New Method of Fortification by Sluices

C

4th FORM.

A technical architectural diagram illustrating a foundation plan, labeled "4th FORM." The diagram shows a masonry structure in cross-section. At the top is a triangular masonry section built of individual stones or bricks, with the letter "F" at the apex and "A" in the center. This section rests on a horizontal base line marked with "B" at the left end and "C" at the right end. Below this base, two long, vertical parallel foundation piles or walls extend downward, ending in sharp points. The top corners of these piles are marked "D" (left) and "E" (right), and the bottom points are marked "G" (left) and "H" (right). The area above the horizontal line and surrounding the upper triangle is filled with a stippled or dotted texture, likely representing earth or fill.

Having discussed the foundations of sloped stone structures (dos-d'âne)original: "Dodanes"; literally "donkey's back," a ridged masonry profile used to protect the base of fortifications from water erosion by diverting the current., I shall now come to the foundations of sluicesoriginal: "Escluses"; gates or locks used to manage water levels in a fortification's moat or canal system., providing to that end the plan of this 5th Figure, which, like the 3rd Figure, also consists of rows of dovetail pilesoriginal: "pieux à queuës d’arondelles"; heavy wooden stakes with interlocking joints that, when driven into the ground side-by-side, create a continuous and watertight structural wall. (it being understood that there are also as many piles without dovetails within as the thickness of the walls and buttressesoriginal: "contreforts"; external supports built against a wall to help it resist the outward pressure of water or earth. requires to rest upon them), between which A B and C D signify