Trench in the context of "Geotechnical engineering"

Play Trivia Questions online!

or

Skip to study material about Trench in the context of "Geotechnical engineering"

Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Trench

A trench is a type of excavation or depression in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a swale or a bar ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit).

In geology, trenches result from erosion by rivers or by geological movement of tectonic plates. In civil engineering, trenches are often created to install underground utilities such as gas, water, power and communication lines. In construction, trenches are dug for foundations of buildings, retaining walls and dams, and for cut-and-cover construction of tunnels. In archaeology, the "trench method" is used for searching and excavating ancient ruins or to dig into strata of sedimented material. In geotechnical engineering, trench investigations locate faults and investigate deep soil properties. In trench warfare, soldiers occupy trenches to protect them against weapons fire and artillery.

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
In this Dossier

Trench in the context of Defense line

A defense line or fortification line is a geographically recognizable line of troops and armament, fortified and set up to protect a high-value location or defend territory, which is an "area of defense".

A defense line may be based on natural difficult terrain features, such as rivers or marshes, mountain ranges, or coastlines; temporary field fortification works such as trenches; and/or more permanent fortifications such as fortresses and bunkers.

↑ Return to Menu

Trench in the context of Latrine

A latrine is a toilet or an even simpler facility that is used as a toilet within a sanitation system. For example, it can be a communal trench in the earth in a camp to be used as emergency sanitation, a hole in the ground (pit latrine), or more advanced designs, including pour-flush systems.

The term "latrine" is still commonly used in military parlance, and less so in civilian usage except in emergency sanitation situations. Nowadays, the word "toilet" is more commonly used than "latrine", except when referring to simple systems like "pit latrines" or "trench latrines".

↑ Return to Menu

Trench in the context of Utility tunnel

A utility tunnel, utility corridor, or utilidor is a passage built underground or above ground to carry utility lines such as electricity, steam, water supply pipes, and sewer pipes. Communications utilities like fiber optics, cable television, and telephone cables are also sometimes carried. One may also be referred to as a services tunnel, services trench, services vault, or cable vault. Smaller cable containment is often referred to as a cable duct or underground conduit. Direct-buried cable (installed using trenches) is a major alternative to ducts or tunnels.

↑ Return to Menu

Trench in the context of Trench warfare

Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising military trenches, in which combatants are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery. It became archetypically associated with World War I (1914–1918), when the Race to the Sea rapidly expanded trench use on the Western Front starting in September 1914.

Trench warfare proliferated when a revolution in firepower was not matched by similar advances in mobility, resulting in a grueling form of warfare in which the defender held the advantage. On the Western Front in 1914–1918, both sides constructed elaborate trench, underground, and dugout systems opposing each other along a front, protected from assault by barbed wire. The area between opposing trench lines (known as "no man's land") was fully exposed to artillery fire from both sides. Attacks, even if successful, often sustained severe casualties.

↑ Return to Menu

Trench in the context of Aisne (river)

The Aisne (/n/ ayn, US also /ɛn/ en, French: [ɛːn] ; Picard: Ainne) is a river in northeastern France. It is a left tributary of the Oise. It gave its name to the French department of Aisne. It was known in the Roman period as Axona.

The river rises in the forest of Argonne, at Rembercourt-Sommaisne, near Sainte-Menehould. It flows north and then west before joining the Oise near Compiègne. The Aisne is 356 kilometres (221 mi) long. Its main tributaries are the Vesle, the Aire and the Suippe. The Battle of the Axona was fought between the Romans and the Belgae near the Aisne in 57 BC. Three Battles of the Aisne were fought in the Aisne valley during the First World War.

↑ Return to Menu

Trench in the context of French drains

A French drain (also known by other names including trench drain, blind drain, rubble drain, and rock drain) is a trench filled with gravel or rock, or both, with or without a perforated pipe that redirects surface water and groundwater away from an area. The perforated pipe is called a weeping tile (also called a drain tile or perimeter tile). When the pipe is draining, it "weeps", or exudes liquids. It was named when drainpipes were made from terracotta tiles.

French drains are primarily used to prevent ground and surface water from penetrating or damaging building foundations and as an alternative to open ditches or storm sewers for streets and highways. Alternatively, French drains may be used to distribute water, such as a septic drain field at the outlet of a typical septic tank sewage treatment system. French drains are also used behind retaining walls to relieve ground water pressure.

↑ Return to Menu

Trench in the context of Kuwaiti oil fires

The Kuwaiti oil fires were caused by the Iraqi military setting fire to a reported 605 to 732 oil wells along with an unspecified number of oil-filled low-lying areas, such as oil lakes and fire trenches while retreating from Kuwait in 1991 due to the advances of US-led coalition forces in the Gulf War. The fires were started in January and February 1991, and the first oil well fires were extinguished in early April 1991, with the last well capped on November 6, 1991.

↑ Return to Menu

Trench in the context of Karagiye

Karagiye (Kazakh: Qaraqia; lit. "Black Jaw") is a 40 kilometres (25 mi)-long karst trench close to the Caspian Sea. At its lowest point at Vpadina Kaundy, it is approximately 134 metres (440 ft) below sea level. It is the lowest point in Central Asia, Kazakhstan, and the former Soviet Union. It is also known as the Karagiye Depression and Karagiye Mountain Trench.

The trench was formed as soluble limestone, dolomite and gypsum dissolved forming potholes, funnels and caves that eventually collapsed. Today the trench features many scarps and offsets and generates long rain clouds caused by the air rising above it. There is a vernal lake in the south-west of the trench and a stream rising from a drilled well that disappears back into the ground within the trench.

↑ Return to Menu