Barrow ditch.

[Felton, Robert]

>>  I wonder if civil engineers, the kind that design roads, use >>
'barrow' in this sense.

I never heard it used that way; there might be civil engineers somewhere who
do, but it's not a common usage in the profession.  I have a dictionary here
on my desk (Webster's New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition) that says
"barrow" is a pig castrated before maturity.

Robert M. Felton, P.E.
Technical Editor, InTech Magazine
ISA - The Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society
67 Alexander Drive
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

E-Mail: rfelton at isa.org <mailto:rfelton at isa.org>
Phone: (919) 990-9223
Fax: (919) 549-8288