Cutwaters,262,316. The French words for cutwaters,avant-becandarrière-bec, would be very useful to us if we translated them as “forebeak” and “aftbeak.” British pontists need a good many technical terms.
Cutwaters,262,316. The French words for cutwaters,avant-becandarrière-bec, would be very useful to us if we translated them as “forebeak” and “aftbeak.” British pontists need a good many technical terms.
Devil’s Bridges,66,67,70,170,184,296. Many other bridges have been attributed to the devil. In plate 58 of the treatise by Hann and Hosking, you will find the Devil’s Bridge over the Serchio near Lucca; there is also a very interesting account of it,p. cxxxv. It is a gabled bridge with one big arch and four smaller ones. The span of the big arch is 120 feet, and its height above low-water level is more than 60 feet. The roadway is very narrow, being only 9 feet wide, and it turns abruptly at the wings, as if to close the entrances against wheeled traffic. The quoins of the smaller arches and all the voussoirs of the wide arch are of dressed stone. Every other part of the bridge is rubble masonry bound together with most excellent mortar. The courses of stone in the wide arch vary from 8 inches to 21 inches deep, but only a few have the latter depth. Yet this slight bridge, which is nothing more than a broad arcaded wall, has withstood many centuries of floods. On October 2nd, 1836, for example, a head of water more than 30 feet deep swept roaring through the five round arches and against the four piers at the rate of 8 miles an hour; yet no harm was done. If this bridge was built about the year 1000A.D., as Hann and Hosking say, it is somewhat older than the controversial date of Albi Bridge.
Devil’s Bridges,66,67,70,170,184,296. Many other bridges have been attributed to the devil. In plate 58 of the treatise by Hann and Hosking, you will find the Devil’s Bridge over the Serchio near Lucca; there is also a very interesting account of it,p. cxxxv. It is a gabled bridge with one big arch and four smaller ones. The span of the big arch is 120 feet, and its height above low-water level is more than 60 feet. The roadway is very narrow, being only 9 feet wide, and it turns abruptly at the wings, as if to close the entrances against wheeled traffic. The quoins of the smaller arches and all the voussoirs of the wide arch are of dressed stone. Every other part of the bridge is rubble masonry bound together with most excellent mortar. The courses of stone in the wide arch vary from 8 inches to 21 inches deep, but only a few have the latter depth. Yet this slight bridge, which is nothing more than a broad arcaded wall, has withstood many centuries of floods. On October 2nd, 1836, for example, a head of water more than 30 feet deep swept roaring through the five round arches and against the four piers at the rate of 8 miles an hour; yet no harm was done. If this bridge was built about the year 1000A.D., as Hann and Hosking say, it is somewhat older than the controversial date of Albi Bridge.