|
Curb Cut
A curb cut (U.S.), curb ramp, depressed curb, dropped kerb ( UK), pram ramp, or kerb ramp ( Australia) is a solid (usually concrete) ramp graded down from the top surface of a sidewalk to the surface of an adjoining street. It is designed primarily for pedestrian usage and commonly found in urban areas where pedestrian activity is expected. In comparison with a conventional curb (finished at a right angle above the street surface) a curb cut is finished at an intermediate gradient that connects both surfaces, sometimes with tactile paving. History Historically speaking, footpaths were finished at right angles to the street surface with conventional curb treatments. The introduction of them to help people pushing prams dates back at least as far as the 1930s in the UK. Kalamazoo, Michigan installed curb cuts in the 1940s as a pilot project to aid employment of veterans with disabilities. A major project in Berkeley, California led by the grassroots Center for Independent Living ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curb Cut Effect
The curb cut effect is the phenomenon of disability-friendly features being used and appreciated by a larger group than the people they were designed for. For example, many hearing people use closed captioning. With wide use, accessibility is a boon to all people. The phenomenon is named for curb cuts miniature ramps comprising parts of sidewalk which were first made for wheelchair access in particular places, but are now universal and no longer widely recognized as a disability-accessibility feature. See also *Universal design Universal design is the design of buildings, products or environments to make them accessible to people, regardless of age, disability or other factors. It addresses common barriers to participation by creating things that can be used by the ma ... References Assistive technology Disability rights {{Disability-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pram Ramp
Pram or PRAM may refer to: a bulbous growth on senior canines, varying in size, usually benign and painless. If it bursts, it will ooze pus and blood. Places * Pram, Austria, a municipality in the district of Grieskirchen in the Austrian state of Upper Austria *Dorf an der Pram, a municipality in the district of Schärding in the Austrian state of Upper Austria *Zell an der Pram, a municipality in the district of Schärding in the Austrian state of Upper Austria People *Christen Pram (1756–1821), Norwegian/Danish economist, civil servant, poet, novelist, playwright, diarist and editor Arts and entertainment * Pram (band), a musical group * The Pram Factory, an Australian alternative theatre venue in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton * Pram, a character in the video game '' Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome'' Science * Parallel RAM, an abstract computer for designing parallel algorithms * Phase-change RAM, a chalcogenide glass type of non-volatile random-access memo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pedestrian
A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with the morphemes ''ped-'' ('foot') and ''-ian'' ('characteristic of'). This word is derived from the Latin term ''pedester'' ('going on foot') and was first used (in English language) during the 18th century. It was originally used, and can still be used today, as an adjective meaning plain or dull. However, in this article it takes on its noun form and refers to someone who walks. The word pedestrian may have been used in middle French in the Recueil des Croniques et Anchiennes Istories de la Grant Bretaigne, à présent nommé Engleterre. In California the definition of a pedestrian has been broadened to include anyone on any human powered vehicle that is not a bicycle, as well as people operating self-propelled wheelchairs by reason of p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rain Garden
Rain gardens, also called bioretention facilities, are one of a variety of practices designed to increase rain runoff reabsorption by the soil. They can also be used to treat polluted stormwater runoff. Rain gardens are designed landscape sites that reduce the flow rate, total quantity, and pollutant load of runoff from impervious urban areas like roofs, driveways, walkways, parking lots, and compacted lawn areas. Rain gardens rely on plants and natural or engineered soil medium to retain stormwater and increase the lag time of infiltration, while remediating and filtering pollutants carried by urban runoff. Rain gardens provide a method to reuse and optimize any rain that falls, reducing or avoiding the need for additional irrigation. A benefit of planting rain gardens is the consequential decrease in ambient air and water temperature, a mitigation that is especially effective in urban areas containing an abundance of impervious surfaces that absorb heat in a phenomenon known ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Best Management Practice For Water Pollution
Best management practices (BMPs) is a term used in the United States and Canada to describe a type of water pollution control. Historically the term has referred to auxiliary pollution controls in the fields of industrial wastewater control and municipal sewage control, while in stormwater management (both urban and rural) and wetland management, BMPs may refer to a principal control or treatment technique as well. Terminology Beginning in the 20th century, designers of industrial and municipal sewage pollution controls typically utilized engineered systems (e.g. filters, clarifiers, biological reactors) to provide the central components of pollution control systems, and used the term "BMPs" to describe the supporting functions for these systems, such as operator training and equipment maintenance. Stormwater management, as a specialized area within the field of environmental engineering, emerged later in the 20th century, and some practitioners have used the term BMP to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Water Bar
A water bar or interceptor dyke is a road construction feature that is used to prevent erosion on sloping roads, cleared paths through woodland (for utility companies such as electricity pylons), or other accessways by reducing flow length. It is a diagonal channel across the road that diverts surface water (that would otherwise flow down the whole length of the road) off the road and into a stable drain way. By constructing a series of water bars at intervals along a road, the volume of water flowing down the road is reduced. Without water bars, flooding, washouts, and accelerated road degradation can occur. The drain way carries the water that would otherwise be carried by the road. For proper operation of the water bars it must be stable and regularly inspected to ensure that it is free of silt buildup or other obstructions. Water bars are usually constructed at an angle across the road. They tend to make passage by vehicle on the road difficult; usually a large high-clear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parking Lot
A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most countries where cars are the dominant mode of transportation, parking lots are a feature of every city and suburban area. Shopping malls, sports stadiums, megachurches and similar venues often have immense parking lots. (See also: multistorey car park) Parking lots tend to be sources of water pollution because of their extensive impervious surfaces, and because most have limited or no facilities to control runoff. Many areas today also require minimum landscaping in parking lots to provide shade and help mitigate the extent to which their paved surfaces contribute to heat islands. Many municipalities require minimum numbers of parking spaces for buildings such as stores (by floor area) and apartment complexes (by number of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Driveway
A driveway (also called ''drive'' in UK English) is a type of private road for local access to one or a small group of structures, and is owned and maintained by an individual or group. Driveways rarely have traffic lights, but some that bear heavy traffic, especially those leading to commercial businesses and parks, do. Driveways may be decorative in ways that public roads cannot, because of their lighter traffic and the willingness of owners to invest in their construction. Driveways are not resurfaced, snow blown or otherwise maintained by governments. They are generally designed to conform to the architecture of connected houses or other buildings. Some of the materials that can be used for driveways include concrete, decorative brick, cobblestone, block paving, asphalt, gravel, decomposed granite, and surrounded with grass or other ground-cover plants. Driveways are commonly used as paths to private garages, carports, or houses. On large estates, a driveway may be t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skateboard
A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. They are usually made of a specially designed 7-8 ply maple plywood deck and polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks. The skateboarder moves by pushing with one foot while the other foot remains balanced on the board, or by pumping one's legs in structures such as a bowl or half pipe. A skateboard can also be used by simply standing on the deck while on a downward slope and allowing gravity to propel the board and rider. If the rider's leading foot is their right foot, they are said to ride "goofy". The two main types of skateboards are the longboard and the shortboard. The shape of the board is also important: the skateboard must be concaved to perform tricks. History Skateboarding started in California in the 1950s. The first skateboards were made from roller skates attached to a board. Skateboarding gained in popularity because of surfing: in fact, skateboarding w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roller Skate
Roller skates, are shoes or bindings that fit onto shoes that are worn to enable the wearer to roll along on wheels. The first roller skate was an inline skate design, effectively an ice skate with wheels replacing the blade. Later the "quad skate" style became more popular, consisting of four wheels arranged in the same configuration as a typical car. Roller skating is a hobby, sport, and mode of transportation using roller skates. History While the first reported use of wheeled skates was on a London stage in 1743, the first patented "roller skate" was introduced in 1760 by Belgian inventor John Joseph Merlin. They were hard to steer and stopping was difficult due to the fact that they did not have any type of braking mechanism and as such they failed to gain popularity. Merlin demonstrated his invention during a party in the city of Huy, during which he skated while playing the violin. In the 1840s, Meyerbeer's opera '' Le prophète'' featured a scene in which perfo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bicycle
A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bicycles were introduced in the 19th century in Europe. By the early 21st century, more than 1 billion were in existence. These numbers far exceed the number of cars, both in total and ranked by the number of individual models produced. They are the principal means of transportation in many regions. They also provide a popular form of recreation, and have been adapted for use as children's toys, general fitness, military and police applications, courier services, bicycle racing, and bicycle stunts. The basic shape and configuration of a typical upright or "safety bicycle", has changed little since the first chain-driven model was developed around 1885. However, many details have been improved, especially since the advent of modern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hand Truck
:''"Hand truck" may also refer to Pallet jack.'' A hand truck, also known as a hand trolley, dolly, stack truck, trundler, box cart, sack barrow, cart, sack truck, two wheeler, or bag barrow, is an L-shaped box-moving handcart with handles at one end, wheels at the base, with a small ledge to set objects on, flat against the floor when the hand-truck is upright. The objects to be moved are tilted forward, the ledge is inserted underneath them, and the objects allowed to tilt back and rest on the ledge. The truck and objects are then tilted backward until the weight is balanced over the wheels, making otherwise bulky and heavy objects easier to move. It is a first-class lever. Overview Sack trucks were originally used in the 18th century to move large sacks of spices on docks by young boys, from the age of 11, who were unable to lift the large sacks by hand. By using this method they were able to work as well as grown men in moving items around. Later, such trucks were amended f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
