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Apier is a raised structure that rises above abody of water and usually juts out from itsshore, typically supported bypiles orpillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses includefishing,boat docking and access for both passengers andcargo, and oceansiderecreation. Bridges, buildings, andwalkways may all be supported byarchitectural piers. Their open structure allows tides and currents to flow relatively unhindered, whereas the more solid foundations of aquay or the closely spaced piles of awharf can act as abreakwater, 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 1,600 m (5,200 ft). InAmerican English, a pier may be synonymous with adock.
Piers have been built for several purposes, and because these different purposes have distinct regional variances, the termpier tends to have different nuances of meaning in different parts of the world. Thus inNorth America andAustralia, 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 contrast, inEurope, where ports more often use basins and river-side quays than piers, the term is principally associated with the image of aVictoriancast iron pleasure pier which emerged inGreat Britain during the early 19th century. However, the earliest piers pre-date theVictorian age.
Piers can be categorized into different groupings according to the principal purpose.[1] 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, while working piers have often been converted to leisure use after being rendered obsolete by advanced developments in cargo-handling technology. Many piers are floating piers, to ensure that the piers raise and lower with the tide along with the boats tied to them. This prevents a situation where lines become overly taut or loose by rising or lowering tides. An overly taut or loose tie-line can damage boats by pulling them out of the water or allowing them so much leeway that they bang forcefully against the sides of the pier.
Working piers were built for the handling of passengers and cargo onto and off ships or (as atWigan Pier) canal boats. Working piers themselves fall into two different groups. Longer individual piers are often found at ports with largetidal ranges, with the pier stretching far enough off shore to reach deep water at low tide. Such piers provided an economical alternative toimpounded docks where cargo volumes were low, or where specialistbulk cargo was handled, such as atcoal piers. 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 singletransit 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 theHudson River frontage ofNew York, or theEmbarcadero inSan Francisco.
The advent ofcontainer 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 inProgreso, Yucatán, where a pier extends more than 4 miles into theGulf 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 largecruise 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 isPier 39 inSan Francisco.
AtSouthport and theTweed River on theGold Coast inAustralia, there are piers that support equipment for a sand bypassing system that maintains thehealth of sandy beaches andnavigation channels.
Pleasure piers were first built in Britain during the early 19th century.[2] The earliest structures wereRyde Pier, built in 1813/4,Trinity Chain Pier near Leith, built in 1821,Brighton Chain Pier, built in 1823.[2] andMargate Jetty 1823/24 originally a timber built pier.
Only the oldest of these piers still remains. At that time, the introduction of steamships and railways for the first time permitted mass tourism to dedicatedseaside resorts. The large tidal ranges at many such resorts meant that passengers arriving by pleasure steamer could use a pier to disembark safely.[3] Also, for much of the day, the sea was not visible from the shore and the pleasure pier permitted holidaymakers to promenade over and alongside the sea at all times.[4]The world's longest pleasure pier is atSouthend-on-Sea,Essex, and extends 1.3 miles (2.1 km) into theThames Estuary.[2] The longest pier on the West Coast of the US is theSanta Cruz Wharf, with a length of 2,745 feet (837 m).[5]
Providing a walkway out to sea, pleasure piers often include amusements and theatres as part of their attractions.[4] Such a pier may be unroofed, closed, or partly open and partly closed. Sometimes a pier has two decks.Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier inGalveston, Texas has a roller coaster, 15 rides, carnival games and souvenir shops.[6]
Early pleasure piers were of complete timber construction, as was with Margate which opened in 1824. The first iron and timber built pleasure pierMargate Jetty, opened in 1855.[7] Margate pier was wrecked by a storm in January 1978 and not repaired.[8][7] The longest iron pleasure pier still remaining is the one at Southend. First opened as a wooden pier in 1829, it was reconstructed in iron and completed in 1889. In a 2006 UK poll, the public voted the seaside pier onto the list of icons of England.[9]
Many piers are built for the purpose of providing boatless anglers access to fishing grounds that are otherwise inaccessible.[10] Many "Free Piers" are available in larger harbors which differ from private piers. Free Piers are often primarily used for fishing. Fishing from a pier presents a set of different circumstances to fishing from the shore or beach, as you do not need to cast out into the deeper water. This being the case there are specific fishing rigs that have been created specifically for pier fishing[11] which allow for the direct access to deeper water.
InBlankenberge a first pleasure pier was built in 1894. After its destruction in theWorld War I, a new pier was built in 1933. It remained till the present day, but was partially transformed and modernized in 1999–2004.
InNieuwpoort, Belgium there is a pleasure pier on both sides of the riverIJzer.
Scheveningen, the coastal resort town ofThe Hague, boasts the largest pier in theNetherlands, completed in 1961. A crane, built on top of the pier's panorama tower, provides the opportunity to make a 60-metre (200 ft) 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.
The first recorded pier inEngland wasRyde Pier, opened in 1814 on theIsle of Wight, as a landing stage to allow ferries to and from the mainland to berth. It is still used for this purpose today.[12] It also had a leisure function in the past, with the pier head once containing a pavilion, and there are still refreshment facilities today. The oldestcast iron pier in the world isTown Pier, Gravesend, inKent, which opened in 1834. However, it is not recognised by the National Piers Society as being a seaside pier.[13]
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Following the building of the world's first seaside pier at Ryde, the pier became fashionable atseaside resorts in England andWales during theVictorian era, peaking in the 1860s with 22 being built in that decade.[14] A symbol of the typical British seaside holiday, by 1914, more than 100 pleasure piers were located around the UK coast.[2] Regarded as being among the finest Victorian architecture, there are still a significant number of seaside piers of architectural merit still standing, although some have been lost, includingMargate, two atBrighton inEast Sussex, one atNew Brighton in theWirral and three atBlackpool inLancashire.[4] Two piers, Brighton's now derelictWest Pier andClevedon Pier, were Grade 1listed. TheBirnbeck Pier inWeston-super-Mare is the only pier in the world linked to an island. TheNational Piers Society gives a figure of 55 surviving seaside piers in England and Wales.[1] In 2017,Brighton Palace Pier was said to be the most visited tourist attraction outside London, with over 4.5 million visitors the previous year.[15]
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