none 10.1144/SP473.6 Geological Society of London Geological Society of London 1881 97016672 65091 2024072316105000836 10.1144 2024-07-23T22:56:10Z 2018-03-06T20:10:29Z 0 Geological Society, London, Special Publications SP 0305-8719 2041-4927 01 08 2019 01 2019 473 1 Trench construction and engineering geology on the Western Front, 1914–18 Peter Doyle Abstract Trench warfare became associated with the First World War from late 1914. Where possible, British and German trenches were laid out by military engineers in line with the most recent military manuals. The effectiveness of individual trenches was to a large extent controlled by the nature of the ground conditions. Engineering geology had a major part to play in slope stability (because the ideal for trenches was to maintain slopes in an over-steepened condition relative to normal angle of repose) and drainage (because excess surface and ground waters not only weakened trench slopes, but also created untenable conditions for the troops occupying their positions). Recent archaeological investigations in Belgium and northern France provided opportunities to examine slope engineering and drainage solutions for trenches in Paleogene clay–silt sediments and Cretaceous chalk. In Flanders, the failure of slope engineering early in the war led to the creation of A-frames to support slopes at the required batter, with the provision of drainage channels beneath duckboard walkways. In northern France, where frost-shattered chalk was close to the surface, drainage and slope support was less of a problem, although trenches cut through thick Quaternary deposits similarly required imaginative solutions. 03 06 2018 01 2019 109 130 10.1144/SP473.6 1 10.1144/crossmark-policy www.lyellcollection.org true 2018-03-06 https://doi.org/10.15223/policy-002 10.1144/SP473.6 https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/SP473.6 https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/pdf/10.1144/SP473.6 https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/books/book/2150/chapter/120167669/trench-construction-and-engineering-geology-on-the https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/UrlRedirectHandler.ashx?routename=books&chapterdoi=10.1144/SP473.6&request=chapter Geologische Rundschau Anon 94 6 1915 Geologie im Kriege Anon 1915. Geologie im Kriege. Geologische Rundschau, 6, 94–95. 10.20341/gb.2014.010 Beneath Flanders Fields. The Underground War 1914–18 Barton P. 2004 BartonP., DoyleP. & VanderwalleJ. 2004. Beneath Flanders Fields. 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