Gabions in the context of "Sapping"

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⭐ Core Definition: Gabions

A gabion (from Italian gabbione meaning "big cage"; from Italian gabbia and Latin cavea meaning "cage") is a cage, cylinder, or cube, typically mesh, filled with solid material suitable to use in various civil engineering and military applications. Ballasts include rocks, sand, soil, used tires, and other recycled items.

Among the most common civil engineering uses are erosion control, retaining walls, and impact attenuation; in the military gabions commonly protect forward operating bases and artillery firing positions against small arms and indirect fragmentary explosives. Applications include sleeping quarters, mess halls, checkpoints, and revetments for aircraft.

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👉 Gabions in the context of Sapping

Sapping is a term used in siege operations to describe the digging of a covered trench (a "sap") to approach a besieged place without danger from the enemy's fire. The purpose of the sap is usually to advance a besieging army's position towards an attacked fortification. It is excavated by specialised military units, whose members are often called sappers.

By using the sap, the besiegers could move closer to the walls of a fortress, without exposing the sappers to direct fire from the defending force. To protect the sappers, trenches were usually dug at an angle in zig-zag pattern (to protect against enfilading fire from the defenders), and at the head of the sap a defensive shield made of gabions (or a mantlet) could be deployed.

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In this Dossier
LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Sapping
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Batter (walls) → X-ray → Customs → Italian language → Civil engineering → Ballast → Erosion control → Retaining walls → Forward operating base → Revetment (aircraft) →