In military architecture the term "ridotto" (or "redoubt") indicates a fortified structure of modest importance, isolated or part of a larger defensive system, in this case the Cadorna Line, which was built to defend against possible incursions from beyond the Alps (never occurred).
The Ridotto di San Giuseppe was built in 1917 on the strategic hill occupied by the church of the same name. Fortifications include trenches for standing shooters, open emplacements and armored machine gun emplacements. The stations are connected to walkways and underground tunnels.
In particular:
- The trench for standing shooters is a ditch 1.80 m deep and approximately 1.5 m wide. It has a stone parapet, in which niches are created to contain ammunition and shooter's objects; at the base, there is a step of 50-80 cm, on which the shooter climbs to look out or shoot.
- The outdoor machine gun positions can be reached via protected (underground) walkways: they are emplacements protected by a parapet and can be recognized by the concrete base on which the machine gun was placed.
- The covered stations were created by digging into the rock (east) or built in concrete (west station); they have a base for the weapon in reinforced concrete and slits for fire.