monkey bridge
Noun: 1. A high, narrow walkway or platform: A monkey bridge is a high, narrow, often open walkway or platform, typically found on a ship or in an industrial setting like an engine or boiler room. It is designed to allow passage over or around equipment. 2. The highest navigational bridge on a ship: On some ships, particularly older or smaller vessels, the term can refer to a small, often open deck or platform situated above the main pilot house, serving as an auxiliary navigation point.
- General Platform:
- The engineer carefully crossed the monkey bridge to inspect the valves above the roaring machinery.
- Access to the forward cargo hold is via a narrow monkey bridge.
- Navigational Bridge (Maritime):
- In heavy fog, the captain went up to the monkey bridge for a better view.
- The ship's monkey bridge, though exposed, offered an unobstructed 360-degree vantage point.
- The term is primarily used in specific technical contexts like maritime operations, shipbuilding, and industrial engineering. It is not common in everyday conversation.
- Its defining characteristics are its elevated position and limited width, implying caution is needed when using it.
- Catwalk: A very similar structure; a narrow, elevated walkway. "Catwalk" is a more common and general term used in various industries (fashion, construction, industrial).
- Flybridge: A contemporary nautical term for an open control station on the roof of a boat's cabin. This is related to the second, maritime-specific meaning of "monkey bridge."
- Gangway: A broader term for a temporary or movable passageway, but usually not as high or narrow as a monkey bridge.
- Catwalk
- Footbridge (in an industrial context)
- Elevated walkway
- Platform
The word "monkey bridge" combines two distinct but related concepts: 1. The general concept of a high, narrow industrial walkway (like those used by workers, or "monkeys," to climb around machinery). 2. The specific nautical concept of a small, high auxiliary bridge on a ship.
There is no direct phrasal verb or idiom formed with "monkey bridge." It functions solely as a compound noun.
- the highest navigational bridge on a ship; a small (often open) deck above the pilot house
- a high narrow platform above a deck or in an engine room or boiler room