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Coupure
A coupure is a means of closing an opening in a wall, floodwall or levee (dike). The word comes from the French verb which means "to cut". In historic times a coupure was a location where a breach in the city walls or the walls of a fortress was closed. In more modern times a coupure is a way of allowing traffic to pass a flood protection structure. Military During a siege, a coupure is a ditch or an earthwork or wooden palisade built behind a breach made by the attacker's guns in the walls of a fortress or a city. Its purpose is to hinder and frustrate an attack made by the forlorn hope. This was a strategy used many times by defenders of fortifications, for example, by the Irish defenders during the Siege of Clonmel (April - May 1650). It can also be a passage through a glacis to create a sally port, so that the defenders can launch a sortie against the attackers. Civil engineering When a road or railway crosses a floodwall or levee the road or railway can either ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Levee
A levee ( or ), dike (American English), dyke (British English; see American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, spelling differences), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is an elevated ridge, natural or artificial, alongside the river banks, banks of a river, often intended to flood control, protect against flooding of the area adjoining the river. It is usually soil, earthen and often runs parallel (geometry), parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastlines. Naturally occurring levees form on river floodplains following flooding. Sediment and alluvium are deposition (geology), deposited on the banks and settle, forming a ridge that increases the river channel's capacity. Alternatively, levees can be artificially constructed from fill dirt, fill, designed to regulate water levels. In some circumstances, artificial levees can be environmental degradation, environmentally damaging. Ancient civilization ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Road
A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. The words "road" and "street" are commonly considered to be interchangeable, but the distinction is important in urban design. There are many types of roads, including parkways, avenues, controlled-access highways (freeways, motorways, and expressways), tollways, interstates, highways, and local roads. The primary features of roads include lanes, sidewalks (pavement), roadways (carriageways), medians, shoulders, verges, bike paths (cycle paths), and shared-use paths. Definitions Historically, many roads were simply recognizable routes without any formal construction or some maintenance. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines a road as "a line of communication (travelled way) using a stab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Tactics
A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static, defensive position. Consequently, an opportunity for negotiation between combatants is common, as proximity and fluctuating advantage can encourage diplomacy. A siege occurs when an attacker encounters a city or fortress that cannot be easily taken by a quick assault, and which refuses to surrender. Sieges involve surrounding the target to block provision of supplies and reinforcement or escape of troops (a tactic known as "investment"). This is typically coupled with attempts to reduce the fortifications by means of siege engines, artillery bombardment, mining (also known as sapping), or the use of deception or treachery to bypass defenses. Failing a military outcome, sieges can often be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flood Barriers
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant concern in agriculture, civil engineering and public health. Human changes to the environment often increase the intensity and frequency of flooding. Examples for human changes are land use changes such as deforestation and removal of wetlands, changes in waterway course or flood controls such as with levees. Global environmental issues also influence causes of floods, namely climate change which causes an intensification of the water cycle and sea level rise. For example, climate change makes extreme weather events more frequent and stronger. This leads to more intense floods and increased flood risk. Natural types of floods include river flooding, groundwater flooding coastal flooding and urban flooding sometimes known as flash flooding. Tidal flooding may inclu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dikes
Dyke or dike may refer to: General uses * Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian" * Dike (geology), formations of magma or sediment that cut through and across the layering of adjacent rocks * Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice * Dikes, diagonal pliers, also called side-cutting pliers, a hand tool used by electricians and others * Dyke (automobile company), established 1899 Structures * Dyke (embankment) or dike, a natural or artificial slope or wall to regulate water levels, often called a levee in American English * Ditch, a water-filled drainage trench * A regional term for a dry stone wall People * Dyke (surname) * Dyke baronets, a title in the Baronetage of England * Dykes (surname), a British surname found particularly in northern England Places Settlements * Dike, Iowa, United States * Dykes, Missouri, United States * Dyke, Moray, Scotland * Dike, Texas, United States * Dyke, Virginia, United States * Dyke, Lincolnshire, England ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Faeces
Feces (also known as faeces American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, or fæces; : faex) are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relatively small amount of metabolic waste products such as bacterially-altered bilirubin and dead epithelial cells from the lining of the gut. Feces are discharged through the anus or cloaca during defecation. Feces can be used as fertilizer or soil conditioner in agriculture. They can also be burned as dry animal dung fuel, fuel or dried and used for wattle and daub, construction. Some medicinal uses have been found. In the case of human feces, fecal transplants or fecal bacteriotherapy are in use. Urine and feces together are called excretion, excreta. Characteristics The distinctive odor of feces is due to skatole, and thiols (sulfur-containing compounds), as well as amines and carboxylic acids. Sk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horse Manure
Manure is organic matter that is used as organic fertilizer in agriculture. Most manure consists of animal feces; other sources include compost and green manure. Manures contribute to the fertility of soil by adding organic matter and nutrients, such as nitrogen, that are utilised by bacteria, fungi, and other organisms in the soil. Higher organisms then feed on the fungi and bacteria in a chain of life that comprises the soil food web. Types There are in the 21st century three main classes of manures used in soil management: Animal manure Most animal manure consists of feces. Common forms of animal manure include farmyard manure (or farm slurry (liquid manure). Farmyard manure also contains plant material (often straw), which has been used as bedding for animals and has absorbed the feces and urine. Agricultural manure in liquid form, known as slurry, is produced by more intensive livestock rearing systems where concrete or slats are used instead of straw bedding. Manure ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sandbag
A sandbag or dirtbag is a bag or sack made of Hessian (cloth), hessian (burlap), polypropylene or other sturdy materials that is filled with sand or soil and used for such purposes as flood control, military fortification in trenches and bunkers, shielding glass windows in war zones, buoyancy compensator (aviation), ballast, counterweight, and in other applications requiring mobile fortification, such as adding improvised additional protection to armored vehicles or tanks. The advantages are that the bags and sand are inexpensive. When empty, the bags are compact and lightweight for easy storage and transportation. They can be brought to a site empty and filled with local sand or soil. Disadvantages are that filling bags is labor-intensive. Without proper training, sandbag walls can be constructed improperly causing them to fail at a lower height than expected, when used in flood-control purposes. They can degrade prematurely in the sun and elements once deployed. They can also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grade (slope)
The grade (US) or gradient (UK) (also called stepth, slope, incline, mainfall, pitch or rise) of a physical feature, landform or constructed line is either the elevation angle of that surface to the horizontal plane, horizontal or its tangent. It is a special case of the slope, where zero indicates horizontal plane, horizontality. A larger number indicates higher or steeper degree of "tilt". Often slope is calculated as a ratio of "rise" to "run", or as a fraction ("rise over run") in which ''run'' is the horizontal distance (not the distance along the slope) and ''rise'' is the vertical distance. Slopes of existing physical features such as canyons and hillsides, bank (geography), stream and river banks, and stream bed, beds are often described as grades, but typically the word "grade" is used for human-made surfaces such as roads, landscape grading, roof pitches, rail tracks, railroads, aqueduct (watercourse), aqueducts, and pedestrian or bicycle routes. The grade may refer to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road transport. It is used for about 8% of passenger and rail freight transport, freight transport globally, thanks to its Energy efficiency in transport, energy efficiency and potentially high-speed rail, high speed.Rolling stock on rails generally encounters lower friction, frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, allowing rail cars to be coupled into longer trains. Power is usually provided by Diesel locomotive, diesel or Electric locomotive, electric locomotives. While railway transport is capital intensity, capital-intensive and less flexible than road transport, it can carry heavy loads of passengers and cargo with greater energy efficiency and safety. Precursors of railways driven by human or an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sortie (siege Warfare)
A sortie (from the French word meaning ''exit'' or from Latin root ''surgere'' meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint. The term originated in siege warfare. In siege warfare In siege warfare, the word ''sortie'' refers specifically to a sudden sending of troops against the enemy from a defensive position—that is, an attack launched against the besiegers by the defenders. If the sortie is through a sally port, the verb ''to sally'' may be used interchangeably with ''to sortie''. Purposes of sorties include harassment of enemy troops, destruction of siege weaponry and engineering works, joining the relief force, etc. Sir John Thomas Jones, analyzing a number of sieges carried out during the Peninsular War (1807–1814), wrote: In aviation In military aviation Military aviation is the design, development and use of military aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
