dropwall

plural dropwalls

1. A prefabricated wall that is supported by a framework.

   In the new mood of economy, it received a dropwall tripling rather than the thorough makeover of Leeds, Glasgow and Manchester.

   2002, Allen Eyles, Odeon Cinemas: From J. Arthur Rank to the multiplex, page 112

   2 more examples

   Once the surface slope was reduced by adding great walls to the original falls, the chief source of damage was stopped. The increased height of fall thus created has been met by building cross walls 4 ft. to 5 ft. high at distances of 30 ft. to 40 ft below original sills or ogees, now converted into dropwalls, and by laying deep stone pavements over the brickwork in places of greatest action.

   1874, Engineering - Volume 18, page 86

   Beyond the stage is a sunken orchestra, faced by a dropwall adorned with bas-reliefs, showing the chorus in their masks and cothurni, and the players resting in their dressing room, and backed by a dividing wall which curls in a semicircle around the priests' seats, and ends in two carved dolphins.

   2015, Frederick Grice, Colin Clarke, Gillian Clarke, War's Nomads, page 189

2. A short wall used as a weir or floodgate to control the flow of water.

   The entire work, with the exception of the upper six feet of the weir dropwall and the superstructure of the head-lock, has been completed

   1867, Himalaya & C., India, page 4

   2 more examples

   All openings of and under 20 feet span have deep dropwalls built from abutment to abutment, both up and down stream, with flooring between (laid in mortar) 4 or more feet below the natural level of stream-beds, at inclinations varying between 1 in 5 and 1 in 10, according to the locality; and it is expected these precautions will prevent back-scouring from the down-stream sides.

   1897, Institution of Civil Engineers (Great Britain), Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, page 245

   At either end were heavy floodgates, dropwalls of thickly forged iron. At different points in the day, according to no particular rhythm that anyone on the Fifth ever managed to figure, those gates would close, and the chamber would be flooded.

   2016, Daniel Polansky, Those Below

3. A temporary barrier used to surround troops or protect battlements, often with spikes on the outside to prevent the enemy from scaling it.

   A dropwall took a direct hit and shuddered.

   2020, Phil Foglio, Kaja Foglio, Agatha H. and the Siege of Mechanicsburg