20 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[Jan 



1828. Piitilished "a Iirief statement of tlie proceedings respecting the new 

 law courts, at Westminster." 



1 829- 1833. Designed and executed the New State Paper Oflice in Duke- 

 street, Westminster. 



1831. Designed and executed the ante-room to the Sculpture Gallery of 

 Sir Francis Chantry, It. A. ; Seplemher 21, received ttie honour of Knight- 

 hood from his Majesty King William IV. 



IS32. Printed for private distrihution, a " Description of the bonse and 

 museum on tljc north side of I.incoln's-inu-fields." 



1833. Oct. IG. Kfsigned the appointment of Architect to the Bank. 



li^33. April 20. Procured an Act of P,irlianient for settling his museum, 

 lihrary, and works of art in I.incoln's-inn-tields, for the henefit of the puhlic. 



1^.35. March. Presented with imjuessions in hronze, silver, and gold, of a 

 medal, struck in his honour liy the architects of England ; received a medal 

 from the Socii'it' libre des Ileaux Arts at Paris; elected member of the Aca- 

 demy of Fine Arts at Vienna. 



Ih36. Elected consigliere corrispondente of the Academy of Fine Arts at 

 Parma ; elected honorary member of the Societe libre des Beam Arts, at 

 Paris, December 9. 



Jb37. January 20. Expired at his house in Lincoln's-inn-fields. 



PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 



HARBOUR OF OSTIA. 



On the Ancient Harbour of Ostin. Paper read at the Institution of 

 Civil Kiicineers, by SlR John IiEnme, President. 



Ntic Harbour of Oxtia — Tlie river Tiber appears to have been used 

 exclusively as ilie port of Rome until llie reign of the Emperor C'hiudius, 

 vho, conceiving it to be utterly hopeless to improve it against the obstacles 

 (if nature, miiceived the bold and original idea of making au entirely new 

 port alti'^ellicr independent of the 'liber. Havins once come to this de- 

 termination, he communicated his views to his engineers, and asked their 

 o^iinion as to the sum which would be required to carry it iuto eft'ect ; they 

 replied that the sum would be so great that if he kuevv the amount he 

 ■would never think of undertaking it. Not at all discouraged by this an- 

 swer, which, on the contrary, only served to confirm Claudius in his reso- 

 liilion, he ordered the necessary preparations to be made for commencing 

 the work. The siluation selected for the new harbour, was a little to the 

 Iiorllivvaid of the then mouth of the Tiber, with the entrance pointing 

 N.W., by which means it would be better protected against the somberly 

 and westerly gales, and farther removed from the deposit of alluvial mat- 

 ter brought down by the Tiber; slill, however, it was too near to be effec- 

 tual, for the projection of the new works only served as jetties to check 

 the current along the sliore, and thus to occasion the accumulation of a 

 deposit as great as that occurring at the mouth of the Tiber itself. It 

 could hardly, however, be expected that the knowledge of the day was 

 fuflicient lo enable the engineers to predict all the consequences of this 

 state of things. The effects of the Tiber were evident, and it was natu- 

 rally concluded, that by abandoning that river, all danger from deposit 

 would be avoided, and it was only by experience that their error was dis- 

 covered. Accordingly, the Emperor C'laiidius determined to construct an 

 entirely new harbour, independent of the Tiber, but at the same time hav- 

 ing a connexion with it, to be used according to circumsiances. 



The ancient writers agree geneially as lo the principles of the design, 

 construction, and extent of the celebrated port of Claudius. The general 

 plan of the harbour is shown in fig. I. It consisted of an extensive low- 

 viater outer harbour, 15, and a small inner harbour, F, The outer harbour 

 15, was formed by two artificial moles, D E, of 1900 feet in length, pro- 

 jecting nearly at right angles from the shore; each mole consisted of two 

 parts or arms ; the one nearest to the shore was perfectly straight for about 

 y.50 fiet, the remainder formed a quadrant of a circle 1800 feet long, the 

 breadth, which was equal throughout the whole length, being 180 feet. 

 IJelween the outer extremities of the two piers or moles was a distance, C, 

 of aboutUOO feet. Immediately in the centre of the entrance, or opening 

 between the two moles, was an isolated or detached mole, 780 feet long 

 and 400 feet wide, forming as it were au island, and leaving an opening at 

 each extremity between il and the opposite pier, or mule, of about 140 

 feet, thus giving a double entiance lo the harbour. The distance between 

 the two piers at the shore, m- the total length of the harbour, was about 

 8000 feel, the width 2330 feet, and the surface extending over about 130 

 acres; about one- third of this space, however, was excavated out of the 

 main land. Immediately in front of the outer entrance, there was a small 

 inner harbour, F, 1200 feet long and 520 feet wide, covering an area of 

 about 7 acres ; this inner harbour was divided from the outer harbour by 

 another isolated or detached mole, G, of the same length as the outer one, 

 with an entrance at each end 120 feet wide. 



Immediately behind the harbour were two parallel cuts or canals, H J 

 comniuuicating both wilh the Tiber and iNlediterrranean. The one nearest 

 to the harbour communicaleil with it at each end of the inner harbour so 

 that the vessels could proceed eiiher up the Tiber to Rome, or they mi'ght 

 go to sea, or in fact niiuhl make use of it eiiher for entrance or departure 

 us the wind and other circumstances might be favourable, The other 



canal was quite independent of the harbour and of the first canal. It was 

 probably used for vessels going direct to Rome, or proceeding lo sea with- 

 out slopping at the harbour. Across both canals there were communicat- 

 ing bridges and probably stop gates, particularly on the one next to tlie 

 harbour, so that the waters of the Tiber might be turned into the harbour, 



or be prevented from communicating with it, according as circumstances 

 might render such ^teps advisable. The lock does not appear to have been 

 then known. The circular part of the norlheru outer mole was open, or 

 constructed upon arches, so as to give free access to the current, but was 

 at the same time built sufficiently solid to break the sea aud produce tran- 

 quility within. The circular part of the southern outer mole was solid, to 

 prevent the deposit of the Tiber from entering the harbour. At the ex- 

 lieiuities of the detaclied mole, and also of the onler and inner moles, were 

 towers for the purpose of defence, and for drawing strong chains across 

 the entrances, iu order to prevent the access aud egress of vessels when 

 necessary; thus converting the port into a close harbour (\i/ii)i' KAeirrocr), 

 as used by the Phoenicians at Tyre, and subsequently adopted by tlie 

 Greeks and Romans. The upper part of the moles was covered with 

 sheds or colonnades, which were used probably for landing goods and for 

 promenades; the interior harbour was surrounded wilh magazines aud 

 warehouses. In the centre of the detached mole, at the entrance to the 

 outer harbour, was placed the );reat lighthouse, described by Suetonius ; 

 the base of which rested upon piles, and was founded by a caisson, formed 

 out of the vessel which brought the great obelisk from Egypt. The depth 

 of this harbour does not appear, but judging from the nature of the coast 

 and the extent lo which the piers were carried out into the sea, it could not 

 have been less than from 15 feet to 20 feet, at low water, and llial of the 

 inner harbour not less than 8 feet to 10 feet, to have enabled it to accom- 

 modate the vessels used at the time. 



After the reign of Cladius, the inner harbour was found too small and 

 inconvenient; Trajan therefore enlarged it by nwkiug an entirely new 

 inner harbour or basin, K. This was of au hexagonal form, each side being 

 11 00 feet, the diameter being about 1800 feet, and the superlicial area being 

 about 70 acres. The entrance between it aud the outer harbour was 120 

 feet in width, and was formed by part of the inner canal made by Clau- 

 dius to communicate both wilh his harbour and the Tiber. The remainder 

 of this canal and of the other one by Claudius, was tilled up, and a new 

 one, L, nearly parallel to theiu, was made about 400 feet lo 500 feet nearer 

 lo Ihe Tiber, communicating wilh the hexagonal basin, and was no doubt 

 used for the same purpose as the canals of Claudius before mentioned. 

 The inner harbour was also surrounded with quays aud storehouses upoa 



