What is Duckboards?
[[File:Duckboard walk, South Tawton Footpath 46 - geograph.org.uk - 996804.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A duckboard track]] '''Duckboards''' are [[wood]]en walkways. They are usually put over [[mud]]dy ground. Doing this means that people can walk on the dry duckboards instead of the muddy ground. == Hiking == Duckboards are used to allow hikers to walk over wet and/or muddy ground, like a [[swamp]] or shores of a [[lake]]. Very wide duckboards are used sometimes so that [[wheelchair]] users can use them. Duckboards can be nailed into [[log]]s with wooden stakes. == World War I == During [[World War I]], duckboards were put along the ground of [[trench]]es on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]. This is because the trenches usually flooded. Mud and water would stay in the trenches for [[month]]s. The boards helped to keep the [[soldier]]s' feet dry. It also helped stop soldiers get a disease called [[trench foot]]. Trench foot is caused by standing on wet, muddy ground for a long time. They also helped soldiers move along the trenches faster. Sometimes, falling from duckboards could be deadly. Some unlucky soldiers drowned in mud because of their heavy [[wikt:equipment|equipment]]. == Other websites == {{commonscat-inline|Duckboards}} [[Category:World War I]] {{stub}}