Where are the shoulders?

Shoulder refers to a belt-shaped part with a certain width from the outer edge of roadway to the edge of subgrade.

Shoulder is a band-shaped structure with a certain width, which is located from the outer edge of carriageway to the edge of subgrade, including hard shoulder and earth shoulder. The main function of shoulder is to protect the stability of main structures such as carriageway, provide temporary parking place for vehicles with mechanical failure or emergency, and provide lateral margin, which is conducive to safety and comfort and can be used by pedestrians and bicycles.

It can also provide a location for setting up road facilities as a workplace for maintenance operations. On the premise of not damaging the highway structure, it can also be used as the location for burying underground facilities, which can improve the sight distance of the curve of the excavated section, enhance traffic safety, enable rainwater to be discharged from the carriageway, reduce the infiltration of rainwater in the carriageway and reduce pavement damage.

Shoulder maintenance

Shoulder is an important structure to ensure the overall stability of road subgrade and pavement and to discharge accumulated water on pavement. At the same time, it is also an important part to ensure the width of both sides required for temporary parking. The maintenance of shoulder is directly related to the strength and stability of subgrade surface and the smooth traffic. Therefore, the maintenance, repair and reinforcement of the shoulder must be done seriously.

The shoulder is made of soil. When the shoulder is rutted, pitted or does not match the road surface, it must be repaired in time and filled and compacted with the same soil as the original subgrade. When the soil shoulder is too high to hinder the road drainage, it should be leveled. It should be carried out at the same time when the soil is wet after rain, and combined with cleaning the side ditch, the residual water on the low-lying shoulder can be removed in time.