Do they plow sand away from desert roads?

bowman316

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Oct 21, 2008
Messages
1,822
I was watching a show on the history channel about king tut. And they showed a desert road, that looked like the sides had plowed sand on it. like the sand had drifted like snow, and they plowed it out of the way.
is that normal in the desert? do they regularly plow sand?
 

fishrdan

Admiral
Joined
Jan 25, 2008
Messages
6,989
Re: Do they plow sand away from desert roads?

Yes, I grew up in Arizona and the dirt roads were always plowed/graded, though those roads were not exactly sand, more along the lines of dirt. They had to do it every so often to get rid of the washboard surface. A pure sand road (wash) is hard to drive on as you can easily bury the tires if you don't keep the speed up, but then you have the control issue.

That said.... driving on dirt and sand is a lot more fun than asphalt :D
 

fishrdan

Admiral
Joined
Jan 25, 2008
Messages
6,989
Re: Do they plow sand away from desert roads?

Oh, wait a minute, you are talking about the sand drifting, like snow, and then plowing it. Not common from what I've seen out here in the southwest, but yes it does happen. I've seen sand plowed off the roads in Death Valley, when it started blowing (drifting) into the road.
 

JRJ

Commander
Joined
Sep 11, 2001
Messages
2,992
Re: Do they plow sand away from desert roads?

Yes they plow drifting sand off the the roads in the desert and some beach areas of CA, also debris left after flash floods.
 
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