A landing stage is a special structure for loading or unloading goods, as well as for disembarking or landing people. The word "landing stage" has French roots, it means "the one who unloads". Such structures are often used both for water transport and for cars or railway wagons.
Debarkaders gained popularity in the wake of industrial development. When industrialization was in full swing, the time of unloading and loading played a decisive role.
The landing stage usually consists of three parts: a pontoon, a ramp and a gangway.
First of all, the landing stage is designed to equalize the height of the immovable part of the infrastructure of a warehouse or port with a mobile transport platform. This greatly facilitates loading or unloading operations, as well as disembarking or disembarking passengers.
In addition, a good landing stage should protect cargo or people from adverse weather conditions.
Types of landing stages
- The pier. Usually this is a structure on the water, which acts as a port. It is built either on the basis of concrete or metal, or on wooden piles, or by combining several materials.
- Warehouse site. For convenience and speed of loading and unloading, special areas are provided in the warehouse. They can be made of concrete, metal structures or wood. Modern platforms for unloading areas are equipped with automatic equipment: they slide out and in on demand and do not take up much space.
- Passenger platform. To make it easier for people to enter or leave transport, special platforms are provided at the places where passenger transport stops. Usually they are equipped with a roof from precipitation or the sun, as well as trash cans, benches and various signs necessary for better orientation. In the 19th century, such platforms were called granaries.
In addition, landing stages are also divided into stationary and mobile. The stationary landing stage remains in place after construction. To load or unload a transport, it is necessary to bring this transport to the unloading area.
A movable landing stage, on the other hand, can be easily moved to transport, for example, using a tug. The most popular mobile landing stages are floating piers. They are very convenient to work with, however, great care must be taken when using them, because they can be easily damaged or flooded.
What else are landing stages used for?
In cities where there are rivers or lakes, it is customary to use landing stages as building objects. Hotels, restaurants, cafes and even residential buildings are being built on the water. This is done either due to a lack of space on solid ground, or to attract tourists, or because of the too high prices for land plots.
In the Soviet era, it was widely accepted to use landing stages at recreation centers to accommodate vacationers. Few could resist such a romantic opportunity - to live on the water. Such structures were large, beautiful and majestic, each landing stage had its own style and unique charm.
Now these landing stages are often ruined and abandoned by people, they are visited only by lovers of abandoned buildings.
