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Hairpin turn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
 | | A nearly 180-degree turn in a road, trail, or ramp is called a hairpin turn (also hairpin bend or, if in a trail, a switchback). |
 | | These turns are often built when a route climbs up or down a steep slope, so that it can travel mostly across the slope with only moderate steepness, and are often arrayed in a zigzag pattern. |
 | | Highways with hairpin turns allow easier, safer ascents and descents of mountainous terrain than a direct, steep climb and descent, at the price of greater distances of travel. |
| en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Hairpin_bend (276 words) |
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