- published: 08 Apr 2015
- views: 4242421
Stairway, staircase, stairwell, flight of stairs, or simply stairs are names for a construction designed to bridge a large vertical distance by dividing it into smaller vertical distances, called steps. Stairways may be straight, round, or may consist of two or more straight pieces connected at angles.
Special stairways include escalators and ladders. Some alternatives to stairways are elevators, stairlifts and inclined moving sidewalks as well as stationary inclined sidewalks.
The step is composed of the tread and riser.
The balustrade is the system of railings and balusters that prevents people from falling over the edge.
Handrails may be continuous (sometimes called over-the-post) or post-to-post (or more accurately "newel-to-newel"). For continuous handrails on long balconies, there may be multiple newels and tandem caps to cover the newels. At corners, there are quarter-turn caps. For post-to-post systems, the newels project above the handrails.
Another, more classical, form of handrailing which is still in use is the tangent method. A variant of the Cylindric method of layout, it allows for continuous climbing and twisting rails and easings. It was defined from principles set down by architect Peter Nicholson in the 18th century.
Upstairs a voice is calling
Must be Mother
Holding me so tenderly
Obviously my lover
Right from the start
She's touching me with
Ecstatically, luminary grace
She's got it
Yeah, yeah here's my heart
Yeah, yeah here's my heart
Momma calls me a name
She calls me the queen
A friend to hold me
A friend to please me
Queen, I see it
Who needs poison girls
Who needs poison girls
I got my Mother
I've got my Mother
We go huh
We go huh
I go huh