Attrition in the alps [First World War Civil Engineering]

The most visible contribution of civil engineering to the war effort is probably the string of fortresses built well before the conflict by both Austria and Italy. The "fort belt" was at the time probably the most advanced in the world - a real breakthrough in the fields of construction, armour and metalworking. Technological innovation in weaponry, particularly introduction of high-explosive grenades with shrapnel instead of black powder projectiles, rendered masonry and earth fortresses obsolete.