SurfaceTypeValue

State of a surface in the context of the origin of the surface and resistance to environmental elements.

Value
Description

Made Sealed

A constructed surface, commonly mineral based, that consists of a solid material that is bonded (i.e. is not loose), such as asphalt or concrete.

Made Unknown

A constructed surface, commonly mineral based, that may be bonded or loose. This value is used where the revision method employed does not allow it to be differentiated into ‘Made Sealed’ or ‘Made Unsealed’.

Made Unsealed

A constructed surface, commonly mineral based, that consists of an un-bonded surface (i.e. the material is loose), such as gravel (including self- binding gravel), cinder or hoggin. Also used to describe surfaces that are bonded but which have been employed as a mesh / grid or similar form to allow vegetation to grow and water to drain through the surface.

Unmade

A surface that has not been constructed but has evolved through use by pedestrians, cyclists, horses being ridden, or motorised vehicles, and where the use has removed or minimised the natural vegetation and fully or partly exposed the underlying mineral surface and / or mud.

As a general note, it can be problematic to precisely differentiate between surface types. For example, the difference between an unsealed road and a track is open to interpretation. The following images illustrate typical examples of different surface types.

Made sealed surface – examples

Two cyclists heading into a tunnel through a rock face on tarmac roads.
First example of a made sealed surface on a road.
A tarmac road through the countryside flanked by a grass verge on each side with farmland in the distance.
Second example of a made sealed surface on a road.

Made unsealed surface – examples

Example of a made unsealed surface on a road.
Photo showing an example of a made unsealed surface on a track.
Example of a made unsealed surface on a track.

Unmade surface – examples

Photo of a path with vegetation on either side of it. A grass verge runs through the middle of the track.
Example of an unmade track.
Photo of a narrow path going through vegetation.
Example of an unmade path.

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