In road and highway construction a gore (or nose in modern British English)
is a triangular plot of land (as designated when a road forks when intersecting a second road, or merges on and off from a larger one). A "virtual" (or "theoretical") gore is a triangular shaped space, characteristically marked off with distinguishing highway paint, often found leading to the unpaved area of a larger physical gore.
The term "gore" (describing a space) is a historic one, representing a characteristically
triangular piece of land, often designated incidentally when two surveys failed to meet. Etymologically it is derived from
gār, meaning spear.
A theoretical gore is commonly marked with transverse or
chevron
Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to:
Science and technology
* Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines
* Chevron (anatomy), a bone
* '' Eulithis testata'', a moth
* Chevron (geology), a fold in rock ...
painted lines (much as
traffic island
A traffic island is a solid or painted object in a road that channels traffic. It can also be a narrow strip of island between roads that intersect at an acute angle. If the island uses road markings only, without raised curbs or other physical ...
s) at both entrance and
exit ramp
Exit(s) may refer to:
Architecture and engineering
* Door
* Portal (architecture), an opening in the walls of a structure
* Emergency exit
* Overwing exit, a type of emergency exit on an airplane
* Exit ramp, a feature of a road interchange
...
s. These help separate drivers on the mainline from those entering and exiting the highway, and also aid the latter category of drivers in regulating their speed while accelerating and decelerating. Gores at exit ramps occasionally feature
impact attenuator
An impact attenuator, also known as a crash cushion, crash attenuator, or cowboy cushion, is a device intended to reduce the damage to structures, vehicles, and motorists resulting from a motor vehicle collision. Impact attenuators are designed to ...
s, especially when something solid follows the theoretical or physical gore, such as a
bridge abutment
An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...
.
At the "theoretical gore point," a dotted white line becomes a wide solid white channelizing line and another wide solid white line angles off along the edge of the diverging road, forming an elongated white triangle in front of the gore. This as a "neutral area" with white chevron markings optionally added.
See also
*
Intersection (road)
An intersection or an at-grade junction is a junction where two or more roads converge, diverge, meet or cross at the same height, as opposed to an interchange, which uses bridges or tunnels to separate different roads. Major intersections a ...
References
External links
*
Road infrastructure
Road surface markings
{{Road-stub
de:Fahrbahnmarkierung#Flächenmarkierungen