A pile bridge is a structure that uses foundations consisting of long poles (referred to as piles), which are made of wood, concrete or steel and which are hammered into the soft soils beneath the bridge until the end of the pile reaches a hard layer of compacted soil or rock. Piles in such cases are hammered to a depth where the grip or friction of the pile and the soil surrounding it will support the load of the bridge deck. Bridging solely using the pile method is nowadays a rare occurrence.
Read more about Pile Bridge: Roman Pile Bridges, Construction During Medieval Times, Duration of Pile Bridges
Famous quotes containing the words pile and/or bridge:
“There is the guilt all soldiers feel for having broken the taboo against killing, a guilt as old as war itself. Add to this the soldier’s sense of shame for having fought in actions that resulted, indirectly or directly, in the deaths of civilians. Then pile on top of that an attitude of social opprobrium, an attitude that made the fighting man feel personally morally responsible for the war, and you get your proverbial walking time bomb.”
—Philip Caputo (b. 1941)
“It launch’d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.
And you O my soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,
Till the bridge you will need be form’d, till the ductile anchor hold,
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O, my soul.”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)