Coupure

A coupure is a means of closing an opening in a wall, floodwall or levee (dike). The word comes from the french verb couper which means to cut. In historic times a coupure was a location where a breach in the city walls or the walls of a fortress was closed. In more modern times a coupure is a way of allowing traffic to pass a flood protection structure.

Military

During a siege a coupure is a ditch or an earthwork or wooden palisade built behind a breach in the walls of a fortress, or a city, made by the attacker's guns. Its purpose is to hinder and frustrate an attack made by the forlorn hope.

This was a strategy used many times by defenders of fortifications, for example, by the Irish defenders during the Siege of Clonmel (April - May 1650).

It can also be a passage through a glacis to create a sally port so that the defenders can launch a sortie against the attackers.

Civil engineering

When a road or railway crosses a floodwall or levee the road or railway can either be laid on a grade or through a cut in the floodwall or levee. In case of expected flooding the cut can temporarily be closed. This type of coupure is also known as vehicle gate, floodwall gate or similar names. The closure can be accomplished by various means.