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Centuries
of Civil Engineering
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Zonca, Vittorio (b. ca. 1580)
Novo teatro di machine et edificii per varie et sicure operationi.
Padova: Pietro Bertelli, 1607.
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Leonardo wrote a note in his manuscript collection of papers known as
the Codex Atlanticus about the walls and foundations of the lock at
San Marco:
"The lock of San Marco is of masonry on piles. The floor of
the whole lock rests on a bed of gravel and lime, which, while still
soft, was covered with crossbeams of green wood whose heads were
buried in the same mortar. The other sides were laid close and spiked.
In addition, the crossbeams were framed and nailed to the
spikes."
Whether the Italian engineer Zonca ever read this note or not, he
certainly was aware of Leonardo's design for the lock. The engraving of a
canal lock in Zonca's book, which describes and illustrates a host of
mechanical achievements of his time, provides a realistic interpretation
of Leonardo's design. Three small boats are ready to leave the lock, an
oval shaped brick basin, just as the miter gate is opened by workmen
straining at the windlasses. The miter gate follows Leonardo's design, but
Zonca also showed a single-leaf gate at the other end of the lock.
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