A graded road is often the first standard road infrastructure that is developed in areas of sandy or rocky countries. Initially either a bulldozer (for rocky areas) or plough (sandy areas) is deployed to drive a road bed surface along the available route. This route may be significantly influenced by the terrain in hilly areas and is often single track.
In a sandy environment the plough will create a windrow or pile of material at each side of the road. This windrow delineates the road from desert. After substantial use or after heavy rain the surface may become rutted or eroded and it is a frequent necessity for a plough to re-grade the surface.
Graded roads can allow vehicle speeds in excess of 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph) but there are often many obstacles that make this unsafe. In dry areas a common problem with graded roads is the creation of a dust cloud by the vehicle in front or from the opposite direction.
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Famous quotes containing the words graded and/or road:
“I don’t want to be graded on a curve.”
—Mary Carillo (b. 1957)
“Dear common flower, that grow’st beside the way,
Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold,
First pledge of blithesome May,
Which children pluck, and, full of pride, uphold,
Hight-hearted buccaneers, o’erjoyed that they
An Eldorado in the grass have found,
Which not the rich earth’s ample round
May match in wealth—thou art more dear to me
Than all the prouder summer-blooms may be.”
—James Russell Lowell (1819–1891)