GAUTIER, H. Traité des Ponts, ou il est parlé de ceux des Romains, & de ceux des modernes; de leur construction, tant en maçonnerie qu’en charpente, & de leur disposition dans toutes sortes de lieux...Et une dissertations sur les culées, piles, voussoirs & poussées des ponts, & plusieurs devis & réglemens faits à ce sujet. Paris, Chez la Veuve Duchesne 1765. 4th edn.
8vo. (viii) + 436pp, engraved frontis. and 30 folding engraved plates. Contemporary mottled calf. A good copy. Gautier’s book is the first treatise on bridge building and it remained the standard work of reference throughout the 18th century. It covers all types of bridges in timber and masonry, including different kinds of moving bridges, bridges of boats etc. The book is highly practical and Gautier brought all his experience as an architect and engineer to bear on problems to be encountered during construction of foundations, the making of cofferdams, the driving of piles, the selection and sizing of materials, ways of avoiding scour, the sizing of arches to allow adequate flow during flood conditions, machinery both for lifting materials and for pumping out, ornamentation and defense of the completed structure etc. etc.In addition, Gautier illustrates and describes all Palladio's timber bridge designs as well as giving detailed information on some recently-built bridges in both masonry and timber, including the Pont Neuf and the bridge at Blois. Several of the English architects working on designs for Westminster bridge during the 1730s, notably Hawksmoor and John James, are known to have made use of it and indeed James wrote that its author “has deserved very highly of all who have either occasion or desire to be instructed in the business of building bridges”. The treatise first appeared in 1716 but the second edition of 1723 contained for the first time the all-important “Dissertation”. This is concerned with the theory rather than the practice of bridge building, discussing the sizing of abutments, piers and voussoirs, the thrust of different arch forms, the effect of impact on piles and piers etc. Gautier cites the design rules of Palladio, Serlio and Blondel and discusses the pioneering studies of scientists such as Parent into the strength of materials and structural behaviour. From his observations he then puts forward his own recommendations for width of abutments, span to depth ratios etc. He is thus one of the first engineers to attempt to apply theory to bridge design. This fourth edition is largely unchanged from its predecessors except for the addition of some new material, including papers on the Pont Royal, a timber bridge at Paris by Beausire (whose own description is used) and Sauveur’s observations on velocity.
£450
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