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

IOWA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Presents

ROCKS AND ROADS

Unit 4: How are highways designed?  

C.   Scale-down

Construction plans usually show something very large, so engineers need to scale-down the plans so they can show them at a reduced size; otherwise they would need a lot of paper.  Scales are chosen so engineers can show adequate detail for construction.  Objects can also be drawn at a much larger size.  Computer chips, for example, are drawn much larger than they actually are in order to build them.  You have probably seen things drawn at different scales before.  A road map shows areas at a reduced scale.

TO: Unit 4 D. Curves