A pier (jetty) is a structure perpendicular to the shore for ships that are loading and unloading. A wharf (quay) is built alongside the shore, or parallel, with the same application.
The terms pier and wharf are used in the US, but jetty and quay are used in the UK. In the US, the term jettyapplies to barrier structures built to establish a harbor or entrance to a waterway, as with a breakwater.
jetty, landing, slip, wharf
A pier, dock, wharf or jetty.
dock, Wharf, jetty
Barrier, breakwater, dock, landing, quay, seawall, slip or wharf .
dock, port, harbour, jetty, wharf, quay...
A ro ro jetty is a construction of a wharf where vehicles can make their way on and off. It is called ro ro because it is a "roll on roll off" construction.
A pier is a structure that extends into a body of water, used for such purposes as tying up boats (or ships) and/or loading and unloading cargo. A jetty is a strip of land or rock, often built in pairs, that maintains a harbor or channel. (Where it actively limits shoreline waves, it may be called a breakwater). A depot is either a train or bus station, an area for storage (warehouse), or a military installation. A quay is a wharf, a platform over or adjacent to a river or body or water that serves in loading, unloading, and storing cargo.
FishermanÕs Wharf and Sacramento are two cities within the state of California. There is a distance of 90.9 miles between the Sacramento International Airport in Sacramento and FishermanÕs Wharf.
A solid-walled wharf is disadvantageous to ships pulling alongside because water currents are constrained and speed up between the ship and the wharf. This results in a reduced water pressure, and the normal pressure on the other side of the ship then forces the ship against the wharf. The pilings avoid this mishap by allowing the freer passage of water between the wharf and the ship.
My ship has arrived at the wharf. The wharf is on the north side of the marina.
Balcony, or tower . To my mind, the above are parts of land buildings, whereas a pier is built out over water with the initial purpose of enabling ships to land passengers at any state of the tide. Try 'jetty', or, less frequently, 'wharf'.
An antonym for "quay" could be "land." A quay is a structure built along the shore for ships to dock, whereas land refers to the solid ground.