Pier

A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piles or pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas.

Frequent pier uses include fishing, boat docking and access for both passengers and cargo, and oceanside recreation.

Their open structure allows tides and currents to flow relatively unhindered, whereas the more solid foundations of a quay or the closely spaced piles of a wharf can act as a breakwater, and are consequently more liable to silting.

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.

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.

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.

Some major ports consisted of large numbers of such piers lining the foreshore, classic examples being the Hudson River frontage of New York, or the Embarcadero in San Francisco.

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.

At Southport and the Tweed River on the Gold Coast in Australia, there are piers that support equipment for a sand bypassing system that maintains the health of sandy beaches and navigation channels.

The large tidal ranges at many such resorts meant that passengers arriving by pleasure steamer could use a pier to disembark safely.

[4] The world's longest pleasure pier is at Southend-on-Sea, Essex, and extends 1.3 miles (2.1 km) into the Thames Estuary.

Scheveningen, the coastal resort town of The Hague, boasts the largest pier in the Netherlands, 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.

[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.