A bar or borrow ditch is a roadside channel dug for

drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess of water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils is good enough to prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditio ...

purposes. Typically, the dirt is "borrowed" from the ditch, and used to crown the road. It is a variation of a bar or borrow pit, in construction, when dirt is removed and used for construction purposes, and later left to fill with water, forming ponds or lakes. Also, adjacent to pasturage, the ditch confines livestock, keeping them from straying onto road.Avis, Walter S. (1984) "Notes on Borrow(ing) Pit" pp. 1–10 ''In'' Raphael, Lawrence J. (1984) ''Language and cognition: essays in honor of Arthur J. Bronstein'' Plenum Press, New York
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The term is most often used in the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, N ...

Notes

Drainage {{Hydrology-stub