Abstract:Under the complex terrain, limited space and ecologically sensitive conditions, the mountainous expressway interchanges are confronted with multiple constraints such as engineering economy, operational safety and environmental protection. Combined with a typical interchange project in a mountainous area of Hunan Province, the comparison and research are systematically conducted on three types of interchange schemes such as the conventional B-shaped trumpet, rhombus and variant pear-shaped. A comprehensive evaluation system covering alignment indicators, engineering scale, environmental impact and safety performance is established to conduct a comprehensive comparison and selection of each scheme combining quantitative and qualitative methods. The results demonstrate that under extreme topographic conditions, the variant pear-shaped interchange can shorten the ramp length by 34.6%, decrease the earthwork excavation by 30.5%, reduce the bridge scale by 45.1%, and save the land occupation by 46.8% on the basis of ensuring traffic functions through intensive design strategies such as three-dimensional superposition, curve grading and bridge-tunnel coordination. And this type of interchange has the advantages of completely separating traffic flow and eliminating conflict points. The design characteristics, applicable conditions and comparison methods of the three interchange schemes are further discussed, which can provide the theoretical and practical references for the selection and intensive design of interchanges in mountainous expressways.