Carries | Traffic |
---|---|
Span range | Short |
Material | Usually none (natural, preexisting), but sometimes supplemented with concrete or asphalt for vehicles. |
Movable | No |
Design effort | None or low |
Falsework required | No |
A ford is a shallow place with good footing where a river or stream may be crossed by wading, or inside a vehicle getting its wheels wet.[1] A ford may occur naturally or be constructed. Fords may be impassable during high water. A low-water crossing is a low bridge that allows crossing over a river or stream when water is low but may be treated as a ford when the river is high and water covers the crossing.
The word ford is both a noun (describing the water crossing itself) and a verb (describing the act of crossing a ford).