Quay (bank structure)
As a Kai (in the 17th century Dutch kaai of French quai borrowed), in Switzerland the or the Quai , regional and quay , referred to a fortified by walls banks - mostly in ports or river or canal banks for loading and unloading located by shiploads. The fairway in front of it is so deep that ships can moor.
The quay wall is a vertical or almost vertical wall in massive or pile-grating construction , which can bear the load from bank cranes, railroad cars or stacked cargo (see also sheet piling ). On or on the quay wall there are bollards or rings for mooring the ships. To create more space for moored ships, the quays can be supplemented by piers and jetties .
On the river banks of large cities, the once important transport activities by ship have shifted to the outskirts or outside of the city. However, the name Kai has been retained for these bank fortifications. They often serve as a promenade or boulevard . Examples of this are the Quai d'Orsay (with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) on the left bank of the Seine in Paris, the Limmatquai in Zurich or the Franz-Josefs-Kai on the city-side bank of the Danube Canal in Vienna.
In Bremen and Wilhelmshaven , the quay is called the quay . Both names are used in Bremerhaven . While in the (Bremen) port north of the Geeste "quay" is common ( Columbuskaje , Stromkaje, Destroyer quay , Erzkaje), in the (Hanoverian) Geestemünde south of the Geeste one can also find "quay" (Kaistraße, Kohlenkai, Fischkai). In Hamburg , the name Kai has established itself.
