ABSTRACT
When engineers had to build with earth, they had to resolve some difficulties with talent. How to extract the earth? How to calculate the extracted volumes in order that the generated emptiness, equivalent to the pits, compensates the volume of the ramparts? How to transport the earth to minimize the economic cost of the work? How to organize the workers? How to guarantee the stability of the different banks? How to resolve the problems of dampness? How to prevent the earth from being washed away by the rain? How to design the walls containing the earth? How to construct if soft soils do not exist? The Spanish treatises contain several of the responses, but these answers were combined by the 18th century. At the same time, the technical reports from the engineers from the Royal Court, explained the construction history. The surviving fortresses offer different examples to be compared with the writings.
