Even Roads Need Grooming! Here’s How Road Shoulder Removal Works
Roads are a civilization’s pathways to the various corners of the world. They allow us to access the remotest areas and commute along the route regularly. However, just as everything else, roads need maintenance as well, and road shoulder removal is an important practice that ensures the roads are in good condition.
For those who aren’t familiar with the term, road shoulders are the immediate strips of land on either side of a road. The shoulders start where the road demarcation line ends. Sometimes, these shoulders are asphalt-made emergency lanes, in which case they usually don’t require removal. But, in other cases, the road shoulders consist of soil and need timely tending so as to avoid road accidents.
The process of road shoulder removal is tiresome, no doubt. But, there are certain specialized machines and vehicles that make it convenient. Here’s a video that shows how such machines clear out road shoulders.
Road shoulder removal: Purpose And Procedure
It might not be obvious, but road shoulder removal is crucial for the safety of the passengers that traverse a road. That’s because the soil and vegetation that make up a road shoulder grow over time. This could lead to water ponding and erosion, which in turn, can interfere with the movement of traffic. In the worst-case scenario, it can even lead to road accidents.
Road shoulders are removed periodically to make sure the vegetation growth and soil build-up are in check. This practice also ensures the road shoulder doesn’t breach into the lane for vehicles and cause any obstruction or inconvenience. This removal activity mostly occurs on routes that go through the countryside or a rural region and do not have pavements on the sides of the road.
Modern-day road shoulder removal vehicles have attachments that pluck strips of soil from the roadside and collect them in a container. This simultaneous shoulder removal and dirt collection make the process efficient and easier than it would be otherwise. For instance, The Verger from Roger G. Bailey & Associates is an advanced shoulder removal machine that can perform the aforementioned task effectively.
Do you think this technology would help out in clearing the roadside in your area? Tell us in the comments below. While you are here, make sure to check out this driverless Mercedes-Benz truck.
