Introduction
With South Africa having the 10th largest road network in the world, and about 600,000 km of unpaved and gravel roads, road users can expect to find many different road conditions.
Some of these gravel roads might not be smooth - these roads are known as corrugated or washboard roads.
On the Arrive Alive website, we find a rather comprehensive section about safe driving on gravel roads. But how do the corrugation of gravel roads affect our driving style and how should we adjust our driving for safely?
We approached the experts from MasterDrive to gain some insights!
What is Corrugation or Washboarding of Roads?
Corrugations are formed through material displacement as a result of tyre action coupled with the mass and speed of the vehicle. The surface material arranges itself into parallel ridges which lie at right angles to the direction of traffic.
Spacing (wavelength) can vary from 500 mm to 1 m and depths can range up to 150 mm. Any irregularity in the...
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