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In Australia many towns are surrounded by embankments (levies) to keep out flood water. It's either 40C or under water here. These embankments can be grass covered or can be topped by a service road (restricted use) The problem is that they do not render. (nb. Embankments never seem to render at all) Am I doing something wrong or do embankments need to be added to the render list? This really needs to happen.

asked 31 Mar '17, 23:19

Glenhope1's gravatar image

Glenhope1
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edited 01 Apr '17, 09:43

aseerel4c26's gravatar image

aseerel4c26 ♦
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could you please link to a object or location where you mapped an embankment?

(01 Apr '17, 00:29) aseerel4c26 ♦

Wee Waa NSW - Embankment with access road on top. https://www.openstreetmap.org/edit#map=17/-30.22531/149.42805

Walgett NSW https://www.openstreetmap.org/edit#map=18/-30.01637/148.11396

Bourke NSW - Embankment grass covered. https://www.openstreetmap.org/edit#map=16/-30.0932/145.9588

Where there is no room for an earth embankment low concrete walls about 3 feet high & 6 inches thick are used. I've used "wall" for these.

(01 Apr '17, 00:56) Glenhope1

One tip:

Do not add embankment=yes or cutting=yes to multiple roads or railways running parallel and in reality being on the same embankment or inside the same cutting, so not separated by a lower or higher section of ground.

I have seen people adding embankment=yes or cutting=yes to e.g. all railways lines on a main hub railway station with up to a dozen tracks running parallel on the same embankment, meaning no sensible cartographic rendering can be made for embankment/cutting=yes in this case, as all the embankment symbols would start to overlap and clutter the map.

In these cases, as others also pointed out, always use man_made=embankment to draw a single line along the side of the entire embankment, instead of using embankment/cutting=yes on each individual track or highway section.

Additionally, if the "embankment" is in reality a stone or concrete wall holding back the higher ground, tag barrier=retaining_wall on an line instead of man_made=embankment. If it is vertical, it is not a embankment in traditional topographic cartography.

An example of all of this: https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=18/52.38868/4.87316

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answered 02 Apr '17, 11:17

mboeringa's gravatar image

mboeringa
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edited 02 Apr '17, 12:25

your first example is https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/197292330 which currently is tagged

It renders(!) ... for example inside the iD editor or JOSM. Keep in mind that there is not only one map which is based on OSM. There are many. And map styles change – possibly the default map also will show embankments in the future. Also see i-have-made-edits-but-they-dont-show-up-on-the-map.

I would keep this tagging. The tag is very established in the database (use is double of that of man_made=embankment) and documented in the wiki.

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answered 01 Apr '17, 09:53

aseerel4c26's gravatar image

aseerel4c26 ♦
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accept rate: 18%

man_made=embankment will render on the standard map at openstreetmap.org .
For embankments that have ways on top, you can draw a parallel way next to the road or path on one or both sides tagged with man_made=embankment. The low side is to the right of the direction you draw the way.
In JOSM you can select the section of the highway with the embankment and select edit>duplicate and place the duplicate close to the way, tag with man_made=embankment, and do the same for the other side with the direction reversed if the embankment is on both sides. Then adjust the embankment width if it varies along it's length.
highway=track + man_made=embankment will also render at on the standard map but it is more difficult to see the embankment.
Here is a bit of the flood levee at Charleville https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=17/-26.38214/146.26202
and at the Ernest Henry Mine there are many ways with embankments on each side https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=15/-20.4494/140.7220

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answered 01 Apr '17, 01:33

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nevw
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accept rate: 9%

edited 01 Apr '17, 15:05

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question asked: 31 Mar '17, 23:19

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last updated: 02 Apr '17, 12:25

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