Other ways of crossing:

• fords
• stepping stones
• ferries
• tunnels

Title page.

Advantages:

• do not cost a lot to build!

Disadvantages

• you get wet!
• can only be made where river banks are low;
• water must be shallow and slow moving.

Notes:

• the ford shown in the picture above is at Wycollar, Lancashire.
• The place name ending -ford, often mean that the village/town has developed by an ancient ford. There are a number of such places on the River Cam, south of Cambridge. Look at a local map to see if you can find any such place names near you, if not, see how many you can find on the River Cam.

Fords...Stepping stones...Ferries...Tunnels...Bridge index.

Stepping stones

Advantages:

• do not cost a lot to build.

Disadvantages:

• often slippy!
• may be covered by water in very wet weather;
• may be washed away in very wet weather.

Notes:

• the stepping stones pictured above cross Hebden Water at Hardcastle Craggs, in West Yorkshire;
• most stepping stones in existence today are ornamental, rather than practical river crossings.

Fords...Stepping stones...Ferries...Tunnels...Bridge index.

Ferries

Advantages:

• can cross greater distances than any bridges or tunnels;
• provide car drivers with a break from driving;
• on medium/long crossings, can even give passengers a chance to sleep.

Disadvantages

• passengers have to pay;
• ferries usually run to a timetable, so you nearly always have to wait to cross and may even have to book in advance.

Notes:

• if a river was too wide, or too deep to cross by stepping stones fords or clapper bridge, then a boat of some type was used;
• early ferries would have been simple rafts or dug out canoes. Most river ferries have now been replaced by bridges, and when we think of ferries we think of quite large ships which cross the English Channel, or the Irish Sea.

  

• ferries may be much smaller than this, and there are still many foot passenger only ferries which take holiday makers across river estuaries during summer.

Fords...Stepping stones...Ferries...Tunnels...Bridge index.

Tunnels

Advantages:

• can cross wider distances than bridges;
• not affected by the weather like suspension bridges or ferries.

Disadvantages:

• very costly to build, so when they are built for road traffic, cars usually have to pay a toll.

Notes:

• the earliest large scale tunnelling was carried out by the canal builders. They tunnelled through hillsides where is was cheaper than routing the canal round or over the hill.
• railway builders also constructed many tunnels, but they are not as common for road transport. Cars can travel up steeper hillsides than trains! Not economic to build for pedestrians, but some disused railway tunnels have been opened up as public footpaths. The picture at the top of the page shows a tunnel in the Derbyshire Peak District. This is a disused railway, now used by cyclists, horse riders and walkers.

  

  The Mersey Tunnel was the first major road tunnel in Britain, but since the middle of the century, other river estuaries have been tunnelled under (including a second road under the Mersey).

• The greatest tunnelling achievement was the opening of the Channel Tunnel to rail traffic in 1994.

Fords...Stepping stones...Ferries...Tunnels...Bridge index.