Whenever I see a new bridge or a sliproad being constructed, I often see 
lines of wooden posts. And I have no idea what their purpose is. Each 
one is approximately upright, with a smaller horizontal piece of wood 
nailed to it.

You'd think this is to do with some kind of measurement or layout 
process. However, the posts are all wonky and carelessly arranged, 
they're not all the same height, and the horizontal piece is only at 
approximately a right angle. In short, rather than being carefully and 
precisely measured, this stuff seems to be haphazardly thrown together. 
So... what's it for?

Similarly, you often see much larger wooden posts, painted with red and 
white stripes. What do those do?

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Am 20.08.2010 10:28, schrieb Invisible:
> Whenever I see a new bridge or a sliproad being constructed, I often see
> lines of wooden posts. And I have no idea what their purpose is. Each
> one is approximately upright, with a smaller horizontal piece of wood
> nailed to it.
>
> You'd think this is to do with some kind of measurement or layout
> process. However, the posts are all wonky and carelessly arranged,
> they're not all the same height, and the horizontal piece is only at
> approximately a right angle. In short, rather than being carefully and
> precisely measured, this stuff seems to be haphazardly thrown together.
> So... what's it for?

Maybe indicators showing how high they want the roadside terrain to be 
at that particular point? Doesn't have to be precise to the Millimeter, 
may need to stay in place for a while until the work is done, and you 
wouldn't want to place anything expensive there for so long lest it 
might be stolen or lost; plus, if the posts are inexpensive you can just 
bury them in the process.

> Similarly, you often see much larger wooden posts, painted with red and
> white stripes. What do those do?

Why, stand around until taken away of course :-P

As for what they are /used/ for, maybe marking the ares of the 
construction site where it's safe for vehicles to drive.

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