Creaking Pier

The old pier sways with each step that you take and almost breathes with the rhythm of the waters cascading underneath it. The waters are rising high, and licking the timbers, just about ready to touch your feet. It gives you the sense of just about walking on water. A pier is a raised structure, including bridge and building supports and walkways, typically supported by widely spread piles or pillars. The lighter structure of a pier allows tides and currents to flow almost unhindered, whereas the more solid foundations of a quay or the closely spaced piles of a wharf can act as a breakwater, and are consequently more liable to silting. Piers can range in size and complexity from a simple lightweight wooden structure to major structures extended over 1600 metres. In American English, pier may be synonymous with dock.