ROADS AND PUBLIC TRANSPORTS 1 ROADS Answer these questions. a. Have you ever seen an ancient road built by the Romans? Do you know its name and the direction it goes in? b. Have you ever gone through a road or a railway tunnel? Where was it? c. Is there a terminus railway station in the town where you live or in the nearest big city? Have you ever been there? allocated: stanziato availability: disponibilità to carry out: effettuare concern: premura, interesse crushed: frantumato to flatten: appiattire gradient: pendenza glue: colla gravel: ghiaia implementation: realizzazione layer: strato maintenance: manutenzione neglected: trascurato to pave: pavimentare promptly: rapidamente slab: lastra The first step in building a road is planning. Engineers, surveyors and construction experts are involved in studying what type of road should be made in a certain area depending on the amount and type of traffic the road will be likely to support. Detailed land surveys are carried out to determine the curvature, the gradient and the itinerary of the road. Other factors that planners must consider include environmental impact of the road, cost, availability of materials, safety and how the new road will affect the community and business. Finally, the road project must be approved by local or government authorities according to the investment and the budget allocated for the implementation Land survey for road construction of the infrastructure. The first part of construction is one of the most important earthworks. Huge earth-moving machines must be used to create a solid foundation for the road to be built. Bulldozers and graders move around to create a level surface that will support the road, gravel is added in layers and machines roll over the surface to compact and flatten it. Drains and storm sewers are also installed at this early stage, so that rain will drain away from the road surface and make it easier for vehicles Earth moving machine to travel in storms. Once the foundation is finished and has been inspected, the road must be paved. The most common materials used for paving roads are asphalt or concrete. Asphalt uses an oil-based substance called bitumen to make sand and crushed rock fragments together like glue. After the asphalt is heated to about 150 °C, it is transported to the construction site, where workers spread and compact it onto the foundation already in place.