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Paris Manuscript I — 176

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Bibliothèque de l'Institut de France, Paris

I2 34 v. Corso tortuoso dei fiumi:

Del modo del dirizzare i fiumi essendo con tardi corso, perché quanto il fiume è più diritto, esso si fa più veloce e rode forte e consuma l'argine e 'l fondo, onde a questi tali fiumi è necessario allargarli forte, ovveramente mandarlo per molte torture, o dividerlo in molti rami. E se 'l fiume per molte torture si facessi pigro e paduloso per le sua molte torture, allora tu lo debbi in modo dirizzare che l'acque piglino soffiziente moto e non che abbia a dare ruine di ripe o d'argine.

E quando farà profondità vicino ad alcuna argine, allora si debbe tale loco riempiere di gabbioni con fascine e ghiara, a ciò non cavi in modo sotto l'argine, che rovinandola abbia poi 'l fiume a fare un gomito nella tua possessione o villa e dirizzarvi suo corso.

The winding course of rivers

On the way to straighten rivers that have a slow course: because the straighter the river is, the faster it becomes, and it erodes strongly and wears away the bank and the bed. Hence with such rivers it is necessary to widen them greatly, or else to send them through many bends, or to divide them into many branches. And if the river, through its many windings, should become sluggish and marshy on account of those many bends, then you must straighten it in such a way that the waters take up sufficient motion, yet not so much that it should cause ruin to the shores or the banks.

And when it forms a deep place near some bank, then that spot should be filled with gabions of fascines and gravel, so that it does not scour under the bank in such a way that, ruining it, the river then comes to make an elbow into your property or estate and directs its course there.

Straightening a slow, winding river

Widening, meanders and gabions to control erosion

Hydraulics Civil Engineering

Leonardo explains that a straighter river runs faster and cuts more fiercely into its banks and bed, so a sluggish river should be widened, led through many bends, or split into branches. But too many bends make a river lazy and marshy, so it must then be straightened just enough to keep the water moving without wrecking its shores. Where the current digs a deep hole beside a bank, he directs filling it with gabions of fascines and gravel to stop the river from undercutting the bank and swinging an elbow into one's property.

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Balancing speed and erosion in river training

A straighter river becomes faster and erodes its banks and bed, so a slow river should be widened, led through many bends, or divided into branches. If bends make it sluggish and marshy, it must be straightened only enough that the water keeps sufficient motion without ruining the shores.

Filling scour holes with gabions

Where the current scours a deep place next to a bank, that spot should be packed with gabions of fascines and gravel. This prevents the water from undercutting the bank, which would otherwise collapse and let the river bend into one's estate.

Reader's Edition — described with AI from the e-Leo transcription.