Description d'un nouveau pont de pierre, construit sur la riviere d'Allier a Moulins.
Folio. (1) f., 47 pp. with 5 full-page and 11 folding copper engravings illustrating topography, the different stages of the construction project, and the engineering machinery used. Bound in contemporary cartonnage, spine reinforced with old vellum; some wear at extremities, esp. corners. The usual uniform light toning; minor paper flaw on p. 13-14. Dark impressions of the plates, all in excellent condition; very genuine and attractive. In the fifty years prior to publication, three bridges in stone-one built by the famous Hardouin Mansardand a fourth constructed of wood had collapsed at Moulins. Régemortes attributed their collapse to insufficient foundational support in the river's sandy bed, as the latter was subject to gradual erosion. By contrast, Régemortes placed his foundations on the river's banks, and gained additional structural support from a small island in the center, along with a complex system of embankments, levees and a canal. The work gained instant recognition and became a classic in the field of civil engineering.
First and only edition of a landmark book on bridge engineering, important not only for its bold solution for a complex site but also for many novel machines used in the course of construction. "Since its appearance the present work has been recognized for its great utility to engineers charged with the construction of other similar bridges." - Bibliotheca Mechanica. The numerous full-page and folding plates illustrate the bridge at various stages of completion as well as the machinery used-dredges, pile drivers, hoists and winches, etc.
* Roberts & Trent, Bibliotheca Mechanica, p. 274; NBG XLI. 837.
Price: $4,850.00