements is discussed in detail, emphasising the importance of the selecting the most appropriate geometric characteristics and road properties.

The background theory of the derivation of each of the geometrical design elements is explained and the link between the scientific and engineering theory and the evolution of the standards established.

The operational requirements for Ireland are discussed and outlined. Traffic analysis and its influence on selecting geometric properties is presented as well as the environmental influences on the road performance and efficiency.

The course will be presented in a series of modules designed to progressively explain the design process.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, delegates will be able to:

• Explain the general principles, components, constraints and opportunities of good road design.
• Identify and evaluate the optimum route and most appropriate type of road to meet route objectives.
• Apply the engineering theory and technical specifications articulated in relevant TII publications in respect to road design process.
• Recognise and apply good engineering practice in respect to selection of road intersection and linkage for single and dual carriageway roads.

Syllabus

• Outlining the importance of reflecting the receiving Irish environment in contributing to Whole Road Design.
• How influencing the design at early stages can contribute to maximising the sustainability of the road by considering land drainage, waste reduction and purposing the road to the topography.
• Theoretical basis for road design and the development of the geometrical standards within TII Publications.
• Use of the TII publications to design all geometrical aspects of road links and junctions.
• Describing how the combination of interacting geometrical elements to reflect co-ordinated link design principles can influence the efficiency and safety of a road.
• Analysis between the relationship between good road design and road safety general principles.

Course Duration

This programme will consist of 4 training days across a 2-week period followed by an ONLINE assessment day approximately 2 weeks later. The assessment day will consist of an online morning examination and an afternoon workshop for the project outline. Delegates will have 3 months to complete their assigned project. Further CPD hours can be recorded for study hours.

Course Material

All material for this course will be facilitated via a Moodle Page. Delegates are welcome to bring their laptops. Material will be made available via the Moodle page prior to each day of training.

Deferrals and Extensions Policy

• When signing up to attend the Programme, all delegates make the commitment to be available for all dates of the course including the examination date.
• There will be no extensions or deferrals on the examination date to future iterations of the Programme. In the event of an emergency or unavoidable circumstance, those situations will be dealt on a case-by-case basis.
• Delegates also make a commitment to submit the assignment (which will be due 3 months post Programme completion) within the iteration of the Programme they attended. No deferrals to future iterations will be available. In the event of an emergency, an extension of 2 weeks may be granted upon written request.

Accreditation

This programme is accredited by the Technological University of Dublin (TU Dublin) as a Level 9 (5 ECTS) programme on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF).

Tutors

Alastair de Beer, Head of Road Safety, Transport Infrastructure Ireland

In his position as Head of Road Safety at Transport Infrastructure Ireland Alastair is committed to the twin objectives of providing safe and efficient national roads. Alastair will provide a rounded overview of how the course can help meet these objectives through understanding of the role of TII Publications, deployment of sound engineering principles and good design practices. Alastair will also demonstrate how the implementation of road safety general principles and design of all carriageway elements and intended operational conditions can enhance safety.

Peter Adams, Director, Arup

Peter has over 30 years’ experience in the design and delivery of a wide spectrum of major highway projects.  These include Employer Designed, Design and Build, PPP and DBFO projects within Ireland, the UK, South Africa, Hong Kong, USA, Netherlands and Sweden. His design experience covers a wide variety of highways projects such as the M50 Upgrade Scheme Works near Dublin, the N2 Monaghan, the M1, M2 and M3 motorways approaching Belfast, and the A8, M77, M74, the Edinburgh City Bypass and M6 elsewhere in the UK. He was responsible for creating and delivering a highways design course in New Dehli, India. Peter understands road design from first principles and will present the explain the engineering theory behind the development of TII publications, the forces associated with vehicle equilibrium, the calculation of stopping sight forces and distances and how all of these can be combined into a co-ordinated design.

Mike Evans, Director, Arup

Mike is a Civil Engineer with substantial experience in transportation, infrastructure development and environmental protection and a Director in the Dublin office where he is also Head of Highways for Arup Europe. After graduating Mike spent four years working with Irish Civil Engineering Contractors in Ireland, UK and Spain.  This was followed by four years working with local authorities in Ireland, where he was chiefly involved in road design and environmental control. Mike joined Arup in 1999 and has since worked on a wide range of major infrastructure projects. He has overseen road projects from route selection through to preliminary and detailed design. Mike heads up Arup Ireland’s circular economy team and will present the theory and practice of Whole Road Design focussing on sustainable design and the important early design decisions.

Zita Langenbach, Chartered Civil Engineer, Director, Arup

Zita Langenbach is Highways Business Lead at Arup. She has extensive experience in the design and co-ordination of major road schemes.  Upon graduation she completed a Research Masters in the Centre for Water Resources and Research in UCD. Since joining Arup she has been involved in the design, project management and delivery of large Design and Build and PPP Roads projects.  Zita will bring her deep domain knowledge and extensive experience of the most intricate areas of highway design and examine the principles and design philosophy of designing road surface drainage characteristics.

Danny Wicks, Chartered Professional Engineer, Senior Project Manager, Arup

Danny is a Senior Project Manager and Chartered Professional Engineer within the Highways team at Arup.  He has a proven track record in leading the successful delivery of major rural and urban road infrastructure projects in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, at various stages of the project life cycle – from strategic planning and concept development through to Detailed Design, D&B contracts and Construction Phase Services.  Danny has led several of these projects in Design Manager and Geometry Lead roles.  He continues to have a strong passion for Geometric Design and has recently worked closely with Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) on a number of commissions, including the delivery of the recently published updates to the TII Geometric Design Standards.  Danny brings this rounded experience to the delivery of several modules on the course including cross section, alignment and junction design.

Martin Allen, Associate, Arup

Martin Allen is an Associate at Arup. Since joining the company in 2007, he has gained a wide level of experience in highway design, participating in some of the most significant recent infrastructure projects in Ireland.  Martin was responsible for the delivery of N25 New Ross Bypass, the N17/N18 Gort to Tuam motorway and the M11 Gorey to Enniscorthy PPP scheme. Martin’s highway experience extends from preliminary planning and route selection to detailed design and scheme construction supervision. He has an extensive knowledge of the TII Publication standards for road design and specification for road works. Martin has been involved in the development and delivery of major road schemes in Ireland and how they interact and combine with the wider road network.  Martin will describe the purpose of road junctions as well as all aspects of the design of priority and grade separated junctions and how they relate to horizontal alignment design.

Oisín Kavanagh, Design Engineer, Arup

Oisín is a Design Engineer in Arup. Since joining the company in 2022, Oisín has been involved in various road projects in Ireland, from preliminary stages to detail design, including the N11/M1 and N24 national routes. Oisín has contributed to the recent update of the TII Road Geometry Standards published in May 2023. He has undertaken extensive research on international best practices which has helped to inform TII Standard updates, with particular focus on Geometric Design and Vehicle Restraint Systems.

Athena Richards, Design Engineer, Arup

Athena Richards is a civil engineer working as a Design Engineer in Arup. Since joining the company in 2021, she has worked on several Irish road design schemes. Additionally, her work has included contributions to the updates to the TII Project Manager’s Manuals and research on the use of Vehicle Restraint Systems on Irish roads.