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Limes Hydraulic Cement and Mortars

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On its surface, this book is an exceptionally thorough record of the materials and methods employed by 19th Century military engineers in building the Third System of American Seacoast fortifications. In providing us with a clear picture of the state and level of their technical understanding, and of their economic considerations, Gillmore has given us a window into this period and provides a blueprint for performing historically authentic restoration/preservation work.

Beyond that, however, we also can get some sense of the man - painstakingly thorough in his assessments, highly educated in both the English and French texts and technologies of the day, and duly skeptical of anything that cannot be conclusively demonstrated and proven. For those with a grasp of the technical details upon which Gillmore elaborates, there can also be found an element of dry, incisive wit.

The materials and works upon which Gillmore dwells still stand, in large measure, because 19th Century American engineers got it right. For those in tune with it, the book calls out across the span of some 135 years, and implores us to use the same thoroughness of study, skepticism and focus to get it right today. If you have not read and re-read this book, you cannot truly consider yourself a serious preservationist.