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Civil Engineering & Construction vocabulary · Roads and Bridges

Pier

Meaning in civil engineering & construction, with examples

/pɪr/nounCommon term

In civil engineering & construction, pier means: An intermediate support of a bridge between its two ends, usually a concrete column or wall that carries the deck loads down to the foundations.

In Turkish: orta ayak, köprü ayağı

How it is used

Piers can stand on land or in water, where they need protection from scour. Engineers number them (Pier 1, Pier 2) and talk about pier height, the pier cap and pier foundations.

Example sentences

  1. Pier 3 is the tallest, at 45 metres above the valley floor.

  2. Divers inspect the river piers for scour every year.

Common collocations

  • bridge pier
  • pier cap
  • pier column
  • river pier
  • pier foundation
  • abutmentThe support at each end of a bridge that carries the deck and holds back the soil of the approach embankment.
  • bridge deckThe part of a bridge that forms the road or path surface and carries the traffic, supported by beams, girders, cables or arches.
  • bearingA device placed between a bridge deck and its supports that transfers loads while allowing controlled movement and rotation, for example from temperature changes.
  • pileA long column of concrete or steel that is driven or drilled deep into the ground to carry a structure's load down to stronger soil or rock.
  • spanThe distance between two supports of a beam, slab or bridge. As a verb, to span means to stretch across a space from one support to another.

More terms: Roads and Bridges

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