Yes, I agree firmness works better than stiffness for describing a surface. I still would prefer a term that better characterizes what Fernando said above: "To me, the idea [of] a firm/soft mixture seems closely related to "how well maintained" the track/road is, as mixtures that are not so durable/steady/firm quickly wear down and look 'poorly maintained'."
A poorly maintained road, or one that is not well engineered, or one composed of loose, uncompacted materials will be much less durable than one that has those characteristics. Consequently, I still think durability fits the bill. I hesitate to bring this up but the discussion about trafficability tried to rationalize the relationship between a highway's surface, hardness, composition and smoothness and ran into similar problems (David Bannon?) FWIW, borrowing again from Fernando above I would reword the definitions as so: grade1: "heavily compacted hardcore" grade1: [Usually paved. If unpaved then a heavily compacted mixture of materials (gravel, sand, earth, clay) that provide a fairly smooth, durable and relatively weather-resistant surface.] grade2: "unpaved (...) surface of gravel [a hard material] mixed with varying amount of [soft materials] sand, silt and clay" grade2: [Unpaved (...) surface of gravel mixed with a varying amount of other materials and lightly compacted or rolled to provide a good surface. Less durable or weather resistant than a grade1 track.] grade3: "even mixture of hard and soft materials" grade3" [Almost always an unpaved *dirt road*. A mixture of uncompacted hard and soft materials providing a reasonable surface. Subject to moderate degradation in bad weather. ] grade4: "prominently with soil/sand/grass [soft materials], but with some hard materials" grade4: [A rougher unpaved dirt road with a mostly soft surface, poorly maintained and not very durable. Rain and other bad weather degrade this type of track rapidly.] grade5: "lacking hard materials" grade5: [A very rough unpaved track composed of loose, uncompacted, soft materials often having a surface of grass and dirt, or, in wet weather, mud. Not very durable — easily eroded.] Other OSMers have amended this list to include grade6 and even grade7 for tracks passable by 4WD or ATV only. What about those? On Tue, Mar 18, 2014 at 8:57 AM, Fernando Trebien < fernando.treb...@gmail.com> wrote: > "Firmness" sounds good to me: > http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/firmness > > I know that "soundness" means the same but has some additional > meanings (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/soundness), > "firmness" is more specific. > > On Mon, Mar 17, 2014 at 9:09 PM, johnw <jo...@mac.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > On Mar 18, 2014, at 1:35 AM, Fernando Trebien < > fernando.treb...@gmail.com> > > wrote: > > > > Replacing 'stiffness' > > with something else is absolutely fine with me. > > > > > > > > What about firmness? soundness? > > > > > > Javbw > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Tagging mailing list > > Tagging@openstreetmap.org > > https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/tagging > > > > > > -- > Fernando Trebien > +55 (51) 9962-5409 > > "The speed of computer chips doubles every 18 months." (Moore's law) > "The speed of software halves every 18 months." (Gates' law) > > _______________________________________________ > Tagging mailing list > Tagging@openstreetmap.org > https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/tagging > -- Dave Swarthout Homer, Alaska Chiang Mai, Thailand Travel Blog at http://dswarthout.blogspot.com
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