Gore (road)

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Highway exit gore in Gdansk, Poland, with a transversely lined "theoretical gore", followed by a grass-covered physical one Gdansk Zaspa - road junction (ubt).jpg
Highway exit gore in Gdańsk, Poland, with a transversely lined "theoretical gore", followed by a grass-covered physical one
Two diverging white lines demarcate the theoretical gore of this highway exit on Interstate 40 in Arkansas, with a grass-covered physical gore following it: In this instance, the theoretical gore contains no markings. 040i ar exit 241a.jpg
Two diverging white lines demarcate the theoretical gore of this highway exit on Interstate 40 in Arkansas, with a grass-covered physical gore following it: In this instance, the theoretical gore contains no markings.
Exit gore on Interstate 95 in Connecticut: Note the theoretical gore has been marked with chevrons. Exit Gore in Connecticut.png
Exit gore on Interstate 95 in Connecticut: Note the theoretical gore has been marked with chevrons.

In road and highway construction, a gore (US) or nose (UK) [1] is a triangular plot of land, not to be driven on, where a road forks at the intersection with a second road, or merges on and off from a larger one. Gores at exit ramps occasionally have impact attenuators, especially when an obstruction such as a bridge abutment follows the gore.

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The US term "gore" (describing a space) historical, representing a characteristically triangular piece of land, often designated incidentally when two surveys failed to meet. Etymologically, it is derived from gār, meaning spear. [2]

A "virtual" (or theoretical) gore is a triangular-shaped paved space, which may lead to the unpaved area of a larger physical gore. A theoretical gore is commonly marked with transverse or chevron painted lines to discourage being driven on.

In the US, 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. [3]

A very old example of a gore surviving as a street name in London is Kensington Gore, long completely built over and reshaped, where now stands the Albert Hall.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Design Manual for Roads and Bridges" (PDF). Feb 2006. p. 1/2, 1.25. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 23, 2018. Nose: A paved area, approximately triangular in shape, between a connector road and the mainline at a merge or diverge, suitably marked to discourage drivers from crossing it
  2. ↑ Skeat, Walter William (1901). A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 218.
  3. ↑ "Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices". Apr 2022.
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