Hairpin turn
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A hairpin turn is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for a vehicle to turn about 180° to continue on the road. It is named for its resemblance to a bent metal hairpin.
Hairpin turn in Oregon, US
A hairpin, after which the feature is named
Looking into the Fairmont Hairpin, Monaco
Horseshoe curve
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A horseshoe curve is a class of climbing curve in a roadbed that reverses turn direction twice on either side of a single tight curve that varies through an angle of about 180 degrees or more.
Hairpin turn
…Trollstigen, Norway Where a railway curves back on itself like a hairpin turn, it is called a horseshoe curve. The Pennsylvania Railroad built one in Blair County, Pennsylvania, which ascends the Eastern Continental Divide from the east. However, the radius of…
A road switchbacks into a canyon in Utah's Canyonlands National Park.
Aerial shot of the Horseshoe Curve that helps trains cross the Allegheny Mountains west of Altoona, Pennsylvania.
The Flåm Line, 1926 shortly after construction Credit: Anders Beer Wilse