Plate 29 shows the appearance of a sandbag revetment as seen from the front and from the end.
[Illustration: Plate 29.--Sandbag revetment.]
A squad of six men with two shovels and one pick should fill 150 bags in an hour. One man uses the pick, two shovel the dirt into the bag, one holds the bag open and two men tie the bags. Having the filled bags ready to hand ten men will lay 75 square feet of revetment in an hour. Four men lay the bags and flatten them out while six carry them.
Brush is used in many forms for revetting. Almost any kind will serve the purpose. For weaving, it must be live and is most pliable when not in leaf. It should not be more than 1 inch in diameter at the butt. When cut it should be assorted in sizes for the different class of revetments. Poles 2-1/2 inches in diameter are cut for the supports.
A _fascine_ is a cylindrical bundle of brushwood tightly bound. The usual length is 18 feet, the diameter 9 inches, and the weight normally about 140 pounds. Lengths of 6 and 9 feet, which are sometimes used, are most conveniently obtained by sawing a standard fascine into two or three pieces.
Fascines are made in a cradle which consists of five trestles, the outer ones being 16 feet apart. The trestle is made by driving two sticks about 6-1/2 feet long and 3 inches in diameter in the ground and lashed at the intersection as shown in Plate 29a. In making the cradle, plant the two end trestles first. Stretch a line from one to the other over the intersection. Place the others 4 feet apart and lash them so that each intersection comes fairly to the line.
_To build a fascine_, straight pieces of brush, 1 or 2 inches at the butt, are laid on, the butts projecting at the end 1 foot beyond the trestle. Leaves should be stripped and unruly branches cut off, or partially cut through, so that they will lie close. The larger, straighter brush should be laid on the outside, butts alternating in direction, and smaller stuff in the center. The general object is to so dispose the brush as to make the fascine of uniform size, strength and stiffness from end to end.
When the cradle is nearly filled, the fascine is compressed or _choked_ by the _fascine choker_ (Plate 30), which consists of two bars, 4 feet long, joined 18 inches from the ends by a chain 4 feet long. The chain is marked at 14 inches each way from the middle by inserting a ring or special link. To use, two men standing on opposite sides pass the chain under the brush, place the short ends of the handles on top and pass the bars, short end first, across to each other. They then bear down on the long ends until the marks on the chain come together. Chokers may be improvised from sticks and rope or wire.