Screw-pile lighthouse (Maplin Sands)
Faro de pilotes de tornillo (Maplin Sands)
- Date
- 1838-1841 · confidence high
- Place
- Maplin Sands, Essex, England, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- Alexander Mitchell
- People
- 👤 Alexander Mitchell1780–1868
- Field
- Movement
What it is
A foundation of iron piles with helical tips screwed into sand or mud, carrying a tower without any need for rock. Mitchell patented the system in 1833 and used it for the first lighthouse at Maplin Sands.
What it led to
- lighthouses on sandbanks and estuaries
- screw-pile lighthouses on US coasts
- screw piles for piers and bridges