Leonardo: navigation and hydraulic engineering
Together with Leonardo da Vinci we discover the art of "moving water from one place to another".
PADDLE BOATNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo’s interest early on in hydraulic engineering was documented in his letter written to Ludovico il Moro, in which he stated that he knew how to conduct water from one location to another. In the years of his first Florentine period, Leonardo demonstrated interest for water and for the potentialities of exploiting it, from channels of communication to utensil machinery.
Draga cavafango, particolare by Luigi TursiniNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Watercraft and navigation
Leonardo’s studies for watercraft are interwoven with his research into the art of war and military engineering. Among the most interesting examples are some studies for paddlewheel boats, datable to the first Florentine period.
Observation of the milanese water channels
For Leonardo, the vivacity of the Lombard school of hydraulics was a source of study and curiosity, constituting an extremely important educational experience during his Milan years. Leonardo studied not only large rivers like the Adda and the Ticino, but also smaller watercourses, like the Nirone. Above all, it was the Navigli, the city’s artificial canals, that attracted his attention.
Draga cavafango, particolare by Luigi TursiniNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
These boats, actuated by human force by means of a series of gears, reference the Tuscan engineering tradition of gear mechanisms.
Observation of the Navigli
Leonardo dedicated a great amount of attention particularly to the Naviglio Grande (Grand Canal), executing drawings of it on various folios, and highlighting its economic importance not only in terms of transportation but also for irrigation. Besides the canals, Leonardo studied other works of hydraulic engineering in Lombardy. During his stay in Vigevano in 1493, he described an ingenious work of land reclamation for marshlands effected by means of a water stairway.
Studies and proposals for improvements
As he observed and surveyed the locks in use in the Milanese waterway system, Leonardo described and perhaps projected certain improvements, although it is difficult to establish with certainty whether his drawings represent already existing construction works or original proposals.
Waterways in Venice, Tuscany, Lazio, and France
After leaving Milan, Leonardo was in service to the Republic of Venice in 1500. Because of concerns about the advancing Turkish army, he was sent to Friuli where he conceived a defensive blockade of watercourses to flood a part of the Isonzo valley between Gorizia and Gradisca.
Leonardo in Florence
After returning to Florence, he was charged in 1503 to study various hydraulic engineering projects, often for military purposes. Further, in developing all his knowledge accumulated in Lombardy, Leonardo drafted a project for joining Florence with the sea by means of a navigable canal that would pass Prato and Pistoia on to Pisa.
Leonardo in Rome
During his stay in Rome during 1513-15 when he was in service to Giuliano de’ Medici, Leonardo was fascinated by the enterprise of land reclamation of the Pontine Marshes to the south of Rome, which during the Renaissance was considered to be impossible. Though the project was approved by Pope Leo X, it was never realized because he died.
Vertically sliding sluice gate
This study for a sluice gate refers to the possibility of constructing locks for overcoming altitude differences along watercourses having irregular flow. This sluice gate regulated the opening of the lock by means of two successive movements: it was raised by the rotation of the bar about itself and, once having reached its highest point, it was lifted by a winch. Using this method it was possible to allow even tall watercraft with sails to pass through the lock.
POLE HAMMERNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Pile driver
The pile driver is a machine with a beating maul, commonly used in pile work operations for canal locks, foundations, and consolidation of banks of rivers. Leonardo executed this drawing shortly after his return to Florence.
The machine is constituted of a large, cylindrical maul that runs between two vertical guides. The upper end of the maul is hooked to a guide connected with a winch actuated by a toothed wheel.
When the maul reaches its highest point, two recesses in the tracks cause the spring to open that was holding the maul. The maul then falls and its weight causes the pile to drive into the ground. The operation is repeated various times, until the pile has been driven in to the desired depth.
Ponte canale con chiusa a porte battenti, particolareNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Canal bridge
This canal bridge, drawn by Leonardo in the years after his return to Florence, allows a watercraft to pass over another watercourse by means of a lock. The lock is constituted of a basin closed upstream and downstream by two pairs of flap gates, allowing watercraft to pass over the height difference of the water.
Once the craft enters into the lock, the gates upstream close, and in the downstream gate, a small, secondary door opens allowing discharge of the water until the water level in the lock reaches the same height as the downstream canal.
Ponte canale con chiusa a porte battentiNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
After this, the gates open to allow the watercraft to continue along its course. In this manner the opening of the gates would be facilitated, since they did not have to overcome the resistance of the water pressure in order to open.
Lock with flap gates
This model of a lock is of the flap gate type: the two parts of the gate close together to form an obtuse angle with one another, pressing against the groove of a level difference allowing them better to resist the pressure exerted by the water.
Studio dei portelli di chiusa. Campagna diagnostica (documentazione)National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Doors of the locks
The doors of the locks of the Martesana canal, described by Leonardo da Vinci. They tell a fundamental episode of the history and identity of the city of Milan.
After 50 years in the Museum's depots, a study, investigation and restoration operation began in 2016, leading to a future display in the Museum galleries.
Wooden gates of the San Marco lock for the Martesana canalNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
DEA DREDGENational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Maritime dredge
This watercraft for dredging maritime ports is formed of two hulls united by a platform. The platform has a long slot down the center, through which passes a double cable connected to two wheels fixed at the extremities of the hulls.
An excavating bucket is fixed to the double cables. Six anchors per side are mounted at the extremities of the hulls. The double cable allowed easy drawing and lifting of the bucket, even when the forces of traction could be significant. The numerous anchors allowed counterbalancing of the efforts the dredge was submitted to.
MUD DREDGENational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Mud-digging dredge
This dredge for cleaning the bottoms of canals or of lake basins was studied by Leonardo during his last years in Milan and resumes analogous drawings by Francesco di Giorgio Martini. It is positioned upon two boats and formed of a cylindrical drum on which four arms are mounted terminating with dredging blades.
MUD DREDGENational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
The conformation of the cases “bearing the earth from the bog” allows the mud or stones to fall into a raft moored between the two boats. The depth of the excavation is regulated by the vertical adjustment of the drum to which the four blades are fixed. An interesting point is the design for advancement of the dredge by means of the mooring cable: while the wheel turns to excavate mud, a cord connected to the bank wraps around the drum’s axle, causing the dredge to move along in the excavation zone.
Exhibition by
Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia
Leonardo da Vinci
Via San Vittore 21
Milano
www.museoscienza.org
