Sandbag

Residents and volunteers work to fill sandbags during the Mississippi and Missouri river floods of 1993.
Members of the Georgia National Guard filling sandbags in preparation for floods.

A sandbag or dirtbag is a bag or sack made of hessian (burlap), polypropylene or other sturdy materials that is filled with sand or soil and used for such purposes as flood control, military fortification in trenches and bunkers, shielding glass windows in war zones, ballast, counterweight, and in other applications requiring mobile fortification, such as adding improvised additional protection to armored vehicles or tanks.

The advantages are that the bags and sand are inexpensive. When empty, the bags are compact and lightweight for easy storage and transportation. They can be brought to a site empty and filled with local sand or soil. Disadvantages are that filling bags is labor-intensive. Without proper training, sandbag walls can be constructed improperly causing them to fail at a lower height than expected, when used in flood-control purposes. They can degrade prematurely in the sun and elements once deployed. They can also become contaminated by sewage in flood waters making them difficult to deal with after flood waters recede.[1] In a military context, improvised up-armouring of tanks or armored personnel carriers with sandbags is not effective against cannons (though it may offer protection against some small arms).

Sandbags have traditionally been filled manually using shovels. Since the 1990s, machine filling has become more common, allowing the work to be done more quickly and efficiently.

  1. ^ Leibenluft, Jacob (2008-06-20). "The 25-Cent Flood Protection Device". Slate.com.