A pier on Lake Mapourika in New Zealand illustrates the simplest form of pier

Southend Pier in England is the longest pleasure pier in the world, at 1. Lake Mapourika is located on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island Southend Pier is a major landmark in Southend-on-Sea. Extending 2158 m (1 34 miles (2158 m)

A pier is a raised walkway over water, supported by widely spread piles or pillars. A walkway is a composite or umbrella term for all formal surfaces supporting walking A column in Structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural The lighter structure of a pier allows tides and currents to flow almost unhindered, whereas the more solid foundations of a quay or the closely-spaced piles of a wharf can act as breakwaters, and are consequently more liable to silting. A quay, pronounced 'key' is a Wharf or bank where Ships and other vessels are loaded A wharf is a landing place or Pier where ships may tie up and load or unload Piers can range in size and complexity from a simple lightweight wooden structure to major structures extended over a mile out to sea. Piers are the same as docks, which would be found in lakes or on rivers, it is the standard terminology used.

Piers have been built for several different purposes, and because these different purposes have distinct regional variances, the term pier tends to have different nuances of meaning in different parts of the world. Thus in North America and Australia, where many ports were, until recently, built on the multiple pier model, the term tends to imply a current or former cargo-handling facility. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. In Europe however, where ports have tended to use basins and river-side quays rather than piers, the term is principally associated with the image of a Victorian cast iron pleasure pier. Culture The Victorian fascination with novelty resulted in a deep interest in the relationship between modernity and cultural continuities Cast iron usually refers to grey cast iron, but identifies a large group of Ferrous Alloys which solidify with a Eutectic.

Types of pier

Piers can be categorized into different groupings, depending on the principal purpose. It should be realized that there is, nonetheless, a significant amount of overlap. For example, pleasure piers often also allowed for the docking of pleasure steamers and other similar craft, whilst working piers have often been converted to leisure use after being rendered obsolete by changes in cargo-handling technology.

Working piers

Working piers were built for the handling of passengers and cargo onto and off ships. Working piers themselves fall into two different groups. Longer individual piers are often found at ports with large tidal ranges, with the pier stretching far enough off shore to reach deep water at low tide. Characteristics A tide is a repeated cycle of sea level changes in the following stages Over several hours the water rises or advances up a beach in the flood Such piers provided an economical alternative to impounded docks where cargo volumes were low, or where specialist bulk cargos were handled such as at coal piers. A coal pier is a Transloading facility designed for the transfer of Coal between rail and ship An early example of an individual working pier is Ryde Pier, opened in 1814 to serve ferries between the English mainland and the Isle of Wight. Ryde Pier is an early 19th century Pier serving the town of Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. See also Merchant ship A ferry is a form of transport usually a Boat or Ship, used to carry (or ferry) passengers and England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The Isle of Wight is an English Island and county in the English Channel between three and five miles (8 km from the south coast of the

The other form of working pier, often called the finger pier, was built at ports with smaller tidal ranges. Here the principal advantage was to give a greater available quay length for ships to berth against compared to a linear littoral quayside, and such piers are usually much shorter. Typically each pier would carry a single transit shed the length of the pier, with ships berthing bow or stern in to the shore. Some major ports consisted of large numbers of such piers lining the foreshore, classic examples being the Hudson River frontage of New York, or the Embarcadero in San Francisco. The Hudson River, called Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk, the Great Mohegan by the Iroquois, or as the Lenape Native Americans called it in Unami The City of New York The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city

The advent of container shipping, with its need for large container handling spaces adjacent to the shipping berths, has made working piers obsolete for the handling of general cargo, although some still survive for the handling of passenger ships or bulk cargos. Containerization (or containerisation) is a system of Intermodal freight transport Cargo Transport using standard ISO containers Many working piers have been demolished, or remain derelict, but others have been recycled as pleasure piers. The best known example of this is Pier 39 in San Francisco. Pier 39 is a shopping center and popular Tourist attraction built on a pier in San Francisco California.

Pleasure piers

Pleasure piers were first built in England, during the 19th century. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland At that time the introduction of the railways for the first time permitted mass tourism to dedicated seaside resorts. "Railroad" and "Railway" both redirect here For other uses see Railroad (disambiguation. However, the large tidal ranges at many such resorts meant that for much of the day, the sea was not visible from dry land. The pleasure pier was the resorts' answer, permitting holiday makers to promenade over and alongside the sea at all times. The longest Pleasure pier in the world is at Southend-on-sea, Essex, and extends 2,158 m into the Thames estuary. Southend Pier is a major landmark in Southend-on-Sea. Extending 2158 m (1 Essex is a county in the East of England. The County town is Chelmsford, and the highest point of the county is Chrishall Common The Thames Estuary is the area in which the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea. The longest pier on the West Coast of the United States is the Oceanside Pier. The Oceanside Pier, located in Oceanside California was first built in 1888

Pleasure piers often include other amusements and theatres as part of the attraction. Theatre (or theater, see spelling differences) is the branch of the Performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one Such a pier may be open air, closed, or partly open, partly closed. Sometimes a pier has two decks.

Early pleasure piers were of wooden construction, with iron structures being introduced with the construction in 1855 of Margate Jetty, in Margate, England. Wood is hard fibrous lignified structural tissue produced as secondary Xylem in the stems of Woody plants notably trees but also shrubs Iron (ˈаɪɚn is a Chemical element with the symbol Fe (ferrum and Atomic number 26 Margate is a Seaside resort town within the Thanet district of East Kent, England. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland One of the oldest iron piers still remaining is in Southport, also in England and dates from 1860. Southport is a seaside town on the Irish Sea coast situated within the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, in England, UK.

Fishing piers

Many piers are built for the purpose of providing land locked anglers access to fishing grounds that are otherwise inaccessible.

Piers of the world

See the List of piers article for details of piers in countries across the world. This article contains a list of Piers throughout the world Australia Busselton Western Australia - See also Busselton Jetty.

England and Wales

The first recorded pier in England was Ryde Pier, opened in 1814 on the Isle of Wight, as a working pier to allow ferries to and from the mainland to berth. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Ryde Pier is an early 19th century Pier serving the town of Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. The Isle of Wight is an English Island and county in the English Channel between three and five miles (8 km from the south coast of the It is still used for this purpose today.

In their heyday, there were many pleasure piers across England and Wales. These were found in most fashionable seaside resorts during the Victorian era. A seaside resort is a Resort located on the Coast. Where a Beach is the primary focus for Tourists it may be called a beach resort Culture The Victorian fascination with novelty resulted in a deep interest in the relationship between modernity and cultural continuities There are still a significant number of piers of architectural merit still standing, although some have been lost. The most well known piers are perhaps the two at Brighton in East Sussex and the three at Blackpool in Lancashire, while the longest is at Southend-on-Sea in Essex at 1. Brighton ( is a town on the south coast of England and with its neighbour Hove, forms the city of Brighton and Hove. East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the Blackpool (/ˈblækˌpul is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea Essex is a county in the East of England. The County town is Chelmsford, and the highest point of the county is Chrishall Common 34 miles (2,158 m) long. Two piers, Brighton's now derelict West Pier and Clevedon Pier, are Grade 1 listed. The West Pier is a Pier in Brighton, England. It was built in 1866 by Eugenius Birch and has been closed and deteriorating since 1975 Clevedon Pier is a seaside Pier in the town of Clevedon, on the English side of the mouth of the River Severn and the Bristol Channel Birnbeck Pier in Weston-super-Mare is the only pier in the world that is linked to an island. Birnbeck Pier is a Pier in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England. Weston-super-Mare is a Seaside resort town and Civil parish in North Somerset, England. The National Piers Society gives a figure of 55 surviving seaside piers in England and Wales. The National Piers Society (NPS is a registered charity in the United Kingdom dedicated to promoting and sustaining interest in the preservation and continued enjoyment of seaside ^[1]

Netherlands

The Scheveningen pier, near The Hague

Scheveningen, the coastal resort town of The Hague, boasts the largest pier in the Netherlands. Scheveningen (ˈsxeːfənɪŋə is one of the eight Districts of The Hague, as well as one of its subdistricts ( wijken) The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands A crane, built on top of the pier's panorama tower, provides the opportunity to make a 60 m. high bungee jump over the North Sea waves.

Statistics

• The oldest cast iron pier in the world is Gravesend Town Pier, in Kent, UK. Cast iron usually refers to grey cast iron, but identifies a large group of Ferrous Alloys which solidify with a Eutectic. Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. KENT (1400 AM) is a Radio station broadcasting a Adult Standards/MOR format The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The pier opened in 1834. ^[2]
• The oldest recognized seaside pier in the UK is that at Ryde on the Isle of Wight, which opened in 1814. Ryde is a British seaside town and the most populous town and urban area on the Isle of Wight, with a population of approximately 30000
• The longest pleasure pier in the world is Southend, with a length of 1. 34 miles (2158 m).
• The shortest UK pier is in Burnham-on-Sea. Burnham-on-Sea is a Town in Somerset, England, at the mouth of the River Parrett and Bridgwater Bay.
• The UK pier with the biggest height above the sea is Weston Super Mare Birnbeck. Weston-super-Mare is a Seaside resort town and Civil parish in North Somerset, England.

See also

• Boardwalk
• Breakwater
• Dock
• Jetty
• Wharf
• Seaside resort

References

• Turner, K. , (1999), Pier Railways and Tramways of the British Isles, The Oakwood Press, No. LP60, ISBN 0-85361-541-1

External links

• National Piers Society