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A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or
A duckboard is a type of boardwalk placed over muddy and wet ground.
During World War I, duckboards were used to line the bottom of
/ref> 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 of trench foot, caused by prolonged standing in waterlogged conditions. They also allowed for troops' easier movement through the trench systems. Combat troops on nearly all sides routinely wore hobnail-style trench 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 ensuing melee, and easily drown under his heavy equipment.
File:A wooden walkway through the lake.jpg, A wooden boardwalk allows passage through a lake, such as this one in Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia.
File:HoriconMarshBoardwalk.jpg, This boardwalk allows people to cross
A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade
An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cle ...
) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway
A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tr ...
built with wooden planks that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land. They are also in effect a low type of bridge. Such timber trackway
Historic roads (historic trails in USA and Canada) are paths or routes that have historical importance due to their use over a period of time. Examples exist from prehistoric times until the early 20th century. They include ancient trackways ...
s have existed since at least Neolithic times.
Some wooden boardwalks have had sections replaced by concrete and even "a type of recycled plastic that looks like wood."
History
An early example is theSweet Track
The Sweet Track is an ancient trackway, or causeway, in the Somerset Levels, England, named after its finder, Ray Sweet. It was built in 3807 BC (determined using dendrochronology) and is the second-oldest timber trackway discovered in th ...
that Neolithic people built in the Somerset levels
The Somerset Levels are a coastal plain and wetland area of Somerset, England, running south from the Mendips to the Blackdown Hills.
The Somerset Levels have an area of about and are bisected by the Polden Hills; the areas to the south a ...
, England, around 6000 years ago. This track consisted mainly of planks of oak laid end-to-end, supported by crossed pegs of ash
Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non-gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...
, oak, and lime, driven into the underlying peat.
The Wittmoor bog trackway is the name given to each of two prehistoric plank road
A plank road is a road composed of wooden planks or puncheon logs. Plank roads were commonly found in the Canadian province of Ontario as well as the Northeast and Midwest of the United States in the first half of the 19th century. They were oft ...
s, or boardwalks, trackway No. I being discovered in 1898 and trackway No. II in 1904 in the ''Wittmoor'' bog in northern Hamburg, 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 the Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
is on display at the permanent exhibition of the Archaeological Museum Hamburg in Harburg borough, Hamburg.
Duckboards
A duckboard is a type of boardwalk placed over muddy and wet ground.
During World War I, duckboards were used to line the bottom of trenches
A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit).
In geology, trenches result from eros ...
on the Western Front because these were regularly flooded,Imperial War Museum/ref> 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 of trench foot, caused by prolonged standing in waterlogged conditions. They also allowed for troops' easier movement through the trench systems. Combat troops on nearly all sides routinely wore hobnail-style trench 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 ensuing melee, and easily drown under his heavy equipment.
Gallery
Horicon Marsh
Horicon Marsh is a marsh located in northern Dodge and southern Fond du Lac counties of Wisconsin. It is the site of both a national and a state wildlife refuge. The silted-up glacial lake is the largest freshwater cattail marsh in the United Sta ...
.
File:Lambi boardwalk.jpg, Boardwalk to the Lambi Beach on the Greek island of Kos
File:Pyhä-Luosto National Park.jpg, Boardwalks help walkers navigate difficult terrain as at Pyhä-Luosto National Park in Lapland, Finland.
File:Duckboards on the lake Storträsk in Sipoonkorpi, Helsinki, Finland, 2021 May.jpg, Duckboards on the Lake Storträsk at Sipoonkorpi National Park in Uusimaa, Finland.
File:Mukri raba matkarada.jpg, A boardwalk enables those on foot to cross a bog in Estonia.
File:17 31 028 ocmulgee.jpg, Boardwalk at Ocmulgee National Monument
File:Boardwalk in the grass (Unsplash).jpg, Boardwalk surrounded by tall grass
File:Rain Forest in KLIA.jpg, KLIA Airport Boardwalk
See also
References
{{Reflist Hiking Footpaths Footbridges Garden features Pedestrian infrastructure Road infrastructure