DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1651#0008
™
i»
62
THIRD BOOK.
C H A P. IV.
Os w&at ought to be o/ferred in the building os Bridges, and os the stc
that ought to be I
FORASMUCH as many rivers, by realbn of their breadth, height, and rapidity, cannot be
sorded, theconveniency of bridges was first thought on. It may theresore be (aid, that
tfiey are a principal part os the way, and that they are but a slrcct above water. They
ought to have the lame qualities that we have laid were required in all other sabrics, that
is, to be commodious, beautiful, and for a long time durable. They will be commodious
when they are not raised above the rest of the way, and if they be railed, to have their
ascent eary ; and such place is to be chostn to build them in, as ought to be most convenient to
the whole province, or to the whole city, according as they are to be built, either within or
without the walls.
Choice ought theresore to be made os that place to which one may go srom all parts
easily, that is, in the middle os the province, or in the middle of the city, as Nitocre
Queen os Babylon did in the bridge ssie built over the E/ipbvfrs ; and not in an angle, where
it can be of ule only to a sew. They'll be beautiful and durable for a long time, if
they arc made after the manner, and with thole mcasurcs that (lull particularly be men-
tioned hereafter.
But in pitching on the site sor building them, one ought to observe to chuse it so as
may give hopes that the bridge there built will be perpetual, and where it miry be made
with as little cxpence as possible. That place theresore is to be choicn, in which the river
ssiall be lei's deep, and ihall have its bed or bottom even and durable, that is, os rock or
stone, because (as has been said in the first book, when I spoke of the places to lay foun-
dations on) (tone and rock make very good soundations in waters: bfesioea which, gulphs
and whirpools ought to be avoided, as also that part os the bottom, or bed of the river,
which ssiall be gravelly or sandy; sor land and gravel being continually moved by the
ssood;, this changes the bed of the river, and the foundations being thereby undermined, wou'd
of necesiny occasion the ruin os the work. But when the whole bed os the river is gravel
and land, the soundations ought to be made as ssiall be directed hereafter, when I come to
treat os ssone bridges.
Regard also is to be had, to chuse that site in which the river's course is direct; since
the windings and crooked parts of the banks are subjecf. to be carried aw.iv by the water;
in such a case theresore the bridge wou'd remain like an illand, disunirtd trom the
banks : and alio, becauk during the ssoods, the waters carry into the laid windings all the
matter they wassi from the Lwulu mid fields, which not Being able to go directly down,
slops other things, and clogging the rjsiaAJbao. siU> vf the opening of the arches; whereby
the work sutiers in such a manner, that by the weight os the water only, it falls in time
to ruin.
The place theresore to be chosen for building bridges, ought to be in the middle of the
country or os the city, and as convenient to all the inhabitants as possible, and where the
river has a direct course, and its bed equal, pcipctu.il, and (hallow. I3ut as bridges are
either made of wood or osstone, I fliall particularly mention the manner of both the one
and the other, and fliall give some designs os them, both antffcnt and modern.
tic**1
*******
CHAP. V.
0/"Wooden Bridges, and of the advertencies : to be had in the
budding oj then:.
BRIDGES are made os wood, cither upon one occalion only, like those which are made
sor all those accidents that usually happen in war; os which sort that is the most
celebrated which Jul IDS C/esar directed over the Rhine-, or secondlv, tii.it they may perpe-
tually scrve for the convcnicncy of every body. Aster this manner we read that Hercules
built the first bridge that ever was made, over the 77/v;-, in the place where Rme was
2 afterwards
■JB*rn
*fi
i»
62
THIRD BOOK.
C H A P. IV.
Os w&at ought to be o/ferred in the building os Bridges, and os the stc
that ought to be I
FORASMUCH as many rivers, by realbn of their breadth, height, and rapidity, cannot be
sorded, theconveniency of bridges was first thought on. It may theresore be (aid, that
tfiey are a principal part os the way, and that they are but a slrcct above water. They
ought to have the lame qualities that we have laid were required in all other sabrics, that
is, to be commodious, beautiful, and for a long time durable. They will be commodious
when they are not raised above the rest of the way, and if they be railed, to have their
ascent eary ; and such place is to be chostn to build them in, as ought to be most convenient to
the whole province, or to the whole city, according as they are to be built, either within or
without the walls.
Choice ought theresore to be made os that place to which one may go srom all parts
easily, that is, in the middle os the province, or in the middle of the city, as Nitocre
Queen os Babylon did in the bridge ssie built over the E/ipbvfrs ; and not in an angle, where
it can be of ule only to a sew. They'll be beautiful and durable for a long time, if
they arc made after the manner, and with thole mcasurcs that (lull particularly be men-
tioned hereafter.
But in pitching on the site sor building them, one ought to observe to chuse it so as
may give hopes that the bridge there built will be perpetual, and where it miry be made
with as little cxpence as possible. That place theresore is to be choicn, in which the river
ssiall be lei's deep, and ihall have its bed or bottom even and durable, that is, os rock or
stone, because (as has been said in the first book, when I spoke of the places to lay foun-
dations on) (tone and rock make very good soundations in waters: bfesioea which, gulphs
and whirpools ought to be avoided, as also that part os the bottom, or bed of the river,
which ssiall be gravelly or sandy; sor land and gravel being continually moved by the
ssood;, this changes the bed of the river, and the foundations being thereby undermined, wou'd
of necesiny occasion the ruin os the work. But when the whole bed os the river is gravel
and land, the soundations ought to be made as ssiall be directed hereafter, when I come to
treat os ssone bridges.
Regard also is to be had, to chuse that site in which the river's course is direct; since
the windings and crooked parts of the banks are subjecf. to be carried aw.iv by the water;
in such a case theresore the bridge wou'd remain like an illand, disunirtd trom the
banks : and alio, becauk during the ssoods, the waters carry into the laid windings all the
matter they wassi from the Lwulu mid fields, which not Being able to go directly down,
slops other things, and clogging the rjsiaAJbao. siU> vf the opening of the arches; whereby
the work sutiers in such a manner, that by the weight os the water only, it falls in time
to ruin.
The place theresore to be chosen for building bridges, ought to be in the middle of the
country or os the city, and as convenient to all the inhabitants as possible, and where the
river has a direct course, and its bed equal, pcipctu.il, and (hallow. I3ut as bridges are
either made of wood or osstone, I fliall particularly mention the manner of both the one
and the other, and fliall give some designs os them, both antffcnt and modern.
tic**1
*******
CHAP. V.
0/"Wooden Bridges, and of the advertencies : to be had in the
budding oj then:.
BRIDGES are made os wood, cither upon one occalion only, like those which are made
sor all those accidents that usually happen in war; os which sort that is the most
celebrated which Jul IDS C/esar directed over the Rhine-, or secondlv, tii.it they may perpe-
tually scrve for the convcnicncy of every body. Aster this manner we read that Hercules
built the first bridge that ever was made, over the 77/v;-, in the place where Rme was
2 afterwards
■JB*rn
*fi