[Talk-ca] Snaowsheds

[Richard Degelder]

Although most snowsheds are enclosed they are not required to be and
some are not.  For those that are not fully enclosed the downhill side
will be open except for the support structure to hold the roof up.  Also
snowsheds are going to be placed on open ground along side of a
mountain, although it may be a cut into the mountain. For this reason
giving them the tag of tunnel would be inappropriate.  Snowsheds should
have their own tag

To me a tunnel implies that someone bored into the side of a mountain
and there is natural rock and soil, and possibly even water, above the
tunnel.  A snowshed is built only because of avalanche conditions and
excessive snow conditions that would cause the roadway or railroad to be
impassible during much, or all, of the winter.  They are a structure,
the same as any building, that serve a special purpose.

Richard Degelder