Barbed Wire

The barbed wire , also called artificial bramble or barbed , is the shape of wire manufactured of kind to being prickly with points or sometimes cutting angles laid out with regular interval. A person or an animal trying to cross or pass through barbed wire will be highly likely to be wounded.

It is in particular used in the Clôture S for the cattle because of its low costs and around the zones requiring a safety increased to avoid the intrusions. Its installation is easy and does not require particular competences, it is enough to have some points of fastener where one can fix it with cables or fasten.

The barbed wire was used much on the fields of Bataille. Unrolled and deposited simply on the ground, it slows down the progression of the soldiers, who can even get mixed up themselves there. In this case, the wire is composed of cutting blades.

The barbed word comes from former barbed French which indicated roughcast objects of points (probably resulting from the word bores ).

The November 24th 1874, the American Joseph Glidden of DeKalb (Illinois), deposited the patent of the barbed wire most widespread and built the first machine able to produce it in great quantity. It was about an improved version which met more success than the invention of Louis Jannin in France in 1865. The facility with which one could deploy it made that it was spread very quickly near the stockbreeders with the the United States. Broad zones could be from now on enclosed, thus increasing the output of the breedings and the profitability of the grounds. The barriers were primarily of wood before and required much time to be installed and maintained.

History

Towards the end of the year 1872, a farmer of Waterman in Illinois developed a system of fence made up of a wire with a piece of wood provided with points to prevent the cattle to cross it. It deposited a patent in May 1873 and made of it the demonstration at the time of the market of the county of DeKalb during the summer. This innovation intrigued several inhabitants of the area, Isaac Ellwood, Joseph Glidden and Jacob Haish who decided to improve the concept. Ellwood deposited a patent in February 1874 but concluded that the version of Glidden was more effective. The points present on the wire of Glidden were carried out with a Coffee mill. Once manufactured, the points were placed on the wire then twisted. To maintain them in place, Glidden rolled up another wire around the points. Ellwood bought half of the concept with Glidden in July 1874 and Glidden deposited its patent in November of the same year. They founded then I.L Ellwood Manufacturing Company . They manufactured at the beginning with the back of the shop of Ellwood a carrying wire composed of two twisted cables. Success arrived quickly, just as competition since Jacob Haish started his own trade starting from his patents. In 1876, Glidden sold half of the shares of its patent with the Washburn and Moen Manufacturing Company based with Worcester in the Massachusetts. Ellwood was integrated there and the trade of the barbed wire continued to thrive.

Use in American south-west

John Warne Gates made a demonstration for the Washburn Moen with the Military Plaza of San Antonio (Texas) in 1876. He showed how cattle was retained by this new type of fence and invited the public to place order to the Hôtel Menger. Spoil settled thereafter with Saint-Louis in the Missouri where it founded the Southern Wire Company which became the largest producer of barbed wire without license. In 1881, a legal decision débouta these manufacturers and returned the monopoly to the owners of the patent of Glidden. In 1892, the decision was confirmed by the Supreme court of the United States. Spoil seized Washburn Moen in 1898 and transformed the company into American Steel and Wire which was a predecessor of the '' United States Steel ''. In 1875, 270 tons of barbed wire had been produced. In 1900, more: 150000 tons had been manufactured.

In American south-west, the fences in barbed wire brought quarrels and conflicts of vicinity between the stockbreeders (the Range war or “war of the borders”). Certain ranches let feed their unbounded cattle territorial whereas farmers had a zone delimited by fences. It happened that owners cut barbed wire to let pass the animals what started the Fence Cutter Wars (the war of the cutters of fences) where several people found death. Finally, justice set up a system of fines and sorrows for all those which cut wire in a fence. In less than 25 years, the near total of the ranches had been enclosed in order to delimit the possessions clearly. Certain historians estimate that the end of the “Conquête of the West” coincides with the arrival of the barbed wire.

Religious and preserving groups gave the name of Devil' S Rope (the cord of the devil) to the wire. Part of the public opinion was also indignant at the wounds raised on the animals following the introduction of the barbed wire.

Fences around the agricultural domains

The barbed wire remains one of the most widespread means to establish a fence around a field. In the United States, the majority of the owners use the barbed wire but this is not the case for all the countries. The size of the field is also an important criterion as for the use of such fences.

The wire is tended between several massive posts and firmly planted in the ground. A system of tensioners and intermediate posts out of wooden or steel make it possible to maintain the cable with the good height. Boards are sometimes added between the posts to make the unit more robust. The distance between two posts varies according to the ground. It can go 3 meters on the rough grounds until nearly 50 meters on the plane zones. The posts out of wooden are placed to the maximum every 10 meters with 4 or 5 boards between two.

The wire used for agriculture is declined in two categories: soft steel or steel high voltage . In all the cases, the wire is galvanized to resist wear and the Oxydation. Steel high voltage makes it possible to make finer and more resistant cable. It does not become deformed if the cattle tries to cross it. The dilation caused by the animals or heat is compensated by its best elastic properties (it finds its initial state) contrary to the barbed soft steel wire which remains deformed. The wire high voltage can be deployed at longer distances but its characteristics make that it is more difficult to install and can be dangerous if it is handled by inexperienced people. The installation of a soft wire is easier but it resists time less and is not practical for long distances.

In the very fertile zones where the herd is denser, of the fences with 5 or 7 cables are current to delimit the borders of the field but also to establish divisions inside the property. In the breedings of sheep, the fences with 7 wire are frequent with 4 or 5 normal wire in the medium and of barbed wire in top and bottom. In New Zealand, the fences must let pass the dogs since they lead the herd.

Fences against the human intrusions

The majority of the fences in barbed wire can discourage cattle but are potentially passable by a man who can simply pass to the top of the fence or then to through by drawing aside wire and by avoiding the points. To limit this problem, the majority of the prisons and other zones with high security install fences with cutting wire composed of quasi-continuous blades. This type of wire inflicts sometimes serious wounds with that which tries to cross it. An alternative consists in placing barbed wire at the top of a netting. Even if the person manages to climb at the top of netting, its mobility remains reduced and there is thus more difficult for him to pass to the top of the barbed wire without being wounded or remaining hung. Other nettings are provided in their top with bars of support for the wire and inclined for 45 degrees in direction with the intruder, a device which makes the intrusion even more difficult.

The barbed wire is used in time of war. At the time of the First World War, the shootings of artillery aimed in priority the zones of barbed wires in order to release a passage to reach the unfavourable trenches. As the conflict evolved/moved, the wire was used over reduced lengths in order to limit the impact of the shells and to facilitate its transport. During the Second world war, the wire were deployed so as to slow down the infantry to make it more vulnerable to the machine-guns, or simply to prevent the passage of the soldiers. At the time of the War in Afghanistan, the Afghan refugee camps to the Pakistan were surrounded by barbed iron wire to facilitate the maintenance of these populations.

Wounds caused by the barbed wires

An attempt at intrusion in force against barbed iron wire, without particular protection, will finish undoubtedly with more or less serious wounds according to the zone of the body touched. The skin is most likely to be wounded with lacerations. The deeper fabrics can be touched according to the type of wire and its provision. Human can limit the wounds extremely by paying attention during the handling of the wire. Limited movements, sufficiently thick clothing and gloves make it possible to reduce the risk of wounds.

Wounds caused by the barbed wires can be raised on the cattle (horses, cows, etc) but also on the bat and the birds. The horses panic quickly and once taken with the trap, broad pieces of flesh can be torn off, sometimes to the bone. In the best of the cases, these wounds can be treated and cure without after-effects but it happens that the animal must be shot down or dies of the continuations of complications (infections, Septicémie, etc). The birds and the bat always do not manage to distinguish the points present on the wire and suffer from lacerations or impale themselves on the cables. The less savage animals like the cows or the sheep have less risks to have wounds as serious as those met on other animals. They move back at the time of the first signs of pain. The barbed wire was sometimes used like instrument of Torture. Used like a whip, or rolled up around a stick, it can inflict serious wounds with important lacerations and hemorrhages. The humanitarian organizations denounce also the fate of the African refugees with Melilla in Spain where many wounds caused by iron wire must be treated. By crossing the fences marking the border, the refugees are wounded deeply with the members. .

Installation

The greatest part and most expensive in time at the time of the installation is the installation of the principal posts in the angles and at the places where the distance is too large so that the barbed wires remain under tension. The other intermediate posts cover a less important role, they are just used to fix barbed wire without really tending.

A barbed wire undergoes a raised tension, up to 500 kg, and must be able to resist. The structures of support are also subjected to important forces transmitted by the wire which are fixed at it. Their form varies according to the length of the barbed wire. They generally consist of several posts connected to each other by horizontal spacers and beams. A post of support can be maintained in place thanks to diagonal supports which also ensure its verticality and avoid the weaknesses. Cables of spacer (smooth) are connected top of one post to the base of the opposite post. These diagonal cables reinforce the structure by preventing the deformations of the beams and the posts. If the side of fence has an overall length lower or close to the 60 meters, then only one cable is tended in diagonal between two posts. This structure can be doubled for the higher lengths. For longer distances, two cables are employed and form a cross . A horizontal beam connects finally the two distant intermediate posts from approximately 250 to 300 cm, it ensures a greater resistance to the unit. Otherwise, the posts are distant from 2,5 to 15 meters without horizontal beam. The intervals about a few meters are most frequent.

When this first structure was built, the barbed wire is rolled up around a post angular and maintained with the simple ones fasten then wide along the posts. The installation continues by rolling up it around the other angular posts and by energizing it with tensioners. It is finally attached to the intermediate posts with fasten which temporarily exceed in order to be able to allow a powering later. The installation of the series of barbed wire is made top downwards.

Several methods exist to attach the wire to an angular post:

nodes: the wire is rolled up around the post then tied with the hand
splices: the two wire sections are connected between them thanks to splice S present on the post
vice: the wire is inserted in a hole present in the post then fixed other side
notched angle: the wire is rolled up around the post then maintained by a notched device of helicoid form which retains the wire

In the United States, the wire used for agriculture is steel galvanized with two twisted cables and available in rollers of 402 meters. There exist three categories of wire: classes I, II and III. Class I at the finest layer of zinc and its lifespan is lower than the other classes. It rusts in general in less than 8 to 10 years, whereas class III resists between 15 to 20 years. A layer of aluminum is sometimes used instead of zinc and offers a better wear resistance.

The posts present in the angles have a diameter from 15 to 20 cm, are out of treated wood and are inserted in a buried concrete base of approximately 50 cm on side for 1 m of depth. The intermediate posts have a diameter of at least 10 centimetres and are inserted in a concrete base 50 cm broad and 60 cm of depth. The iron posts have a diameter of at least 6,4 cm.

At the time of the First World War, the barbed wire was fixed on the ground by means of metal posts provided with a large screw which one planted in the ground. Eyelets were present along the post and made it possible to fix wire during the night. This system avoided the use of hammers and noisy tools which could reveal the position of the troops.

With wrestling

The barbed wire is also used in the world of the Catch, more precisely, in the Catch hardcore, the standard of match hardcores and the barbed wire match as in the federations such as the Extreme Championship Wrestling and the Combat Zone Wrestling.

References

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