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Boca Chica Crossing: Early Cypress and Palmetto Pilings
From the beginning of time the seacoasts of the world have presented a particularly troubling construction challenge to mankind. Construction on the coastlines was found to be essential in the earliest eras of our history, due to the relative ease of waterborne transportation and it's connection to commerce and human migration. Not only are the soil conditions in coastal zones often soft and unstable but violent weather conditions exacerbate the problem. This has created a difficult construction situation that has required innovative solutions through the centuries. One of the most primitive and yet effective means of addressing extremely soft soils is through the use of driven timber pilings. The use of pilings predates recorded history, but the technique was known to have been in use as early as 55 B.C. and has been a common method of approaching construction on soft soils to this day, especially the mud and silt beds frequently encountered when attempting to transverse bodies of water. This paper will provide a narrative history of two such cases where pilings were used to overcome coastal water obstacles in the early years of Texas settlement. These timber pilings, through an accident of nature, are still visible today.
Boca Chica Crossing: Early Cypress and Palmetto Pilings
From the beginning of time the seacoasts of the world have presented a particularly troubling construction challenge to mankind. Construction on the coastlines was found to be essential in the earliest eras of our history, due to the relative ease of waterborne transportation and it's connection to commerce and human migration. Not only are the soil conditions in coastal zones often soft and unstable but violent weather conditions exacerbate the problem. This has created a difficult construction situation that has required innovative solutions through the centuries. One of the most primitive and yet effective means of addressing extremely soft soils is through the use of driven timber pilings. The use of pilings predates recorded history, but the technique was known to have been in use as early as 55 B.C. and has been a common method of approaching construction on soft soils to this day, especially the mud and silt beds frequently encountered when attempting to transverse bodies of water. This paper will provide a narrative history of two such cases where pilings were used to overcome coastal water obstacles in the early years of Texas settlement. These timber pilings, through an accident of nature, are still visible today.
Boca Chica Crossing: Early Cypress and Palmetto Pilings
Meyer, Kirby T. (author) / Hadeler, Glenn D. (author)
Third National Congress on Civil Engineering History and Heritage ; 2001 ; Houston, Texas, United States
2001-10-05
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
Boca Chica Crossing: Early Cypress and Palmetto Pilings
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