Land Transportation - Road Construction and Maintenance

Here you will learn some English words related to highway infrastructure and intersections such as "roadwork", "asphalt", and "steamroller."

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Land Transportation

to apply a new coating or material to reconstruct the surface of something, especially a road or pavement

Ex: The construction crew worked overnight to resurface the worn-out parking lot with a new layer of concrete .
roadwork [noun]

the construction or maintenance activities carried out on roads, highways, or streets

Ex: Drivers should be cautious around roadwork zones and adhere to speed limits .

an area on a road where workers are building or repairing something, such as bridges or highways

Ex: It 's important to follow posted speed limits in construction zones to prevent accidents and maintain traffic flow .
tar [noun]

a thick, black, sticky substance used in road construction and maintenance for paving and sealing surfaces

Ex: He accidentally stepped in a fresh tar patch .
tarmac [noun]

a type of road surface made of tar mixed with crushed stone, commonly used for runways and road

Ex: The airplane taxied smoothly on the tarmac .
asphalt [noun]

a black sticky substance which is the combination of dark bituminous pitch with sand or gravel, commonly used in building roads

blacktop [noun]

a black, sticky mixture used for paving roads and pathways

Ex: They used blacktop to pave the new parking lot .

the small, rounded stones used historically for paving streets and paths

Ex: They replaced the damaged cobblestones with new ones .
gravel [noun]

a mix of sand and small pebbles that cover the surface of some roads

macadam [noun]

a type of road construction that uses layers of compacted crushed stone, bound with tar or asphalt

Ex: They repaired the macadam road after the heavy rain .
concrete [noun]

a hard material used for building structures, made by mixing cement, water, sand, and small stones

Ex: She designed a beautiful patio using colored concrete for an attractive finish .
pothole [noun]

a small, often deep, depression in a road surface caused by wear, weather, and traffic

Ex: They filled the pothole with asphalt to prevent further damage .
rut [noun]

a groove or track made in a road by cars driving over it many times

Ex: Ruts can develop quickly on unpaved roads .
backhoe [noun]

a versatile heavy equipment machine with a digging bucket on the rear and a loader bucket on the front, commonly used in construction and utility work

Ex: Workers relied on the backhoe to load gravel into the truck efficiently .

a heavy vehicle with a large, smooth roller used for flattening and compressing surfaces during road construction

Ex: She heard the rumble of the steamroller from her house .

a type of heavy machinery used in construction and agriculture for lifting and transporting materials

Ex: The front-end loader 's bucket can be replaced with different attachments for various tasks , such as digging or snow removal .

a large, powerful vehicle with a wide steel blade at its front that is used to destroy buildings or move earth

paver [noun]

a vehicle used in construction to lay asphalt or concrete on roads and pavements

Ex: After hours of work , the paver completed its task , leaving behind a seamless stretch of newly paved road .

a heavy-duty vehicle with a bed that can be tilted or raised at the front, allowing it to unload its contents by tipping them out behind the truck

Ex: The construction crew needed a larger dump truck to carry away the debris from the demolition .

the process of removing a layer of asphalt or concrete from a road or pavement surface

Ex: The machines used for pavement milling are equipped with rotating drum cutters that grind away the old pavement .

a vehicle equipped with a tank and sprayer used to evenly distribute asphalt onto roads during construction or maintenance

Ex: The driver carefully maneuvered the asphalt distributor truck along the designated route , ensuring an even coat of asphalt was applied .
grader [noun]

a heavy vehicle used in construction to level and smooth surfaces such as roads and foundations

Ex: A grader is essential for ensuring the evenness of gravel and dirt roads .
snowplow [noun]

a vehicle or other piece of equipment used for clearing roads of snow

Ex: He attached a snowplow to the front of his truck to clear his long driveway more efficiently .

‌a large vehicle used for putting salt, sand or grit on the roads in winter when there is ice on them

Ex: Drivers had to be careful because the salt truck had not yet treated the highway .

a thin, nearly invisible layer of ice on a road surface, often causing dangerous driving conditions

Ex: She skidded on black ice and nearly lost control of her car .
to grit [verb]

to scatter small, rough particles like sand or salt on a road to make it less slippery and melt ice

Ex: She appreciated the effort to grit the parking lot .

a schematic representation that displays the layout, intersections, and distances along a specific route

Ex: Drivers rely on straight-line diagrams provided by highway authorities to navigate unfamiliar routes and anticipate upcoming exits .

a fictional or nonexistent street created on paper but not physically built

Ex: The city council debated whether to remove the paper street designation from the zoning plans due to lack of funding for construction .

a short, dead-end road that is often planned for future extension but currently terminates without connecting to other streets or throughways

Ex: The children played basketball on the makeshift court at the end of the stub street .