Bremer wall

A short T-wall painted with various military signs is seen at Camp Liberty, Iraq

A Bremer wall, or T-wall, is a twelve-foot-high (3.7 m) portable, steel-reinforced concrete blast wall of the type used for blast protection throughout Iraq and Afghanistan. The name is believed to have originated from L. Paul Bremer of the Coalition Provisional Authority, who was the Director of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance for post-war Iraq, following the Iraq War of 2003, in the early years of the Iraq War.^[1]

The Bremer barrier resembles the smaller 3-foot-tall (0.91 m) Jersey barrier, which has been used widely for vehicle traffic control on coalition military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. To indicate that the Bremer barrier is similar but larger, the 12-foot-tall (3.7 m), intermediate-sized Bremer barriers are usually referred to as Texas barriers, but not to be confused with the 3.5-foot (1.1 m) Texas constant-slope barrier. Similarly, the largest barriers, which stand around 6 m tall (20 ft), are called Alaska barriers. Unlike the Jersey barrier, which has sloped sides at the base, some Texas and Alaska barriers have a rectangular ledge base, usable as a bench for sitting or resting and approximately knee-high for a typical adult.

Alaska barriers are typically used as perimeter fortifications of well-established bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.^[2]

These T-shaped walls were originally developed by the Israelis in the Israeli West Bank barrier. The term "T-wall" has been used commonly by soldiers throughout Iraq and Afghanistan, due to the wall's cross-sectional shape resembling an inverted letter "T".

Other uses

In 2011 a series of Bremer walls were used to form a memorial wall for fallen U.S. soldiers. The concrete is painted black with names in yellow.^[3] The wall's design is based on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

References

1. Andrew Butters (January 27, 2004), "Iraqi firms suspicious, confused by new economy: Securing US contracts proves difficult", The Daily Star
2. Joseph Giordono, and Monte Morin (April 19, 2007), "Soldiers building wall separating Sunnis, Shiites: Three-mile structure in Baghdad is a disputed part of security plan", Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, archived from the original on 2009-02-11
3. "CNN.com Video". CNN.

• Ames, Thomas and Russell Marsh (2011). The art of war : Operation Iraqi Freedom. Ashburn, VA: Cage Juka Pub. ISBN 978-1-4611-3604-0.
• Whitney, Robin (2010). The T-walls of Kuwait and Iraq. Madison, CT: Operation Music Aid, Inc. ISBN 978-0-615-43472-8.

External links

• In the Business of Blast Walls, Saturday, April 5, 2008. Includes many photos.