cofferdam
Americannoun
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a watertight enclosure placed or constructed in waterlogged soil or under water and pumped dry so that construction or repairs can proceed under normal conditions.
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Nautical. a sealed void between two bulkheads, as for insulation or as an extra barrier to the escape of liquids or vapors.
noun
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a watertight structure, usually of sheet piling, that encloses an area under water, pumped dry to enable construction work to be carried out. Below a certain depth a caisson is required
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(on a ship) a compartment separating two bulkheads or floors, as for insulation or to serve as a barrier against the escape of gas or oil
Etymology
Origin of cofferdam
Vocabulary lists containing cofferdam
Civil Engineering
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Engineering - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That included the construction of a huge temporary cofferdam to divert the thundering water from the building site.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 6, 2022
Some 27,000 tons of rock and earth were dumped upstream to create a 600-foot long cofferdam from the mainland to Goat Island.
From Slate ● May 20, 2019
“He was pretty definitive about it,” White said, as he and Broadwater watched the operation from the cofferdam pier.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 4, 2018
Now that the locks were open, workers began to build a new cofferdam south of the locks in the temporary channel that had been excavated between Salmon Bay and Shilshole Bay.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 29, 2017
A large cofferdam, made of sheets of steel, was being built on the west side of the river to divert the water away from the base of the cliffs there.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
