Turning basin
A turning basin or swinging basin is a wider body of water, either located at the end of a ship canal or in a port to allow cargo ships to turn and reverse their direction of travel, or to enable long narrow barges in a canal to turn a sharp corner.
For a complete 180 degree turnaround, the width of the basin must be more than the length of the longest vessel normally traversing the waterway. Onboard bow thrusters or tugboats may assist in manoeuvering the ship.
Examples
The Pegasus barge docked in the turning basin beside the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center
The Nottingham Canal turns at right-angles at this point, so this basin was built to allow narrowboats to negotiate the turn
The Seybold Canal's turning basin for smaller pleasure craft in Miami, Florida
See also
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