arches, vaults, domes -- designing and planning

[JBergm6756@xxxxxxx]

Try:

"The Construction of Gothic cathedrals: A study in Medieval Vault Erection"
by John Fitchen.

and

"The Stone Skeleton: Structural Engineering of Masonry Architecture" Jacques
Heyman

These deal extensively with formwork/centering, how arches, vaults and domes
carry loads, etc. However, they don't deal with some hands on issues, such as
different bonding methods between the individual stones. For instance in the
Heyman book on page 49, he shows two different barrel vaults, and quite
correctly points out how they have the same pathology. However, one of them
is laid in such a way (a series of arches with no horizontal bonding) so as
to encourage separation. This is not a shortcoming of the book, but rather a
different focus.

Greg Goldner
Hadrian Stone Masonry Inc.