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I thought of a riddle:

Named after my creation
By ones in need, or ones of station
With bowing bays I wind and light
With barreling wagons I leap to a height
Though I cannot fly, my wings do protect
Through passing ages I paths correct

Mess up my plans and pay a terrible cost
Make me confused and all will be lost

I'm in impossible dreams of tomorrow's Rome
I'm in Jesus shunning sand when placing a home
I'm in trucks and tanks that were made to stay
In one of my senses, or so they might say

Yet does the gate to my name allow ingress?
What am I—process, result, and progress?

The answer is a single English word.

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    $\begingroup$ Welcome to Puzzling! Looks like a nice first riddle :-) $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 8, 2016 at 15:32

1 Answer 1

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I think the answer is

Building.

Named after my creation

A building comes about as a result of building.

By ones in need,

Building society. (OP addition: Shelter is a basic human need.)

or ones of station

Master builders. (OP addition: Some buildings are built as status symbols; a station is a type of building.)

With bowing bays I wind and light

I think this refers to bow windows and bay windows found on some buildings to provide more light.

With barreling wagons I leap to a height

I think this refers to a barrel vault (also called a wagon vault) found in some buildings and usually forms part of the roof or ceiling. (OP addition: "Leap" is another word for "vault", if used as a verb.)

Though I cannot fly, my wings do protect

Buildings can have wings which, among other functions, can provide shorter escape routes in safety-critical buildings.

Through passing ages I paths correct

This refers to road building to create paths which has been done throughout the ages. (OP addition: Also, passing ages → passages i.e. corridors guide people through buildings.)

Mess up my plans and pay a terrible cost

Mess up the plans for a building and it could prove very costly.

Make me confused and all will be lost

I think confused here is a synonym for "unlisted" and unlisted buildings are not protected against demolition. (OP note: It's easy to get lost in confusing buildings.)

I'm in impossible dreams of tomorrow's Rome

"Rome wasn't built in a day" (OP note: Also, impossible dreams are "building castles in the sky")

I'm in Jesus shunning sand when placing a home

This refers to the Parable of Wise and Foolish Builders

I'm in trucks

Building trucks (OP note: and "built like a truck")

and tanks that were made to stay

I think this refers to things like water tanks found in many buildings. (OP note: or "built like a tank")

In one of my senses, or so they might say

Building site (sounds like 'sight') (OP note: Also, alluding to how the previous parts of the paragraph are sayings or idioms, all using the "to build" sense of the word.)

Yet does the gate to my name allow ingress?

Possibly a reference to the Red Gate Building which at one point house the Ministry of Transport Construction. (OP note: "Yett", "gate" and "ingress" are all words for entranceways.)

What am I—process, result, and progress?

Building is a verb and a noun referring to a structure and also the action of constructing something. (OP note: As well as the progress of something e.g. "the building suspense".)

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    $\begingroup$ Oh, very nice! I wasn't convinced at first, but this fits all of the clues - I especially like the Rome line. Looks perfect :-) $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 9, 2016 at 11:24
  • $\begingroup$ You got it! Is it customary here for a riddle-asker to edit the accepted answer's explanations of the clues to fill in details? You have some explanations here that I hadn't thought of, but which work great—I would of course preserve them. $\endgroup$
    – Anko
    Commented Sep 9, 2016 at 12:57
  • $\begingroup$ @Anko If you note that they are your edits (e.g. O.P. EDIT:), I don't think there's a problem. $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 9, 2016 at 18:17
  • $\begingroup$ Yes, I have no problem with you editing @Anko $\endgroup$
    – hexomino
    Commented Sep 11, 2016 at 20:22

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