Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 1, 1802).djvu/183

BAN «onsequendy rendering them to- tally useless. 3. The whole embankment should, as much as possible, be acted in an uniform line, and by the concurrence of die proprie- tors of both banks ; because the general effect to be aimed at, con- sists in rendering the course of the stream straighter than it was before. All bends should be made less abrupt, by keeping the embankment farther from the river in ail convex lines of the natural bank, and approaching to it nearer, where the latter is concave. — Thus the action of the waters on the embankment will be c derably diminished, and the dura- tion of the work insured. On the same principles, we ought to pro- ceed in fencing rivulets, or brooks, which empty themselves into a larger river ; and whatever bends are given at its mouth to the two lines of embankment, they should always be made less acute than those of the natural brook ; at the same time an opportunity should be taken, of reducing the angle of this transverse brook, or, in other words, of conducting it with a more gentle flexion into the main river. 4. Particular care should be taken, to cover the outside of the dyke with compact pieces of turf, or green sods, closely united. For if it admits the water, there is great danger -of drenching the interior and more porous part of the wall, while the statical pressure of this fluid body tends to burst die bank on the land side 3 and thus the labour of months or years may be suddenly destroyed. Hence too great attention cat not be bestowed on making and keeping it perfe&ly tight ; so that the whole be one BAN f r 59 .continued fine turf, and i ' spot must without delay be ■ fully covered with fujm . sods : nor should the rat holes be neglected. Lastly, it deserves to be remark- ed, that a dry earthen bank - firmly conjoin' ' 3-roots, will scarcely ms the p ith a elope of forty-five degrees, v.! i canal conveying a re . : cannot be supported, even with such a declivity. Those banks, however, the base of which is as four to three of dieir height, will stand without danger in a moist and this is not only the slope usuall them, but also cb- d in the spontaneous <■; tions of Nature, in the cha. neb which she forms in conducting rills and rivulets through the higher and steeper grounds. This natural form possesses both mechanical and mathematical properties, which justly claim the admiration of those who adopt her beneficent hints and maxims. -XKS of the Sea, are those s or elevations of the ground or bottom of the ocean, that may be compared to ridges or icli the land is more or less intersected. Sea-banks sometimes project above the sur- face of the water, or at least leave this element so shallow, as to pre- vent a vessel from remaining afloat, ery common in the North and Baltic Seas, so that navigators are obliged constantly to use the plummet and compass, to discover their distance and situation. As, hov,r> <-, di.>e ele- vations' frequently endanger the lives of our brave mariners, wc have inserted this article, not f itli a view of intimidating those naval heroes,