Key:ford
 ford
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| Description |
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| A small part of a highway where a waterway runs over it. |
| Group: Highways |
| Used on these elements |
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| Wikidata |
 Q12743
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| Status: In use |
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| Tools for this tag |
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A ![[W]](/w/images/2/24/Wikipedia-16px.png "Wikipedia"){kind=small}
ford is a small part of a highway where a waterway runs over it.
Contents
How to Map
- use a single node ford where a highway crosses a waterway that is mapped as linear stream without riverbanks
- use the way-method for larger streams with mapped riverbanks
On a 
node
The stream and highways should share a node where they cross marked with ford=yes.
On a 
way
The highway should share nodes with the riverbanks where it crosses them and also a node with the waterway=stream where they cross. Split the highway between the riverbanks and apply ford=yes to this segment (in addition to all other information pertaining to the highway).
If the approach (up and down to the riverbank) to the ford is much different from the ford itself, it might make sense to split the way and tag them appropriately. (incline=* might apply for example).
Tags
| Tag | Description |
|---|---|
| ford=yes | General purpose value |
| ford=stepping_stones | See Step-stone bridge on Wikipedia
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Useful combinations
- surface=* Obvious values here would be concrete, paved, sand, gravel and mud etc.
- depth=* Normal depth you might encounter. Probably deeper during flood or when raining heavily. Perhaps even set to 0 for fords that are dry most of the year.
- layer=* Should be same as crossing road. That is not set in most cases. You are both on the highway and in the waterway, and not separated logically as a stream under a bridge would be.
Example
Deprecated Tags
highway=ford - If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag. Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!The way should carry the importance of the road (e.g. highway=tertiary), thus ford=yes is used
to provide further details. When ford=yes is used on a node, don't use highway=*.
See Also
- Proposal (never voted on)
- flood_prone=* unlike fords are likely to be dangerous to cross if there is water across the roadway.
- intermittent=* used to indicate that a waterway (river, stream, etc.) does not have a permanent flow, so the ford may also be dry at times.
