[SUPER- 6 b, 13.]
† 1. Elevation to a higher rank. Obs. rare–1.
1654. trans. Scudery’s Curia Pol., 166. If the Prince intend a super-elevation to any of his subjects.
2. The (amount of) elevation of the outer above the inner rail at a curve on a railway, or of one side of a road above another.
1848. T. Baker, Railway Engineering, 62. Formula for the superelevation of the exterior rail.… This highly important Formula is due to the Comte de Pambour.
1889. G. Findlay, Eng. Railway, 54. To balance the centrifugal force of a train running round a curve, it is necessary for the outer rail on a curve to be raised somewhat above the inner rail, and the smaller the radius, and the higher the speed of the trains, the greater must be the super-elevation.
1896. Westm. Gaz., 9 Oct., 5/1. The accident was aided … by … the superelevation of the left hand rail being only 21/4 inches instead of 31/2, and therefore suitable for a speed of sixteen miles an hour only.
1906. Daily Chron., 3 Aug., 5/6. The arch of the road is of too large a character, and the superelevation is on the wrong side of the road.
3. Additional elevation.
1900. Giacomo Boni, in 19th Cent., April, 641. In one well alone … no less than 8 feet of superelevation … were traversed before the alluvial deposit was reached.
