A road is a strip of land, smoothed, paved, or otherwise prepared to allow easy travel, connecting two or more destinations. Some roads are streets, chiefly in urban areas. In the context of railways (railroads in American English), a road is a single track, which may be part of a multi-track system or may be an isolated line. In the context of sea transport, a road is an anchorage. Road - Usage and etymology. In original usage, a "road" was simply any pathway fit for ridi ...

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• Road - Usage and etymology
• Road - History
• Road - Funding
• Road - Driving on the right or the left
• Road - Design
• Road - Construction
• Road - Maintenance
• Road - Terminology

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In original usage, a "road" was simply any pathway fit for riding ("road" is cognate with "ride", e.g.: ships ride at anchor in roads). The word “street,” whose origin is the Latin strata, was kept for paved pathways that had been prepared to ease travel in some way. Thus, many "Roman Roads" have the word "street" as part of their street name. However, modern usage does not usually make this distinction and it is only important since place names often hold the earlier usage in them; these days, roads are also prepared in so ...

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Road, Road - Usage and etymology, Road - History, Road - Funding, Road - Driving on the right or the left, Road - Design, Road - Construction, Road - Maintenance, Road - Terminology

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Road construction requires the creation of a continuous right-of-way, overcoming geographic obstacles and having grades low enough to permit vehicle or foot travel. Removal of earth and rock by digging or blasting, construction of bridges and tunnels, and removal of vegetation (this may involve deforestation) are often needed. A variety of road building equipment is employed in road building. The soil is tested to see if it will support weight and if not, a layer of soil is removed and replaced. The soil is compacted to form what is k ...

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Road, Road - Usage and etymology, Road - History, Road - Funding, Road - Driving on the right or the left, Road - Design, Road - Construction, Road - Maintenance, Road - Terminology

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Like all outdoor structures, roads deteriorate over time. They may develop cracks or potholes, or be washed away altogether by floods. Cracks can be filled with various sealants and potholes can be filled with fresh asphalt, but eventually a whole new surface is needed. Lack of maintenance speeds up the deterioration, especially in frost-prone areas, as water enters the cracks, and freezes under the road. The resulting ice has a bigger volume than the water, which causing a localized rising and falling (when the ice melts again) of the wearing course ...

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Road, Road - Usage and etymology, Road - History, Road - Funding, Road - Driving on the right or the left, Road - Design, Road - Construction, Road - Maintenance, Road - Terminology

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Traffic drives on the right or on the left side of the road depending on the country. See Rules of the road. In countries where traffic drives on the right, traffic signs are mostly on the right side of the road, roundabouts (traffic circles) go counter-clockwise, and pedestrians crossing a two-way road should watch out for traffic from the left first. In countries where traffic drives on the left, the reverse is true. Traffic flow and ...

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Road, Road - Usage and etymology, Road - History, Road - Funding, Road - Driving on the right or the left, Road - Design, Road - Construction, Road - Maintenance, Road - Terminology

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The first pathways were the trails made by migrating animals. By about 10,000 BC, these rough pathways were used by human hunter nomads following these herds. Street paving has been found from the first human settlements around 4,000 BC. The oldest engineered road discovered is the Sweet Track causeway in England, dating from the 3800 BC. The Ancient Egyptians constructed a stone paved road to help move materials for the building of the Great Pyramid in about 3000 BC. The ancient Chinese constructed an extensive system of roads, some paved, from about 1100 BC onwards. By 20 AD, the Chinese road ...

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Road, Road - Usage and etymology, Road - History, Road - Funding, Road - Driving on the right or the left, Road - Design, Road - Construction, Road - Maintenance, Road - Terminology

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Road design consists of two important technical aspects: geometrical road design structural road design Besides these two technical sides of the design, environmental issues, planning issues and juridical issues are important. ...

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Road, Road - Usage and etymology, Road - History, Road - Funding, Road - Driving on the right or the left, Road - Design, Road - Construction, Road - Maintenance, Road - Terminology

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