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I would like some advice on how to tag a drainage ditch that is covered over with concrete slabs and used as a foot/bicycle path. I currently have it tagged as a foot/bicycle path. My uncertainty is if I should draw another way and tag it as a drainage ditch, or add the drainage ditch tag to the existing foot/bicycle path way.

asked 23 Jan '20, 17:27

dougcb68's gravatar image

dougcb68
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To me having the tags on the same object would imply wet feet whenever you use your ditchpath.

As the path is presumably roughly level with the adjacent land it would make sense for it to remain at layer=0.

Whether to tag the path as a bridge or the waterway as a tunnel is a little more ambiguous. The closes bridge tagging would probably be as a boardwalk, although these usually have some elevation off the ground which your slabs don't seem to. Bridge tagging might lead to some false assumptions by users (e.g. that the land either side is less passable than it is).

The culvert page suggests that tunnel=flooded might be a suitable tag if not a true culvert but if the arrangement doesn't even resemble a shallow cut an cover tunnel then it may be stretching the definition beyond breaking point.

According to taginfo there are 14415 instances of object with both covered=* and waterway=*so that may be the best way forward, possibly with a note in the description.

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answered 23 Jan '20, 21:25

InsertUser's gravatar image

InsertUser
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the layer-tag has nothing to do with the fact that the path is above, at the same height or above the surrounding area. The layer that is used for 2 crossing ways (roads or waterways) and position one on top of the other.

(24 Jan '20, 04:11) escada

@escada The use of the layer tag for overlapping entities is documented. While layer=0 is not explicitly ground level there is a tendency to push tunnels to -1 and bridges to 1 if for no other reason than to reduce tagging demands. I would think something perceived as like a culvert, but unlined and uncovered by soil would usually take a negative layer.

(24 Jan '20, 08:57) InsertUser

Thanks. This gives me a way forward. I was concerned about the appropriateness of having duplicate ways with different tags. The idea of giving them a slight offset never occurred to me, but that is what I will do.

(25 Jan '20, 16:57) dougcb68

If I understand you correctly, one walks and cycles on the concrete slabs, then I would draw 2 lines, one for the ditch and one for the path. The ditch would get tunnel=culvert + layer=-1, the path would get surface=concrete. The most correct would be to use the same points for both features, but that would make editing a bit more difficult later on. If you are worried about that you could draw the 2 ways just next to one another.

I would not put all tags on the same OSM way, as that would mean that you walk through the ditch, not on top of it.

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answered 24 Jan '20, 04:18

escada's gravatar image

escada
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accept rate: 21%

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question asked: 23 Jan '20, 17:27

question was seen: 1,215 times

last updated: 25 Jan '20, 16:57

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