Ben Rowe @CineastBenRowe@TheEdVerse
What are major roads in the Realms made of? I'm thinking of the Trade Way specifically, but it is just one of the major highways. Cobblestone?— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 29, 2020
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As it happens, I answered a very similar query two weeks back. Here you go:
Some major roads in places like Waterdeep are wider than 50 feet; the idea being that you can easily turn a large wagon drawn by three pairs of oxen 2)
…yoked in harness one in front of the other. (See real-world American brewery wagons, back in horse-drawn days.)
Dotted-line-on-maps roads/wagon trails have at least 30 feet of ‘crown’ (traveled area), with a grassy verge of…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 29, 2020
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…about another three or more feet per side before pitching down into grass-lined drainage ditches, on either side. The idea here being that wagons can easily pass each other without danger of wheels catching, or 4)
… projecting-to-the-side loads snagging on each other. So, 30-foot minimum, except when cutting through rock (mountain passes/prime ambush areas!), and wherever the road comes out onto exposed bedrock, the cleared area widens…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 29, 2020
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…into a layby/stopping area/turning area.
Follow up question: In town (in Amphail) would the Long Road be dirt, cobblestones, or Roman
road?
In Amphail, it would be a combination of crushed-rock gravel, crushed-old-pottery-roof- 6)
… -tiles gravel, and flagstones. (So, yes, Roman roads. ;} ) Dirt is to be avoided, as it turns into mud and potholes too readily.
For this mud-and-potholes reason (which in turn causes subsidences and eventually building…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 29, 2020
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…collapses), cities that have sewers/gutters/catchbasins and other ‘guided drainage’ will have a layer of cobblestones over top of the gravel. Cobblestones are heavy and expensive, so will be used elsewhere only if necessary 8)
(Cities have residents who can be taxed annually, or by special levies, to pay for paving work.)
Swampy areas tend to have ‘log roads’ (VERY bumpy), with gravel and dirt laid over them and relaid every spring (winter frost…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 29, 2020
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…and frost heave logs up, and the rest of the time they slowly sink into the swamp, so many such roads are several log-layers deep), or more often if need be.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 29, 2020