{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.cointet-element","code":"thing-q634209","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q634209/","name":"Cointet-element","alternateNames":[],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.5","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Physical world and living systems","entryKind":"thing","plane":"PHY","domain":["PHY.BLT"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"A mobile steel anti-tank obstacle, also called a Belgian gate or C-element: a heavy braced steel frame about 3 m wide and 2-2.5 m high on rollers, designed in the 1930s by the French officer Leon-Edmond de Cointet and used in Belgian defensive lines and later in the German Atlantic Wall.","purpose":"Let an agent describe the Cointet element historically, its design, use and surviving examples, and point to museum and heritage sources.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["A gate-like frame on rollers (often concrete), linkable into barriers.","Unlike Czech hedgehogs, which are crossed steel beams, and dragon's teeth, generally fixed concrete obstacles.","Many were moved to beaches by German forces as beach obstacles in 1944."],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"design","name":"Design","description":"What it is.","layers":[{"id":"structure","name":"Structure","description":"Frame and rollers.","findings":[{"id":"structure","name":"Structure","description":"Dimensions and weight.","questions":[{"text":"What are its dimensions and weight?","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"From which source?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"designer","name":"Designer","description":"Origin.","findings":[{"id":"origin","name":"Origin","description":"Designer and date.","questions":[{"text":"Who designed it and when?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Why?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"use","name":"Use","description":"Where it was used.","layers":[{"id":"belgium","name":"Belgium","description":"KW line.","findings":[{"id":"belgian-use","name":"Belgian use","description":"Line and number.","questions":[{"text":"Where were they deployed in Belgium?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"How many?","kind":"measurement"}]}]},{"id":"atlantic-wall","name":"Atlantic Wall","description":"Beach obstacles.","findings":[{"id":"reuse","name":"Reuse","description":"Place and period.","questions":[{"text":"Where were they reused?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"How effective were they?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"survivors","name":"Survivors","description":"Remaining examples.","layers":[{"id":"museums","name":"Museums","description":"Collections.","findings":[{"id":"surviving-example","name":"Surviving example","description":"Museum, accession or heritage record, location, and whether relocated or reconstructed.","questions":[{"text":"Where can examples be seen?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Are they original?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"field-remains","name":"Field remains","description":"In situ remains.","findings":[{"id":"field-remain","name":"Field remain","description":"Place and condition.","questions":[{"text":"Are there remains in place?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Are they safe to approach?","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"Context.","layers":[{"id":"production","name":"Production","description":"Numbers made.","findings":[{"id":"production","name":"Production","description":"Numbers and makers.","questions":[{"text":"How many were produced?","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"By whom?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"assessment","name":"Assessment","description":"Military effectiveness.","findings":[{"id":"assessment","name":"Assessment","description":"Sources.","questions":[{"text":"How effective were they?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"According to which historians?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["describe history and heritage"],"mustNot":["advise approaching unexploded ordnance"],"requiresHuman":[]},"ethics":{"considerations":["historical accuracy","remembrance"],"affectedParties":["visitors","historians"]},"owners":{"steward":"nobody now as a type; surviving pieces belong to museums or landowners","roles":[],"masterSystems":["museum collections"]},"relations":[{"target":"Q811430","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"anti-tank obstacle","type":"related","note":"military engineering"},{"target":"KW line","type":"related","note":"Belgian defensive line"},{"target":"Czech hedgehog","type":"related","note":"other obstacle"},{"target":"Atlantic Wall","type":"related","note":"reuse"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.cointet-element","Wikidata: Q634209 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q634209)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"required","items":["weight: about 1.28-1.4 t - published figures differ; tie to a documented example","width: about 3 m","height: about 2-2.5 m"]},"recognition":{"applicability":"required","items":["Heavy braced steel gate on small wheels","Rows of linked gates as barriers","A large steel fence-like frame with diagonal bracing, mounted on rollers."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["describe design and history","describe use in Belgian lines and on Normandy beaches","point to surviving examples in museums","explain heritage status"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Rusted remains on beaches and in water","Unexploded ordnance near former obstacles"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["Heritage protection of surviving fortifications, by country"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Blocking roads and gaps against tanks; historically, part of fortified lines.","Cointet element (Belgian gate)"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Q634209","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q634209","note":"identity of the registry item, labels and sitelinks"},{"title":"Belgian Gate","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_Gate","note":"general description of the subject"},{"title":"Cointet-element","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cointet-element","note":"Names, attributed inventor, 1933 origin, approximate dimensions, 1,280 kg mass and historical deployment."},{"title":"Off the Wall: Beach obstacles","url":"https://www.raversyde.be/sites/default/files/public/2021-10/Lesmap%20Off%20the%20Wall_ENG.pdf","note":"Belgian gates, French inventor, beach reuse and comparison with other beach obstacles."},{"title":"Bunkers KW-linie Vlaams-Brabant","url":"https://inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be/erfgoedobjecten/306075","note":"Cointet barriers in the KW line, 1939-1940 context and surviving remains."},{"title":"Une barriere Cointet au Musee des Chasseurs Ardennais","url":"https://www.fraternellechasseursardennais.be/revue/Cha268.pdf","note":"Museum recovery, three rollers and the alternative dimensions of 3 m by 2.5 m with 1,400 kg mass."}],"openQuestions":[],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q634209/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q634209/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-10-21T20:48:55Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"filled","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-21T20:50:33+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 6 live sources; review by codex: pass"},"score":1.0}}