Pier
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{{for|architectural piers|Pier (architecture)}}
{{for|the type of foundation|Deep foundation}}
[[Image:Lake mapourika NZ.jpeg|thumb|right|A pier on [[Lake Mapourika]] in [[New Zealand]] illustrates the simplest form of pier]]
[[Image:Southend Pier.jpg|thumb|right|[[Southend Pier]] in England is the longest pleasure pier in the world, at 1.34 miles (2158 m)]]
{{Wiktionary}}
A '''pier''' is a raised [[walkway]] over water, supported by widely spread [[pile]]s 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 breakwaters, 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 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. 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 era|Victorian]] [[cast iron]] pleasure pier.
==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 [[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 cargos were handled such as at [[coal pier]]s. An early example of an individual working pier is [[Ryde Pier]], opened in 1814 to serve [[ferry|ferries]] between the [[England|English]] mainland and the [[Isle of Wight]].
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 [[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. 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.
===Pleasure piers===<!-- This section is linked from [[Isle of Wight]] -->
Pleasure piers were first built in [[England]], during the 19th century. 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 2,158 m into the [[Thames estuary]]. The longest pier on the West Coast of the United States is the [[Oceanside Pier]].
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]]. One of the oldest iron piers still remaining is in [[Southport]], also in England and dates from 1860.
===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.
===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. 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 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]], while the longest is at [[Southend-on-Sea]] in [[Essex]] at 1.34 miles (2,158 m) long. Two piers, Brighton's now derelict [[West Pier, Brighton|West Pier]] and [[Clevedon Pier]], are Grade 1 listed. [[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.<ref name="npspiers">{{cite web | url = http://www.piers.co.uk/piers.htm | title = Piers | publisher = [[National Piers Society]] (2006) | accessmonthday = March 27 | accessyear = 2006 }}</ref>
===Netherlands===
[[Image:Scheveningen Pier.jpg|thumb|300px|The Scheveningen pier, near The Hague]]
[[Scheveningen]], the coastal resort town of [[The Hague]], boasts the largest pier in 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==
{{Trivia|date=July 2008}}
*The oldest [[cast iron]] pier in the world is [[Gravesend, Kent|Gravesend Town Pier]], in [[Kent]], [[United Kingdom|UK]]. The pier opened in 1834.<ref name="gravesend">{{cite web | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4694642.stm | title = The oldest surviving cast iron pier in the world | publisher = BBC | accessmonthday = March 26 | accessyear = 2006 }}</ref>
*The oldest recognized seaside pier in the UK is that at [[Ryde]] on the Isle of Wight, which opened in 1814.
*The longest pleasure pier in the world is [[Southend]], with a length of 1.34 miles (2158 m).
*The shortest UK pier is Cleethorpes measuring just 335ft.
*The UK pier with the biggest height above the sea is [[Weston Super Mare]] Birnbeck.
==See also==
{{commonscat|Piers}}
*[[Boardwalk]]
*[[Breakwater (structure)|Breakwater]]
*[[Dock (maritime)|Dock]]
*[[Jetty]]
*[[Wharf]]
*[[Seaside resort]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
* Turner, K., (1999), ''Pier Railways and Tramways of the British Isles'', The Oakwood Press, No. LP60, ISBN 0-85361-541-1
==External links==
*[http://www.piers.co.uk National Piers Society]
*[http://www.the-pier.co.uk the-pier.co.uk the #1 resource for the UK's piers]
[[Category:Coastal construction]]
[[Category:Piers|*]]
[[Category:Marine architecture]]
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