counterfort
Americannoun
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a buttress, especially one for strengthening a basement wall against the pressure of earth.
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a cantilevered weight, as in a retaining wall, having the form of a pier built on the side of the material to be retained.
noun
Etymology
Origin of counterfort
1580–90; partial translation of Middle French contrefort, equivalent to contre counter- + fort strength (derivative of fort (adj.) strong)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
These rods are the vertical and horizontal rods in the counterfort of the retaining wall shown at a, in Fig.
From Some Mooted Questions in Reinforced Concrete Design American Society of Civil Engineers, Transactions, Paper No. 1169, Volume LXX, Dec. 1910 by Edward Godfrey
The manifest and only function of the rib or counterfort is to tie together the curtain wall and the horizontal slab.
From Some Mooted Questions in Reinforced Concrete Design American Society of Civil Engineers, Transactions, Paper No. 1169, Volume LXX, Dec. 1910 by Edward Godfrey
Thus when an arch is built to bear against an upright wall, a buttress or other counterfort is applied in a direction opposed to the pressure of the arch.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 "Brescia" to "Bulgaria" by Various
Mr. Mensch states that "it would take up too much time to prove that the counterfort acts really as a beam."
From Some Mooted Questions in Reinforced Concrete Design American Society of Civil Engineers, Transactions, Paper No. 1169, Volume LXX, Dec. 1910 by Edward Godfrey
A minor counterfort advances from the central range to the northwestward, commencing about the Peak of Mendefy, and vanishing at the end of about 900 miles in the desert of the Tuaricks.
From Lander's Travels The Travels of Richard Lander into the Interior of Africa by Robert Huish
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