borrow pit

American  

noun

Civil Engineering.

1. a pit from which construction material, as sand or gravel, is taken for use as fill at another location.

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borrow pit British  

noun

1. civil engineering an excavation dug to provide fill to make up ground elsewhere

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Etymology

Origin of borrow pit

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

Shifting into fifth gear, I straddled the centerline to correct the bevel toward the borrow pit and accelerated into triple digits.

From Salon

It’s just outside the borrow pit, across from a side entrance to the naval air station.

From Washington Times

A few days after Davies proudly surveyed his borrow pit, Liz Goodman, a conservator at MHI, is standing over a large table in a harshly lit workshop.

From The Guardian

Construction of the platform mounds was labor intensive, with millions of baskets filled with dirt hauled to the 100-foot peak of the bluff, leaving behind deep recesses in the ground, called borrow pits.

From Washington Times

Zylawy said vehicles could initially get around the obstruction by driving into the borrow pit, but it was raining hard and that option soon became too muddy.

From Washington Times