Crossword clues for cofferdam
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Cofferdam \Cof"fer*dam\, n. A water-tight inclosure, as of piles packed with clay, from which the water is pumped to expose the bottom (of a river, etc.) and permit the laying of foundations, building of piers, etc.
Wiktionary
n. 1 A temporary watertight structure that is pumped dry to enclose an area underwater and allow construction work on a ship, bridge, or rig to be carried out; a caisson. 2 (context nautical English) An empty space that acts as a protective barrier between two floors or bulkheads on a ship.
WordNet
n. large watertight chamber used for construction under water [syn: caisson, pneumatic caisson]
Wikipedia
A cofferdam (also called a coffer) is a temporary enclosure built within, or in pairs across, a body of water and constructed to allow the enclosed area to be pumped out, creating a dry work environment for the major work to proceed. Enclosed coffers are commonly used for construction and repair of oil platforms, bridge piers and other support structures built within or over water. These cofferdams are usually welded steel structures, with components consisting of sheet piles, wales, and cross braces. Such structures are typically dismantled after the ultimate work is completed.
Usage examples of "cofferdam".
While the cargo vessel was dispatched to Portland for cement and building materials, Bonterre had mapped out the exact lie of the ancient pirate cofferdam, taking samples for later archaeological analysis.
From this vantage point, he could see the gray crescent of the cofferdam, tracing an arc into the sea around the southern end of the island.
On the beach beside the cofferdam there were several piles of rusted junk, waterlogged wood, and other debris grappled up from the depths of the Pit, cleared for their expedition.
He noted, with a grunt of satisfaction, that the surf was battering the cofferdam relentlessly.
Beyond the shore, the ocean was pounding the cofferdam relentlessly, every blow sending seawater shooting at high pressure through a web of cracks.
But the battered cofferdam was still holding back the fury of the sea.
The island folded in on itself with a wrenching boom as the last section of the cofferdam gave way.
Downstream was a small wooden cofferdam and when he woke there were naked children splashing in the pool there and he rose and wrapped his jacket about his waist and walked out along the bank where he could sit and watch them.
The cofferdam of her memory broke wide open and it was Mia, unprepared for the violence of these recollections, who was lifted upon the wave.
Reames, with Leon Brown and Helminh Bentz, working often armpit-deep in sea water and by emergency lighting, built a cofferdam of two-by-six planking placed vertically a foot or so from the skin of the ship.
The next step was to wedge the cofferdam tight against the packing and start the emergency pumps.
Without the internal armored bulkheads and cofferdams, the separate, parallel control runs, and redundant circuit breakers of military design, there was little to stop the train wreck of induced component failures, and a chain reaction of shorting, arcing superconductor rings raced through the compartment.
He knew better than to try to dig emplacements in the Lower Town, of course, recalling the cofferdams that had been necessary in order to get the walls and foundations down to bedrock.
Maybe 27 sealed tanks, not to mention cofferdams, pump-rooms, engine-rooms.
The talk was about cofferdams and cement patches, about a complete refitting in the States, about return to service in 1943 or 1944.