A chute is a vertical or

inclined plane An inclined plane, also known as a ramp, is a flat supporting surface tilted at an angle from the vertical direction, with one end higher than the other, used as an aid for raising or lowering a load. The inclined plane is one of the six cla ...

, channel, or passage through which objects are moved by means of

gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the str ...

Landform

A chute, also known as a race,

flume A flume is a human-made channel for water, in the form of an open declined gravity chute whose walls are raised above the surrounding terrain, in contrast to a trench or ditch. Flumes are not to be confused with aqueducts, which are built to ...

, cat, or river canyon, is a steep-sided passage through which water flows rapidly. Akin to these, man-made chutes, such as the timber slide and log flume, were used in the logging industry to facilitate the downstream transportation of timber along rivers. These are no longer in common use. Man-made chutes may also be a feature of

spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure t ...

s on some dams. Some types of water supply and irrigation systems are gravity fed, hence chutes. These include aqueducts, puquios, and

acequia An acequia () or séquia () is a community-operated watercourse used in Spain and former Spanish colonies in the Americas for irrigation. Particularly in Spain, the Andes, northern Mexico, and the modern-day American Southwest particula ...

Building chute

Chutes are in common use in tall buildings to allow the rapid transport of items from the upper floors to a central location on one of the lower floors or basement. Chutes may be round, square or rectangular at the top and/or the bottom. * Laundry chutes in

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

s are placed on each floor to allow the expedient transfer and collection of dirty laundry to the hotel's laundry facility without having to use

elevator An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They ar ...

s or stairs. These chutes are generally aluminized steel and welded together to avoid any extruding parts that may rip or damage the materials. : Home laundry chutes are placed on each floor of multistory homes allow the collection of all household members' dirty laundry to one location, conveniently next to the laundry facilities, without the constant transport of laundry bins from story-to-story or room-to-room or up and down stairs. Home laundry chutes may be less common than previously due to building codes or concern regarding fireblocking, the prevention of fire from spreading from floor-to-floor, as well as child safety. However, construction including cabinets, doors, lids, and locks may make both risks significantly less than with simple stairwells. * Refuse chute or Garbage chutes are common in high-rise apartment buildings and are used to collect all the building's garbage in one place. Often the bottom end of the chute is placed directly above a large, open waste container. This makes garbage collection faster and more efficient. * Mail chutes are used in some buildings to collect the occupants' mail. A notable example is the Asia Insurance Building. * Escape chutes are used and proposed for use in evacuation of mining equipment and high-rise buildings. * Construction chutes are used to remove rubble and similar demolition materials safely from taller buildings. These temporary structures typically consist of a chain of cylindrical or conical plastic tubes, each fitted into the top of the one below and tied together, usually with

chain A chain is a wikt:series#Noun, serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression (physics), compression but line (g ...

s. Together they form a long flexible tube, which is hung down the side of the building. The lower end of this tube is placed over a skip or other receptacle, and waste materials are dropped into the top. Heavy duty steel chutes may also be used when the debris being deposited is heavy duty and in cases of particularly high buildings. An

is not a chute as it does not move by gravity. File:Residential Laundry Chute.jpg, Home laundry chute. File:Musoroprovod in the stairwell on the eighth floor of multistory homes.jpg, Garbage chute File:Decarie Incinerator (32075560283).jpg, Out of use trash incinerator chute File:U.S. Mail Chute.jpg, Mail chute File:Schütte fcm.jpg, Construction chute

Chutes in transportation

Goust, a hamlet in southwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

, is notable for its mountainside chute that is used to transport coffins. Chutes are also found in: * Hopper cars * Hopper barges

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chute (Gravity) Building engineering Landforms