engineering

Rockland Breakwater

Rockland Breakwater is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Rockland Breakwater rather than just read about it. In short: The Rockland Breakwater is a breakwater sheltering the harbor of Rockland, Maine. More than 4,000 feet (1,200 m) long, it was built in the 1890s by the United States Army Corps of Engineers out of locally quarried granite to improve the harbor's ability to shelter ships from coastal storms.

Key takeaways

Rockland Breakwater belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Rockland Breakwater to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Rockland Breakwater from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Rockland Breakwater is a breakwater sheltering the harbor of Rockland, Maine. More than 4,000 feet (1,200 m) long, it was built in the 1890s by the United States Army Corps of Engineers out of locally quarried granite to improve the harbor's ability to shelter ships from coastal storms. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

Description and history The city of Rockland is located on the west side of Penobscot Bay in the Mid Coast region of Maine. Its harbor, long regarded as one of the finest east of Portland, was frequently used in the 19th century as a safe harbor during bad weather. It was less than ideally suited to this task, because its large east-facing opening would still subject ships at anchor to storms with winds from the northeast. Major storms in the 1850s highlighted the need for improved harbor protection, but federal appropriations for a project were not approved until 1880. Between 1880 and 1900 the United States Army Corps of Engineers, under a series of Congressional appropriations, built the breakwater. The lighthouse standing at its end was added in 1902.

The breakwater extends south from Jameson Point (marking the northern point of the harbor mouth), and has a total length of 4,364 feet (1,330 m). It is built out of locally quarried granite, and has a roughly trapezoidal cross-section, its seaward face sloping more gradually than the harbor side, in order to better take the battering of sea waves. The top of the breakwater is about 43 feet (13 m) wide, while its underwater base is an estimated 175 feet (53 m) wide. The visible top is formed out of coursed granite blocks. About 700,000 tons of rock were used in its construction. The breakwater is believed to be unique among Army Corps 19th-century breakwaters in its exclusive use of local materials.

See also National Register of Historic Places listings in Knox County, Maine

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Rockland Breakwater

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Rockland Breakwater claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Rockland Breakwater before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Rockland Breakwater ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Rockland Breakwater

In research: Rockland Breakwater appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Rockland Breakwater in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Rockland Breakwater is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1880 establishments in Maine, Breakwaters, Buildings and structures completed in 1880, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Rockland Breakwater outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Rockland Breakwater in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Rockland Breakwater means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Rockland Breakwater out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Rockland Breakwater in simple terms?

Why does Rockland Breakwater matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Rockland Breakwater?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Rockland Breakwater.