Rocks and Roads

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Iowa DOT's policy is to be
sensitive to the environment
and foster and enhance
environmental stewardship.

IOWA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

TERM	DEFINITION
alignment	The path of a roadway.
archaeologist	A person who conducts the scientific study of material remains of past human life and activities.
at grade	Two roads that meet at the same elevation. This means the lesser traveled road nay have a stop sign and traffic on it will have to yield to traffic on the other road.
borrowed (from off site)	Soil that has been taken from a location nearby or adjacent to where a road is being built.
bypass	A segment of new highway that goes around rather than through town.
earthwork	A term for removing or replacing soil to construct a roadway.
endangered	Threatened with extinction.
environmentalists	People concerned about the quality of the environment.
habitat	A place where a plant or animal naturally or normally lives and grows.
mitigation	Creating new wetlands to replace those lost for road building.
overpass	Raising one roadway above another on a bridge so the two do not intersect.
topography	A term that describes the shape of the land's surface.
saturated	Full of moisture.
wasted (off the site)	Soil that is not used or needed on a project.
wetlands	Areas containing much soil moisture at or near the surface of the earth.