bascule

[ bas-kyool ]

noun

, Civil Engineering.

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

bascule

/ ˈbæskjuːl /

noun

1. See drawbridge
   Also calledbalance bridgecounterpoise 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of bascule¹

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; base ², culet

Word History and Origins

Origin of bascule¹

C17: from French: seesaw, from bas low + cul rump; see base ², culet

Example Sentences

Each bascule consists of two main girders with cross girders and stringers.

From Project Gutenberg

At the opening span of the Tower bridge (fig. 13) there are four main girders in each bascule.

From Project Gutenberg

We shall see the poor devil get out of the carriage, and being fastened on to the bascule, and pulled into the lunette.

From Project Gutenberg

The cost has been set down at 65,000, or about one-thirtieth that of a suspension bridge, and one-third that of a bascule bridge.

From Project Gutenberg

The movable span is of the single leaf bascule type operated by a windlass.

From Project Gutenberg