Water Overflowing Its Barriers Undermines the Dike
Red-chalk studies of falling water and embankments, with an observation on scour
In red chalk (and drawn with the page inverted) Leonardo sketches water spilling over the crest of a masonry dam or dike, one study showing the cascade tearing down the face of a bricked embankment. The accompanying note observes that water pouring over its barriers undermines and ruins them from the far side. The caption groups the images as figures of waterfalls and 'ripari' (embankments). Further untranscribed red-chalk jottings appear at the foot of the sheet.
On this page
Water scouring the back of its barrier
Leonardo notes that water which brims over the top of its dikes goes on to undermine and destroy those same barriers from the opposite side. The remark records how an overtopping current erodes and collapses the downstream face of an embankment. It is a compact observation on scour rather than a designed remedy.
Cascade over a bricked embankment
A red-chalk study at left shows water tumbling down the face of a coursed masonry wall or dike, its threads of current raking downward. Additional loose sketches above suggest arcing sheets of falling water. The drawings illustrate the falling-water and barrier motifs named in the caption.