Curb, gutter, and storm drain

A curb or kerb (see spelling differences) is the edge where a raised pavement/sidewalk/footpath, road median, or road shoulder meets an unraised street or other roadway. Typically made from concrete, or earlier from long stones (often granite), the purpose is two-fold: first as a gutter for proper drainage of the roadway, and second for safety, to keep motorists from driving onto the shoulder, median, sidewalk, or pavement. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (800x1200, 1121 KB) Summary Curb, gutter, and storm drain, 2006. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (800x1200, 1121 KB) Summary Curb, gutter, and storm drain, 2006. ... Look up Gutter in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A storm drain, storm sewer, or stormwater drain (in Australia) system is designed to drain excess rain and ground water from an area. ... The differences in the spellings of British English and American English are as follows: Spelling differences between U.S. usage on one side and British and Commonwealth usage on the other are generally more conspicuous than spelling differences within the Commonwealth. ... Pavement may refer to: Pavement (material): An American English term referring to the durable surfacing of roads and walkways. ... Typical motorway road layout (Irish road markings). ... A hard shoulder or simply shoulder is a reserved area alongside the verge of a road or motorway. ... A city-centre street in Frankfurt, Germany A residential street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA A street is a public thoroughfare in the built environment. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Concrete being poured, raked and vibrated into place in residential construction in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ... The rocky side of a mountain creek near Orosí, Costa Rica. ... Quarrying granite for the Mormon Temple, Utah Territory. ... Look up Gutter in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of surface and sub-surface water from a given area. ... For other uses, see Safety (disambiguation). ... Driving is the controlled operation of a vehicle, which is usually a motor vehicle such as a truck, bus, or car. ...

As a gutter, they guide water from rain and melted snow and ice into the storm drains, so that it does not accumulate on the surface. Large puddles like this can be dangerous, as they can cause hydroplaning at higher speeds and loss of control of an automobile, resulting in a car crash. Even at lower speeds, water and mud can spray up from tires onto motorists behind, causing them to lose visibility. Finally, they can also splash pedestrians, potentially leaving them soaking wet (of course when the drains get blocked these water routing systems cause a massive puddle to form around them ensuring that pedestrians in the area are very likely to get soaked). Impact of a drop of water. ... For the singer, see Rain (singer). ... Animation of snowcover changing with the seasons. ... Snowflakes by Wilson Bentley, 1902 Ice is the name given to any one of the 14 known solid phases of water. ... A storm drain, storm sewer, or stormwater drain (in Australia) system is designed to drain excess rain and ground water from an area. ... A puddle in a forest clearing A water puddle on a Danish beach A puddle is a small accumulation of liquid, usually water, uncontained on a surface. ... Hydroplaning (sometimes aquaplaning) in a road vehicle is an effect similar to planing in a boat. ... Speed is the rate of motion, or equivalently the rate of change of position, many times expressed as distance d moved per unit of time t. ... Look up Control in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For the magazine called automobile, see Automobile Magazine. ... A car accident in Yate, near Bristol, England, in July 2004. ... In computer gaming, a MUD (Multi-User Dungeon or Domain or Dimension) is a multi-player computer game that combines elements of role-playing games, hack and slash style computer games and social chat rooms. ... A tire or tyre (see spelling differences and etymological origins) is a device covering the circumference of a wheel. ... In meteorology, visibility is a measure of the distance that can be seen clearly at any given time. ... Look up Pedestrian in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

As a traffic control measure, they keep motorists on the road, and prevent them from driving around other traffic as if it were a hard shoulder. There is also a disadvantage to this, as it is more difficult to get a vehicle off the road in case of a breakdown or other emergency. Nighttime traffic captured by a camera over several seconds. ... A hard shoulder or simply shoulder is a reserved area alongside the verge of a road or motorway. ... Breakdown may refer to: Electrical breakdown Chemical breakdown Biological decomposition Nervous breakdown Societal breakdown A breakdown is a statement explaining the details of something such as a bill or cost of a plan A script breakdown for a play, film, or comic book Breakdown (album), by Melissa Etheridge. ...

There is also an aesthetic aspect, in that curbs look more formal and "finished". Since curbs add to the cost of a road, they are generally limited to urban and suburban areas, and are rarely found in rural areas except where certain drainage conditions (such as mountains or culverts) make them necessary. Aesthetics (or esthetics) (from the Greek word αισθητική) is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty. ... An urban area is a term used to define an area where there is an increased density of human-created structures in comparison to the areas surrounding it. ... Housing subdivision near Union, Kentucky, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio. ... Rural area in Dalarna, Sweden Qichun, a rural town in Hubei province, China Rural areas (also referred to as the country, countryside) are sparsely settled places away from the influence of large cities. ... Lyskamm in the Pennine Alps (4,527 m) A mountain is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area. ... A culvert is a flowing body of water which passes underneath a road, railway, or embankment, or the part thereof that does so. ...

Curbs may be squared-off, angled, or rounded. The latter kind is most often used at driveways, and continuously along suburban residential streets where there are many driveways, and the sidewalk has a grassy setback from the street. This rounded type starts out nearly flat like the road, curves up in a concave manner to a gentle slope, then curves back in a convex manner to nearly flat again, making it far easier to drive over. The angled type is most often used on major suburban thoroughfares, and is more modern than the other two. The square (90°-edge) type is still almost always used in towns and cities, as it is a straight step down and thus less likely to be tripped-over by pedestrians. Driveway to a farm A driveway is a type of private road for local access to one or a small group of structures, and maintained by an individual or group. ... Caution: Grass should never be eaten For other uses, see Grass (disambiguation). ... In land use, a setback is the distance which a building or other structure is set back from a street or road, a river or other stream, a shore or flood plain, or any other place which needs protection. ... Look up Slope in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Mitchell Freeway in Perth, Western Australia For other uses, see Highway (disambiguation). ... Main street in Bastrop, Texas, a small town A town is a residential community of people ranging from a few hundred to several thousands, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas. ... A city is an urban area, differentiated from a town, village, or hamlet by size, population density, importance, or legal status. ... A psychedelic experience is characterized by the perception of aspects of ones mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ordinary fetters. ...

In addition to driveways, curbs also slope down to street level at crosswalks and other pedestrian crossings. This is called a curb cut (U.S.), dropped kerb (UK), pram ramp (Australia), or dish (Ireland). This makes it somewhat easier to traverse for those on foot, but especially so for those in wheelchairs, or for people with prams as it would be nearly impossible or at least quite difficult to traverse the curb otherwise. This crossing in London was famously featured on the cover of The Beatles album Abbey Road. ... A pedestrian crossing or crosswalk is a designated point on a road at which some means are employed to assist pedestrians wishing to cross. ... A curb cut (US) or dropped kerb (UK) is a ramp leading smoothly down from a sidewalk to an intersecting street, rather than abruptly ending with a curb and dropping roughly 10-15 cm (4~6 inches). ... English language spread in the United States. ... The international symbol of access depicts a person in a wheelchair A wheelchair is a wheeled mobility device in which the user sits. ...

Depending on the area, the white line that normally indicates the outside (shoulder) edge of the road may or may not be present where there is a curb.

Curb construction in Ontario, Canada

Hand forming at catch basins

Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1280x960, 577 KB) Concrete curb construction. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1280x960, 577 KB) Concrete curb construction. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1280x960, 586 KB) Hand forming concrete curb around a catch basin in Ontario, Canada. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1280x960, 586 KB) Hand forming concrete curb around a catch basin in Ontario, Canada. ...

Types of Curb

Types of curb: basic curb (the pavement abuts the curb without a gutter), combined curb and gutter (may be rolled, traversible or barrier) and integral curb (curb constructed integrally as a part of a concrete pavement).

Typical types of curb based on the cross sectional shape: insurmountable, rolled, or rounded (used in many residential areas), surmountable or traversible (used along islands at intersections that allows errant vehicles to cross) and barrier ("L" shaped and used as a boundary to prevent vehicle from exiting the pavement).

Types of curb by material: concrete, asphalt, stone slab, cobble stone or paver.

Concrete curbs are often combined with concrete gutter adjacent to pavement. Typically concrete curbs will be used with asphalt pavements on Curb types are distinguished

Curbs may be constructed of many materials but most often are made of concrete or asphalt. The type of material may depend the type of pavement it adjoins depending on the desired function or need. For example, a concrete curb used with an asphalt pavement provides a highly visible barrier at the edge of the pavement.

Construction

Curbs may be constructed by setting forms by hand, filling them, letting them set up and then removing the forms. When large quantities of curb are to be constructed, it is often more efficient to use a Slipform curb machine.

References

See also

• Curb extension
• Curb feeler
• Kassel kerb
• Living street
• Curb stomping