It is also possible to produce hollow sections using extrusion. In this case, the die contains a short piece (or mandrel) in the shape of the hole. This mandrel is attached to the die by one or more ‘bridges’. As the extruded material encounters the bridges it is forced to separate, but it flows around the bridges and joins up again, much the same as water flowing around the piers of a bridge. Figure 30 shows such a ‘bridge die’. This works successfully even for processing of solid metals.