Pier

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A pier is a raised structure, including bridge and building supports and walkway s, over water, typically supported by widely spread piles or column|pillars . 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 a Breakwater (structure)|breakwater , and are consequently more liable to silting. Piers can range in size and complexity from a simple lightweight wooden structure to major structures extended over 1600 metres out to sea. In American English , pier may be synonymous with Dock (maritime)|dock .

Piers have been built for several 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 Transport in Australia|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. In Transport in Europe|Europe in contrast, where ports more often use basins and river-side quays than piers, the term is principally associated with the image of a Victorian era|Victorian cast iron pleasure pier. However, the earliest piers pre-date the Victorian age.

Types of pier

Piers can be categorized into different groupings according to the principal purpose. However there is considerable overlap between these categories. For example, pleasure piers often also allow 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 advanced developments in cargo-handling technology.

Working piers

Working piers were built for the handling of passengers and cargo onto and off ships or (as at Wigan Pier ) canal boats. Working piers themselves fall into two different groups. Longer individual piers are often found at ports with large tide|tidal ranges , with the pier stretching far enough off shore to reach deep water at low tide. Such piers provided an economical alternative to impounded dock s where cargo volumes were low, or where specialist bulk cargo was handled, such as at coal pier s. 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 City|New York , or the The Embarcadero (San Francisco)|Embarcadero in San Francisco, California|San Francisco .

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. One example, is in use in Progreso, Yucatán , where a pier extends more than 4 miles into the Gulf of Mexico , making it the longest pier in the world. The Progreso Pier supplies much of the peninsula with transportation for the fishing and cargo industries and serves as a port for large cruise ships in the area. Many other working piers have been demolished, or remain derelict, but some have been recycled as pleasure piers. The best known example of this is Pier 39 in San Francisco.

At Southport Spit, Queensland|Southport and the Tweed River (New South Wales)|Tweed River on the Gold Coast, Queensland|Gold Coast in Australia , there are piers that support equipment for a sand bypassing system that maintains the coastal management|health of sandy beaches and Navigability|navigation channels .

Pleasure piers

Pleasure piers were first built in England , during the 19th century. The earliest structures were Ryde Pier , built in 1813/4, Trinity Chain Pier|Leith Trinity Chain Pier , built in 1821, and The Royal Suspension Chain Pier|Brighton Chain Pier , built in 1823. Only the oldest of these piers still remains. At that time the introduction of the railway s for the first time permitted mass tourism to dedicated seaside resorts. 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. Southend Pier|The longest Pleasure pier in the world is at Southend-on-sea , Essex , and extends into the Thames estuary . With a length of , the longest pier on the West Coast of the United States is the Santa Cruz Wharf .

Pleasure piers often include other amusements and theatre s as part of the attraction. Such a pier may be open air, closed, or partly open, partly closed. Sometimes a pier has two decks.

Early pleasure piers were of wood en construction, with iron structures being introduced with the construction in 1855 of Margate Jetty, in Margate , England. Margate was wrecked in storms in 1978 and was never repaired. The oldest iron pleasure pier still remaining is in Southport , England, and dates from 1860 - however the world's oldest iron pier dates from 1834 and is in Gravesend, Kent . Gravesham council have recently purchased and refurbished this passenger pier.

Fishing piers

Many piers are built for the purpose of providing boatless 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.

England and Wales

The first recorded pier in England was Ryde Pier , opened in 1814 on the Isle of Wight , as a landing stage to allow ferries to and from the mainland to berth. It is still used for this purpose today. However it has had a leisure function in the past, with the pier head once containing a pavilion. There are still refreshment facilities today. The oldest cast iron pier in the world is Gravesend, Kent|Gravesend Town Pier , in Kent , which opened in 1834. However, it is not recognised by the National Piers Society as being a seaside pier.

In their heyday, there were many pleasure piers across England and Wales . These were found in most fashionable seaside resort s during the Victorian era . 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 . Two piers, Brighton's now derelict West Pier, Brighton|West Pier and Clevedon Pier , were Grade 1 listed:Brighton West lost its status after a series of fires and storms. The Birnbeck Pier in Weston-super-Mare is the only pier in the world that is linked to an island.
The National Piers Society gives a figure of 55 surviving seaside piers in England and Wales.

Netherlands

Scheveningen , the coastal resort town of The Hague , boasts the largest pier in the Netherlands , it was completed in 1961. A crane, built on top of the pier's panorama tower, provides the opportunity to make a . high bungee jump over the North Sea waves. The present pier is a successor of an earlier pier, which was completed in 1901 but in 1943 destroyed by the German occupation forces.

Belgium

In Blankenberge a first pleasure pier was built in 1894. After its destruction in the World War I , a new pier was built in 1933. It remained till the present day, but was partially transformed and modernized in 1999-2004.

In Nieuwpoort, Belgium there is a pleasure pier on both sides of the river IJzer

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