A wale is one of the strakes of wooden planking that forms the outer skin of the hull of a ship, but substantially thicker than the other strakes. It provides extra stiffening and strength to the hull. It was a common feature of heavy wooden ship construction, particularly from the Middle Ages to the early years of the 19th century, being a major constructional component of ships like USS Constitution, HMS Victory and many earlier vessels.[1][2]
A wale (or "waler") is a horizontal supporting member of a concrete forming system, vertically reinforced by a "strongback".
A wale is also a horizontal member of a geotechnical tieback wall, which transmits the force from the tieback to the beams.[citation needed][clarification needed]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Ball, Nick; Stephens, Simon (2018). "Glossary". Navy Board Ship Models. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-0111-4.
- ^ Steffy, J. Richard (2013) [1994]. "Illustrated Glossary of Ship and Boat Terms". In Catsambis, Alexis (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Maritime Archaeology (Oxford Handbooks). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-537517-6.
External links
edit Media related to Wale (ship parts) at Wikimedia Commons
The dictionary definition of wale at Wiktionary