A safe and smooth driving experience is influenced by several factors. These factors pertain to vehicle efficiency, driver’s competency, or roadway design. Sight Distance is an important roadway design element that ensures secure and hazard-free driving operations.
What is sight distance?
Sight Distance is a term used to define the length of the road area that is visible to the driver from some distance ahead. Incorporating an adequate sight distance in the geometric road design allows the driver to avoid highway hazards and tackle any road situation timely and safely.
Benefits of sight distance
- reduction in accidents around the intersections and turns
- improved visibility in pedestrian or bicyclist crossing areas
- safe overtake on highways
How to assess sight distance
Assessment of sight distance is a crucial step in designing an effective roadway geometric layout. Available sight distance can be calculated by several methods, which include manual distance calculations, geometrical design software, and 3D assessment using LiDAR scans.
Although many current practices still rely on manual or software-based methods of sight distance analysis, these procedures employ an extensive amount of time and resources. The use of LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data to automatically assess the sight distance parameters evades the need for exhaustive site inspections and laborious review of site drawings or software.
3D sight distance assessment using mobile Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data
Light Detection and Ranging is a remote sensing technology that collects detail informative data about the highways in an automated way. These scanners produce millions of points along the roadways and its surrounding areas to construct a 3D road scene. The data obtained by LiDAR scanning facilitates the assessment of sight distance and its limitations in certain locations by using different algorithms.
360 Civil Consulting Services is a civil engineering design and project management company that provides advanced sight distance assessment services in the region of South East Queensland, Australia. Based on Sunshine Coast, this firm additionally consults on a wide range of engineering-related projects, assists in project design and RPEQ certifications.