1. General

1.1.What is a gravel road

Throughout history people and animals have used paths across terrain to make it easy to walk and it is difficult to tell when these paths could be termed roads. Many of the early tracks in Scotland (“drove roads”) and Finland (“cow paths”) came about as recognised ways of getting cattle from rural areas to the main markets in cities.

According to different sources the history of built gravel roads can go back to the first section of the ancient Silk Road 500 BC, when the Persian Royal Road was built. In the ROADEX area the first specially built gravel road was made by Scottish John Metcalfe (born in 1717) in Yorkshire, England. This road had three layers: large stones in the bottom, a mixture of road material and a layer of gravel on the top. Later two other Scottish engineers, Thomas Telford and John Loudon McAdam improved the road cross-section by raising the foundation of the road in the centre for easier water drainage. Telford improved gravel road building further by analyzing stone thickness, road traffic, road alignment and gradient slopes (FHWA, History of Gravel Roads).

The terminology for gravel roads also varies country by country. These have been variously named as unsealed roads, aggregate roads or dirt roads. Dirt roads differ slightly from the others as they were built from materials at the sides of the roads.

Gravel roads can be classified by their history and how they have been built. For instance, in Finland gravel roads have been classified into two classes: a) unbuilt (historical) gravel roads that are a result of their evolution history and b) built gravel roads, that have been designed and built for a particular purpose. Gravel roads can be classified also based on their function to serve society. A good example is Iceland where there are five different gravel road categories.

Gravel roads in Iceland
35 Primary Highland Road 35 Primary Highland Road 35 Primary Highland Road 54 Primary Road 85 Primary Road 94 Secondary Road 208 Local Access Road 208 Primary Highland Road 302 Local Access Road 355 Local Access Road 367 Secondary Road 431 Secondary Road 460 Secondary Road 510 Secondary Road 533 Secondary Road 570 Highland Road 579 Secodary Road 590 Secondary Road 608 Secondary Road 612 Secondary Road 615 Local Access Road 617 Local Access Road 626 Highland Road 643 Secondary Road 649 Highland Road 702 Secondary Road 704 Secondart Road 711 Secondary Road 717 Secondary Road 731 Secondary Road 748 Secondary Road 793 Highland Road 821 Highland Road 832 Highland Road 833 Local Access Road 842 Primary Road 864 Secondary Road 864 Secondary Road 864 Local Access Road 901 Highland Road 910 Highland Road 917 Primary Road 939 Secondary Road 7234 Local Access Road 9669 Local Access Road F249 Highland Road F910 Highland Road F899 Highland Road F881 Highland Road F839 Highland Road F839 Highland Road F821 Highland Road F821 Highland Road F752 Highland Road F586 Highland Road F224 Highland Road F26 Primary Highland Road F26 Primary Highland Road

35 Primary Highland Road

35 Primary Highland Road

35 Primary Highland Road

54 Primary Road

85 Primary Road

94 Secondary Road

208 Local Access Road

208 Primary Highland Road

302 Local Access Road

355 Local Access Road

367 Secondary Road

431 Secondary Road

460 Secondary Road

510 Secondary Road

533 Secondary Road

570 Highland Road

579 Secodary Road

590 Secondary Road

608 Secondary Road

612 Secondary Road

615 Local Access Road

617 Local Access Road

626 Highland Road

643 Secondary Road

649 Highland Road

702 Secondary Road

704 Secondart Road

711 Secondary Road

717 Secondary Road

731 Secondary Road

748 Secondary Road

793 Highland Road

821 Highland Road

832 Highland Road

833 Local Access Road

842 Primary Road

864 Secondary Road

864 Secondary Road

864 Local Access Road

901 Highland Road

910 Highland Road

917 Primary Road

939 Secondary Road

7234 Local Access Road

9669 Local Access Road

F249 Highland Road

F910 Highland Road

F899 Highland Road

F881 Highland Road

F839 Highland Road

F839 Highland Road

F821 Highland Road

F821 Highland Road

F752 Highland Road

F586 Highland Road

F224 Highland Road

F26 Primary Highland Road

F26 Primary Highland Road

Click the markers on the map and the road categories below for more information.

Primary roads

Primary roads are a part of the basic transport system and connect the country’s urban areas. These, in turn, are connected to villages with a population of 100 inhabitants or more. Roads with substantial traffic connecting municipalities in the metropolitan area are also primary roads. In cases where a primary road ends in a municipality, it stretches as far as the first intersection with
a street that belongs to the municipality. In some cases, a primary road connects an airport or a harbour, that is important for cargo transport or tourism.
Primary highland roads


A part of Iceland’s basic transport system runs through its highlands. Because of the nature of these roads, however, services are limited and they are closed in the winter. Highland roads are usually narrow gravel roads or tracks and most rivers are unbridged.
Secondary roads


Secondary roads are roads outside populated areas that connect primary roads or highland roads to a primary road. They can also be roads connecting a village with less than 100 inhabitants to the primary road system or roads to airports and harbours, which are important to cargo transport and tourism, as well as roads to ferry harbours, national parks and their interiors, and popular tourist destinations in rural areas.
Highland roads


These are state roads that do not belong to any of the road categories listed above. This category covers roads across mountains and moors. These roads are usually with seasonal traffic and limited services. Highland roads are usually narrow gravel roads or tracks and most rivers are unbridged.
Local access roads

Local access roads are roads to places such as farms, factories, churches, public schools and other public places located outside populated areas. They are officially planned and listed in the Road Register. A road can also qualify as a local access road if it connects a group of 30 summer houses or more to a primary or a secondary road.
.

Most daily journeys on public roads are generally on paved roads but in the ROADEX area 1/3 of public roads are still gravel roads. The overall total length of gravel roads however in most countries is much longer than paved roads. This is because the greater proportion of private rural roads are gravel roads and forest roads. For instance in USA there are more than 2.2 million km of public gravel roads, even though the normal image for roads in US is of paved roads. And in many countries the share of gravel roads is even increasing because their annual maintenance costs are lower compared to poor condition paved roads. Table 1 provides information of the length of gravel and forest roads in ROADEX partner countries.

Ireland Scotland Iceland Norway Sweden Finland
Public gravel roads 7,135 km 13,680 km 21,200 km 27,300 km
Forest roads 11,360 km 20,000 km 49,630 km 280,000 km 125,000 km

Table 1. Public gravel roads and forest roads in ROADEX partner countries

1.2. What is a forest road

A forest road is a special class of road that has a particular function. According to Wikipedia “Forest roads or forest tracks are roads or tracks intended to carry motorised vehicles or horse-drawn wagons being used mainly or exclusively for forestry purposes, such as conservation or logging. Forest roads may be open to ramblers or mountain bikers depending on local rules”. And even though a minority of forest roads are paved, it can be generally stated that all forest roads are gravel roads. A special feature of many forest roads is that many of them are not connecting roads, but are mainly for hauling timber from forest to factories or sawmills. For this reason many are “dead end” roads with a turning place at the end of the road.

Because of their nature a special feature of forest roads is that they do not have be kept open all year round. Especially during wintertime, many forest roads are kept open only when there are forest extraction operations in the area. Forest roads are generally not public owned, but are owned by private landowners or forest companies. The length of forest roads can be quite high especially in the countries with forest industries. In Finland 36% of 350,000 km long low volume road network is forest roads. Of these 77,000 km of them are located in private owned forests, 20,000 km in private forest company properties and 27,000 km on state owned land.


The location and ownership of the 125,000 km long forest road network in Finland.

1.3. The importance of gravel roads

Gravel roads are an essential part of the “blood vascular system” of the transportation infrastructure. They provide access to many rural communities and they act as a transportation route for products to markets. For instance, in most cases the beginning of the transportation routes for products of the farming, forest and aggregate industries have gravel surfaces. In addition gravel and forest roads have a critical role in forest fire management as well as defence training. And finally gravel roads have a great role in recreational, social and tourism activities.

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