Aboardwalk (alternativelyboard walk,boarded path, orpromenade) is an elevatedfootpath,walkway, orcauseway typically built with woodenplanks, which functions as a type oflow water bridge or smallviaduct that enablespedestrians to better cross wet,muddy ormarshy lands.[1] Suchtimber trackways have existed since at leastNeolithic times.
In manyseaside resort locations,boardwalks along the beach provide access to shops, hotels, and tourist attractions. TheJersey Shore in the United States is especially noted for its abundance of boardwalks.
Some wooden boardwalks have had sections replaced by concrete and even "a type of recycled plastic that looks like wood."[2]
An early example is theSweet Track thatNeolithic people built in theSomerset levels, England, around 6000 years ago.[3] This track consisted mainly of planks ofoak laid end-to-end, supported by crossed pegs ofash, oak, andlime, driven into the underlying peat.[4]
TheWittmoor bog trackway is the name given to each of two prehistoricplank roads, or boardwalks, trackway No. I being discovered in 1898 and trackway No. II in 1904[5] in theWittmoorbog in northernHamburg, Germany. The trackways date to the 4th and 7th century AD, both linked the eastern and western shores of the formerly inaccessible, swampy bog. A part of the older trackway No. II dating to the period of theRoman Empire is on display at the permanent exhibition of theArchaeological Museum Hamburg inHarburg borough, Hamburg.[6][7]
Aduckboard is a type of boardwalk placed over muddy and wet ground.[8] DuringWorld War I, duckboards were used to line the bottom oftrenches on theWestern Front because these were regularly flooded,[9] and mud and water would lie in the trenches for months on end. The boards helped to keep the soldiers' feet dry and prevent the development oftrench foot, caused by prolonged standing in waterlogged conditions. They also allowed for troops' easier movement through the trench systems.[9]
Combat troops on nearly all sides routinely worehobnail-styletrench boots that often slipped on the new duck boards when they were wet, and required extra caution. Falling or slipping off the duckboards could often be dangerous, even fatal. Unfortunate soldiers were left struggling to rise under the weight of their equipment in the intractable and sometimes deep water or mud. If this happened at ground level during a tactical advance, the rising soldier could be left a defenseless target for enemy fire as well as hinder forward progress. He could also simply go unnoticed in the ensuingmelee, and easily drown under his heavy equipment.[10]
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