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 cl ...

) is an elevated footpath,

walkway In American English, walkway is a composite or umbrella term for all engineered surfaces or structures which support the use of trails. '' The New Oxford American Dictionary'' also defines a walkway as "a passage or path for walking along, esp. a ...

, or causeway built with wooden planks that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

y land. They are also in effect a low type of

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

. 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 The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

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 the

Sweet 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 ...

that

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 An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

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 Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Botany ...

, driven into the underlying peat. The

Wittmoor bog trackway The Wittmoor bog trackway is the name given to each of two historic corduroy roads, 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 c ...

is the name given to each of two prehistoric plank roads, or boardwalks, trackway No. I being discovered in 1898 and trackway No. II in 1904 in the ''Wittmoor'' bog in northern

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, 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- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

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 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, 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 erosi ...

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 Trench foot is a type of foot damage due to moisture. Initial symptoms often include tingling or itching which can progress to numbness. The feet may become red or bluish in color. As the condition worsens the feet can start to swell and sm ...

, 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 In footwear, a hobnail is a short nail with a thick head used to increase the durability of boot soles. Uses Hobnailed boots (in Scotland "tackety boots") are boots with hobnails (nails inserted into the soles of the boots), usually installe ...

-style

trench boot The trench boot, sometimes known as the "Pershing boot," was an American combat boot used in the latter stages of World War I, made for the cold mud of trench warfare. For the WWI British Army trench boots, see Ammunition boot. Introduction The ...

s 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

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 Horicon Marsh. File:Lambi boardwalk.jpg, Boardwalk to the Lambi Beach on the Greece, 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), 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

References

{{Reflist Hiking Footpaths Footbridges Garden features Pedestrian infrastructure Road infrastructure

History

Duckboards

Gallery

See also

References