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Special pages :
Bomb-Proof
| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 6 October 1857 |
Reproduced from The New American Cyclopaedia
Source : Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 18
Bomb-proof, the state of a roof strong enough to resist the shock of bombs falling upon it. With the enormous calibres now in use, it is almost impossible, and certainly as yet not worth while, to aim at absolute security from vertical fire for most buildings covered in bomb-proof. A circular vault 3 V2 feet thick at the keystone, will resist most shells, and even a single 13-inch shell might not break through; but a second one could in most cases do so. Absolutely bomb-proof buildings are therefore confined to powder magazines, laboratories, 8cc, where a single shell would cause an immense explosion. Strong vaults covered over with 3 or 4 feet of earth, will give the greatest security. For common casemates the vaults need not be so very strong, as the chance of shells falling repeatedly into the same place is very remote. For temporary shelter against shells, buildings are covered in with strong balks laid close together and overlaid with fascines, on which some dung and finally earth is spread. The introduction of casemated batteries and forts, and of casemated defensive barracks, placed mostly along the inner slope of the rampart, at a short distance from it, has considerably increased the number of bomb-proof buildings in fortresses; and with the present mode of combining violent bombardments, continued night and day, with the regular attack of a fortress, the garrison cannot be expected to hold out unless effective shelter is provided in which those off duty can recover their strength by rest. This sort of buildings is therefore likely to be still more extensively applied in the construction of modern fortresses.