The actual working plankways you stand on are sometimes know as staging in the UK.
As a youngster I was a member of TS Foxhound sea cadets, one of the first things we learned apart from tying knots was how to set up sheer legs, I think I've spotted some sheer legs in the second photo.
Shear legs are basically a hoist, the Royal Navy still use shear legs in their gun race here's a vid of the navy using shear legs to climb an obstacle. The competition is dangerous, plenty of trapped fingers and broken bones.
I've never heard the 'ways' before, is that an American term or is that a general worldwide nautical term?
Its a general term -- I've seen it in documents and books regarding the British navy during the sailing days.
The very large ones could lift enormous weights and were used for lifting guns in and out of ships even when more modern steam cranes came into use. steam winches were used to power the lifting hoists.
Great image
Unbelievable!! 900 lb gun barrel, 150 lb wheels, reeling through the air. Gees! These guys eat their Wheaties. I wonder if Colonel Lamb's "Flying Battery" (Ft. Fisher, Wilmington) ever had to use such acrobatics to get their guns to shore fast enough to save a blockade runner. Certainly there would have been obstacles on the beaches.
Thanks for asking -- my question exactly.
(Just wrote it into my description of Cassidey's Shipyard in Wilmington, THANKS!)
Bringing the