Waterproofing Engineering for Engineers, Architects, Builders, Roofers and Waterproofers (Classic Reprint)

That it has developed from a crude understanding and practice is evident from the fact that the ancient Romans would waterproof their structures by building foundation walls so thick that water could not possibly percolate through them. Searching through both ancient and modern annals for a history of the subject, we are consistently confronted by the scarcity of reliable literature on waterproofing; but it is quite well ascertained that the early Egyptians used asphalt to waterproof the foundations of the pyramids, that they waterproofed the ground floors of some houses by internal and external applications of bituminous material, and used it also in the construction of cisterns, silos, and other works where waterproofing was necessary: that the Romans were among the first to apply successfully the early principles of waterproofing and were the first successful manufacturers of hydraulic cement. This cement was a natural cement similar to our present day puzzolan cement. Of course, waterproofing engineering as practiced by both theE gyptians andR omans must be taken in a restricted sense, for the art, as now developed and as we comprehend it to-day, was quite unknown then. Conditions Creating Necessity of Water roofing. It has been quite definitelv proven that water is practically a universal solvent; i.e., given time and water, especially sub-surface water, very few things will resist the deteriorating effect of the latter. At For earliest history of asphalt, see: Manufacture of Varnishes and Kindred Industries by Livache and Mclntosh, Vol. 2, p. 3D.
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)

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