bascule

American  

[bas-kyool] / ˈbæs kyul /

noun

Civil Engineering.

1. a device operating like a balance or seesaw, especially an arrangement of a movable bridge basculebridge by which the rising floor or section is counterbalanced by a weight.

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bascule British  

/ ˈbæskjuːl /

noun

1. Also called: balance bridge.   counterpoise bridge.  a bridge with a movable section hinged about a horizontal axis and counterbalanced by a weight Compare drawbridge

2. a movable roadway forming part of such a bridge

   Tower Bridge has two bascules

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Etymology

Origin of bascule

First recorded in 1670–80; from French: name for a number of seesawlike mechanical devices, Middle French bacule, noun derivative of baculer “to strike on the buttocks” (probably originally, “to land on one's buttocks”), equivalent to bas “down” + -culer, verbal derivative of cul “rump, buttocks”; -s- by false analysis as bas(se) adjective + cule taken as a feminine noun; see base ², culet

Example Sentences

He, his bus, its 20 passengers and one conductor were on the edge of the southern bascule - a movable section of road - which was continuing to rise.

From BBC • Dec. 30, 2024

Alternative approaches, including a tunnel, bascule bridge, third or supplemental bridge and even the “common sense alternative” do not meet the program’s criteria, Johnson said.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 24, 2022

Dismantling the bascule bridge at the mouth of the Black River and shifting the parts elsewhere would probably cost a lot more than that.

From Washington Times • Dec. 31, 2018

Tower Bridge was the largest and most sophisticated bascule bridge ever built when it was finished in 1894.

From The Guardian • May 22, 2018

The bascules rotate through an angle of 82�, and their rear ends in the bascule chambers of the piers carry 365 tons of counterweight, the total weight of each being 1070 tons.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 "Brescia" to "Bulgaria" by Various