. The Civil engineer and architect's journal, scientific and railway gazette. Architecture; Civil engineering; Science. no THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. [April, SKEW ARCHES. Sir,—I am surprised that among the many correspondents who ad- dress yi)U, there are so few of them either theoretical or practical, who touch iipoi) tlie siil)ject of slvew arches, a subject wliich ))re5en(s so wide a field of observation and reniarlc. Among the very few works which we possess on this point, Afr. Buck's seems t(i hold tliehitjhest place, although even in it there seems, to me several things
. The Civil engineer and architect's journal, scientific and railway gazette. Architecture; Civil engineering; Science. no THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. [April, SKEW ARCHES. Sir,—I am surprised that among the many correspondents who ad- dress yi)U, there are so few of them either theoretical or practical, who touch iipoi) tlie siil)ject of slvew arches, a subject wliich ))re5en(s so wide a field of observation and reniarlc. Among the very few works which we possess on this point, Afr. Buck's seems t(i hold tliehitjhest place, although even in it there seems, to me several things which would be the better for alteration or amenilment. Altliough he is ])articular in giving the mathematical formula fur calculating the necessary angles and lines, yet lie assumes some things, as granted, which lie at the very foundation of his prin- ciples; for example, he observes tliat the lines of the courses of (he intrados should be made perpendicular to a line drawn between the extremities of the developement of the face of the arch, without ever giving any reason for it, or making any remark on the subject, farther than that it sbould be so. Now it strikes me that a considerable alter- ation maybe made in this for the better. LetAHCDEFCin the aiuiexed) be the developement of a semicircular arch, then. there is a curve A G H, such that a tangent drawn from any point in this curve is perpendicular to the face of the arch at the said point, as, the tangent G K, drawn from the point G is perpendicular to the developement of the face of the arch B, G C, at the said point G. Now if the courses were drawn similarly to this as shown in that part of the figure A, B, C, F, then the arch (according to Mr. Buck, in the be- ginning of liis seventh chapter) would be perfectly secure. Unfor- tunately however, the difhculty of execution would be so great, if it is not an impossibility, that this could never be applied vigorously to practice, and the only way left is to make
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