Ford

A is a shallow place with good footing where a  or  may be crossed by wading, or inside a wagon getting its wheels wet. A ford may occur naturally or be constructed. Fords may be impassable during high water. A 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.

Description
A ford is a much cheaper form of river crossing than a, and it can transport much more weight than a bridge, but it may become impassable after heavy rain or during flood conditions. A ford is therefore normally only suitable for very minor roads (and for paths intended for walkers and horse riders etc.). Most fords are usually shallow enough to be crossed by wheeled or wagons or carts (a process known as “fording”). Fords may be accompanied by for pedestrians.

At places where the water is shallow enough, but the material on the riverbed will not support heavy wagons, fords are sometimes improved by building a submerged floor. In such cases, a (kerb) is often placed on the downstream side to prevent wagons from slipping off, as the growth of  will often make the stones very slippery. Fords may be also equipped with a post indicating the water depth, so that users may know if the water is too deep to attempt to cross. Some have an adjacent footbridge so that pedestrians may cross dryshod.

Fords were sometimes the only way to cross, such as at the Milkhouse at in Washington, DC, but the regular use of this ford has been superseded by bridges.

Watersplash
A road running below the water level of a stream or river is often known as a “watersplash”. It is a common name for a ford or stretch of wet road in some areas, and sometimes also used to describe tidal crossings.

There are many old fords known as watersplashes in the. Examples are at in,  in , and  in. Some of these are being replaced by bridges as these are a more reliable form of crossing in adverse weather conditions.

The in ],, is mentioned in the  of , which was gifted to the local people. The ford has had to be maintained as a property boundary feature, despite several cars a year being washed away.

Some very spectacular watersplashes can be found in diverse locations. has the, and others may be found in , , , and. They are also found on some backroads, where they are referred to as “underwater bridges”.

In and part of the British areas under the  a low water crossing or watersplash had been known as “Irish bridge” in reference to the.

Placenames
The names of many towns and villages are derived from the word ‘ford’. Examples include (a ford where  crossed the river: see the );, the county town of  (the ford where  cross or “deer crossing”);  (a ford on the ); [ crossing the river ; and  (a ford on a ). Similarly, the word Furt (as in, the ford of the ; , synonymous to Oxford; , a ford where  crossed the river; and , literally “ford of complaints”) and the  voorde (as in , , , or ) are  with the same meaning, all deriving from  *pértus ‘crossing’. This is the source of and  ritus (modern  rhyd; the Welsh name of Oxford is Rhydychen “ford of oxen”), which underlies such names as  (from Gaulish *Camboritum “ford at the bend”) and  (Novioritum “new ford”).

Towns such as, , and also formed at fords. The endings tricht, drecht, and trecht are derived from the word traiectum, meaning “crossing”. Thus the name Utrecht, originally the Roman fort of, is derived from “Uut Trecht”, meaning “downstream crossing”. The form was taken into  as drift and led to place names like  and. Similarly, in, the word brod comes from the linguistic root that means “river-crossing” or “place where a river can be crossed”. Although today brod in the means ‘ship’,  in Croatia, as well as  in  and other place names containing Brod in Slavic countries, where brod is still the word for ‘ford’, are named after fords.

Famous battles
In historic times, positioning an army in large units close to a river was thought best for direct defense as well as to attack the enemy at any crossing points. Therefore, a ford was often a strategic military point with many famous battles fought at or near fords:


 * , 215–217, during the wars at the in {{w|China]]
 * {{w|Battle of Fulford}}, 1066, on the {{w|River Ouse, Yorkshire|Ouse River}} during {{w|Harald Hardrada#Invasion of England|Harald Hardrada's invasion of England}}
 * {{w|Battle of Jacob's Ford}}, 1179, on the {{w|Jordan River}} during the period between the {{w|Second Crusade|Second}} and {{w|Third Crusade}}
 * {{w|Battle of Imjin River (1592)|Battle of Imjin River}}, 1592, on the {{w|Imjin River}} during the {{w|Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)|Japanese invasion of Korea}}
 * {{w|Battle of the Yellow Ford}}, 1598, on the {{w|River Blackwater (Northern Ireland)|Blackwater River}} during the {{w|Nine Years' War (Ireland)|Nine Years' War}} in {{w|Ireland}}
 * {{w|Battle of Newburn}} Ford, 1640, on the {{w|River Tyne|Tyne River}} during the {{w|Second Bishops’ War|Second Bishops' War}} in {{w|Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland}}
 * {{w|Battle of the Boyne}}, 1690, on the {{w|River Boyne|Boyne River}} during the {{w|Williamite War in Ireland|Williamite-Jacobite War}} in Ireland
 * {{w|Battle of Matson's Ford}}, 1777, on the {{w|Schuylkill River}} during the {{w|Philadelphia campaign}} of the {{w|American Revolutionary War}} in {{w|Pennsylvania}}
 * {{w|Battle of Brandywine}}, 1777, on {{w|Brandywine Creek (Christina River tributary)|Brandywine Creek}} during the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War in Pennsylvania
 * {{w|Battle of Minisink}}, 1779, on the {{w|Delaware River}} during the {{w|Northern theater of the American Revolutionary War after Saratoga|Northern theater of the American Revolutionary War}} in {{w|New York (state)|New York}}
 * {{w|Battle of Cowan's Ford}}, 1781, on the {{w|Catawba River}} during the {{w|Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War}} in {{w|North Carolina}}
 * {{w|Battle of Assaye}}, 1803, on the Kalina River during the {{w|Second Anglo-Maratha War}} in {{w|India}}
 * {{w|Battle of Blackburn's Ford}}, 1861, on {{w|Bull Run (Occoquan River tributary)|Bull Run Creek}} during the {{w|Manassas campaign}} of the {{w|American Civil War}} in Virginia
 * {{w|Battle of Kelly's Ford}}, 1863, on the {{w|Rappahannock River}} during the {{w|American Civil War|Eastern Theater of the American Civil War}} in Virginia
 * {{w|Battle of Buffington Island}}, 1863, on the Ohio River during {{w|Morgan's Raid}} in the American Civil War in Ohio and West Virginia
 * {{w|Battle of Chancellorsville}}, 1863, on the {{w|Rappahannock River}} during the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War in Virginia
 * {{w|Battle of Byram's Ford}}, 1864, on the {{w|Blue River (Missouri River tributary)|Blue River}} during {{w|Price's Missouri Expedition}} in the American Civil War in {{w|Missouri}}
 * {{w|Battle of Morton's Ford}}, 1864, on the {{w|Rapidan River}} during the American Civil War in Virginia
 * {{w|Battle of Rorke's Drift}}, 1879, on the {{w|Buffalo River (Eastern Cape)|Buffalo River}} during the {{w|Anglo-Zulu War}} in {{w|South Africa}}
 * {{w|Battle of Cut Knife}}, 1885, on the {{w|North Saskatchewan River}} during the {{w|North-West Rebellion}} in {{w|Canada}}

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 * Causeway
 * Stepping stones
 * {{wikipedia|Ford (crossing)}}

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