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Loose chippings are loose gravel or stone fragments on a
road surface A road surface (British English), or pavement (American English), is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past, gravel road surfaces, hoggin, cob ...
and form a
hazard A hazard is a potential source of harm. Substances, events, or circumstances can constitute hazards when their nature would allow them, even just theoretically, to cause damage to health, life, property, or any other interest of value. The probab ...
to
vehicle A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), ...
s using that road. It may come from the road's chip seal. Causes include: * Unbound surplus
aggregate Aggregate or aggregates may refer to: Computing and mathematics * collection of objects that are bound together by a root entity, otherwise known as an aggregate root. The aggregate root guarantees the consistency of changes being made within the ...
not removed from the surface when the road is resurfaced.
Raveling
of a chip seal or
asphalt concrete Asphalt concrete (commonly called asphalt, blacktop, or pavement in North America, and tarmac, bitumen macadam, or rolled asphalt in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland) is a composite material commonly used to surface roads, parki ...
pavement. This is usually the result of a poor bond between the asphalt and the aggregate. As a result, the aggregate breaks free from the road surface. * Raveling caused by mechanical wear from
snowplow A snowplow (also snow plow, snowplough or snow plough) is a device intended for mounting on a vehicle, used for removing snow and ice from outdoor surfaces, typically those serving transportation purposes. Although this term is often used to r ...
s or studded snow tires. * Gravel deposited on the road by erosion of cut sections above the road. * Gravel carried onto the road by tyres of a vehicle that was driven onto a gravel shoulder, or entered a paved road from a gravel road. Excessive speed while driving through loose chippings damage both the road and vehicles. Loose chippings can reduce traction and cause loss of control. This is a special hazard to motorcyclists and bicyclists, who may lose their balance and fall if their tires start sliding. Loose chippings can be picked up by
tyres A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over which t ...
and damage them, or may be spun off to become high speed missiles, which may injure or damage other persons or vehicles on the road. Loose chippings may accumulate on verges, where they may choke drainage channels. In many countries, road signs are put up, requiring vehicles to drive at a low speed. In the UK, these temporary traffic signs will require the driver to proceed at 20 mph.


Other uses

Some English placenames contain "Chipping", from an old word for "market". As a result, "Loose Chippings" is sometimes used humorously as a fictional place name.Google search
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References

{{road-stub Road transport