‹‹‹ Vitr. 6.8.5 | Table of Contents | Vitr. 6.8.7 ›››
6To remedy this evil, the thickness of the wall must be proportioned to the weight of earth against it, and, in front, counterforts (anterides) or buttresses (erismæ) are carried up with the wall, at a distance from each other equal to the height of the foundations, and of the same width as the foundations. Their projection at bottom is equal in thickness to the wall, and diminishing as they rise, their projection at top is equal to the thickness of the work:
6The following means must be taken to provide against such a defect. First, let the walls be given a thickness proportionate to the amount of filling; secondly, build counterforts or buttresses at the same time as the wall, on the outer side, at distances from each other equivalent to what is to be the height of the substructure and with the thickness of the substructure. At the bottom let them run out to a distance corresponding to the thickness that has been determined for the substructure, and then gradually diminish in extent so that at the surface their projection is equal to the thickness of the wall of the building.