Fence

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This article is about the structure. For other meanings, see Fence (disambiguation).

A fence in Westtown Township, Pennsylvania

A fence is a freestanding structure designed to restrict or prevent movement across a boundary. It is generally distinguished from a wall by the lightness of its construction: a wall is usually restricted to such barriers made from solid brick or concrete, blocking vision as well as passage (though the definitions overlap somewhat).

Fences are constructed for several purposes, including:

• Agricultural fencing, to keep livestock in or predators out
• Privacy fencing, to provide privacy
• Security fencing, to prevent trespassing or theft and/or to keep children and pets from wandering away
• Decorative fencing, to enhance the appearance of a property, garden or other landscaping

[edit] Types of fences

Fence with barbed wire on top

Split-rail fencing common in timber-rich areas.

Some of the technologies developed for fencing include:

• Barbed wire fence
• Cactus fence
• Chain link fencing
• Dry-stone wall or rock fence, often agricultural
• Electric fence
• Ha-ha (or sunken fence)
• Hedgerows of intertwined, living shrubs (constructed by hedge laying)
• Palisade
• Pet fence Underground Fence for pet containment
• Picket fences, generally a waist-high, painted, partially decorative fence
• Post-and-rail fencing
• Split-rail fences made of timber, often laid in a zig-zag pattern, particularly in newly-settled parts of the United States and Canada
• Snow fence
• Stake-and-wire fencing
• Turf mounds in semiarid grasslands such as the western United States or Russian steppes
• Wood-panel fencing

Alternatives to fencing are a hedge or a ditch (sometimes filled with water, forming a moat).

A balustrade or railing is a kind of fence to prevent people from falling over the edge, for example, on a balcony, stairway (see railing system), roof, bridge, or elsewhere near a body of water, places where people stand or walk and the terrain goes steeply down, and so on.

[edit] Requirement for fences

A typical urban fence

The following facility types have to be fenced in:

• facilities with open high-voltage equipment (transformer stations, mast radiators). Transformer stations are usually surrounded with barbed-wire fences. Around mast radiators, wooden fences are used to avoid the problem of eddy currents.
• railway lines (in the UK)
• plants with dangerous mobile parts (for example at roundabouts on entertainment parks)
• explosive factories and quarry stores
• most industrial plants
• airfields
• military areas
• prisons
• zoos and wildlife parks
• open-air areas that charge an entry fee
• domestic swimming and spa pools (in New Zealand)

[edit] Legal issues of dividing fences

Decorative palace fence (in St Petersburg)

Fences can be the source of bitter arguments between neighbours, and there are often special laws to deal with these problems. Common disagreements include what kind of fence is required, what kind of repairs are needed, and how to share the costs.

In some legislatures the standard height of a fence is limited, and to exceed it a special permit is required.

[edit] Quotes about fences

"Good fences make good neighbours." - Robert Frost

"A good neighbour is a fellow who smiles at you over the back fence, but doesn't climb over it." - Arthur Baer

"There is something about jumping a horse over a fence, something that makes you feel good. Perhaps it's the risk, the gamble. In any event it's a thing I need." - William Faulkner

"Fear is the highest fence." - Dudley Nichols

[edit] See also

• Separation wall
• United States–Mexico barrier
• Wire obstacle

[edit] Reference

• Encyclopedia Britannica (1982). Vol IV, Fence.