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Construction
Published in Paul F. McCombie, Jean-Claude Morel, Denis Garnier, Drystone Retaining Walls, 2015
Paul F. McCombie, Jean-Claude Morel, Denis Garnier
The quality of the arrangement of stone can also attest to the technical skill of the builder and the richness of his creative mind. Some arrangements or decorations, or even playfulness in the form of the construction may express cultural traditions or artistic intentions – these also demonstrate the skill of the builder. ‘Opus quadratum and Roman’: When the stones are cut ‘square’, that is, with two right angles to their facing, and are arranged in carefully coursed masonry with excellent bonding, the resulting regular arrangement of stone is called ‘opus quadratum’ (Figure 5.5). The opus quadratum is built with rectangular stones with horizontal courses that can vary in thickness along their length (Figure 5.5). In the ‘Roman opus’, each bed is of rigorously constant height. This arrangement can be made with granite, sandstone, limestone and sometimes schist as well. Both of these opus types require substantial work in cutting stone and adjusting its size, especially in comparison with the tradition of using the stones as they are found. A substantial additional skill is required from the waller, and the process takes much longer than methods that focus on the strength of the construction rather than a rigid protocol for its appearance. The observer of a completed wall might suppose the blocks to be rectilinear throughout the thickness of the wall, making them easy to place level and well supported, but these rectangular blocks may only form the outer face of the wall. It is also possible that only the outer face of a stone is rectangular, and the stone may even be supported on wedges to ensure the correct alignment of that face. The skilled waller will nevertheless have built a wall that is structurally sound, even though inordinate effort has gone into providing an appearance to please the imperial masters! Herringbone pattern and fishbone pattern, ‘Opus spicatum and piscatum’: The ‘opus spicatum’ (meaning like ears of corn, also called laying herringbone) and opus piscatum (referring to the fishbone) are two arrangements already in use in Roman times and still traditionally found in some areas (Figure 5.6). The stones are inclined, and the direction of inclination of each course is reversed compared to that of the preceding course. In the case of herringbone pattern, the beds are nested by overlapping the upper and lower ends of the stones, whereas in fishbone pattern, the stones rest on the ends of the stones below without overlap, resulting in a well-defined line of contact. This type of arrangement of stone is achieved with flat stones or oblong pebbles.
A permanent wireless dynamic monitoring system for the Colosseum in Rome
Published in Journal of Structural Integrity and Maintenance, 2018
Giorgio Monti, Fabio Fumagalli, Giuseppe Quaranta, Marco Sgroi, Marcello Tommasi
In addition to stone materials, the Colosseum is also distinguished by the massive use of bricks used for arches and columns. The reinforcement of the vaults, the floors (opus spicatum) and of old concrete (opus caementicium) used both for part of the foundations and as core of the walls that were formed by mortar (materia) between two brick facings which act as disposable formwork and the subsequent hand drilling of stone and brick scrap (caementa).