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Reviews of Late Books Selected Welded Constructions, Vol. 5, Shipbuilding (Ausgewhalte Schweis- skonstruktionen. Bd. (5. Schiffbau) ; compiled by Lottman. Collected and edited by the welding committee of the Association of German engineers (Fachausschuss fur Schweisstechnik im Verein deutscher Ingenieure) ; Ber- lin 1933, VDI—Verlag GMBH; 8 pages of text, 14% x 8% inches, and 50 plates of illustration with German and Enzg- lish explanatory remarks; cloth cover with sliding clamp back; supplied by MARINE REVIEW, and in Europe by the Penton Publishing Co. Ltd., Caxton House, London. Welding offers the signal advantage of enabling constructional work to be produced better and at lesser cost than by the hitherto known working meth- ods. Among the special advantages gained by the application of welding are such features as greater strength, lower weight, better tightness, greater resistance to corrosion, and the possi- bility of obtaining smoother surfaces. The advantages of welding have of late been recognized in a growing mea- sure by shipbuilders; as a matter of fact, the application of welding in shipbuilding has reached a high level. Still, only comparatively few engi- neers have been in touch with these developments and are familiar with the methods of construction. The present volume entitled “Shipbuilding” of the “Selected Welded Constructions” series now offers all engineers the possibility to learn from the experi- ences thus far gained, and thereby places them in a position to take full advantage of this new? method of con- struction. Its peculiar features make it necessary to adopt new designs and methods of assemblage. Only where these two requirements are being con- sidered in a way that in every respect corresponds to welding needs, can it be expected that this method of cou- struction will show its inherent su- periority. The examples showing how welding is applied to the hull construction of large seagoing ships will be of special interest. The thorough-going applica- tion of welding, however, has been less handicapped in the case of river craft and special vessels, and of ac- cessories for seagoing ships, than in the construction of the seagoing ships themselves. As we are still in the midst of this development, the ex- amples taken from the construction of river craft and from some special branches of shipbuilding make up a comparatively large section of the book. The progress of shipbuilding from the riveted to the welded design may perhaps be compared to that made about 80 years ago, when the steel ship 38 replaced the wooden ship. Just as in those days, it will now be necessary that designers and builders of ships acquaint themselves with the special features of the new method of con- struction. 'The present work, which has been compiled by a welding ex- pert of many years’ experience in ship- building will be a valuable aid to them. Curs de Navigalie Fluviala si Mari- tima (A Course in River and Marine Transportation), by George Popescu, inspector general of ports and water- ways of Rumania, professor at the Polytechnic college, University of Bu- charest; in the Rumanian language; in three volumes; 618 pages, 280 draw- ings; published by Tipografia Vrem- ea, Strada Carol, 10, Bucharest, Ru- mania, 1932; supplied by MARINE RE- view, and in Europe by the Penton Publishing Co. Ltd., Caxton House, London. Review by R. S. MacElwee, Ph. D. This work is a thorough examina- tion of the various engineering works necessary to inland and marine com- merce. The reviewer gained a high regard for the engineering ability and practical experience of the author while delegate to the International Navigation congress at Cairo in De- cember, 1925, both sitting upon a sub- committee concerning port possibili- ties for petroleum products. There were many conversations aboard the “Imperitul Trian” of the Rumanian national merchant marine between Alexandria and Constanza and many more conferences during the time the reviewer was making a survey and study of the ports of Rumania. Pro- fessor Popescu’s successor, Mr. Var- dela, now director of the ports and waterways of Rumania, was the third member of these conferences and in- spections. The ports these gentlemen have built for Rumania and the river im- provements, especially the bank pro- tection and corrections of the Danube, indicate visibly the high professional knowledge and technical skill of these public engineering officials in solving the ports and river problems of their country. Professor Popescu’s book covers the usual topics and their subdivisions of the general subject matter of inland waterways. It begins with the general principles of stream flows and the characteris- tics of the principal waterways of Ru- mania. Then follows a technical dis- cussion of river hydraulics, the meas- urement of currents and fluctuations of water levels in streams. Chapters II and III discuss erosion, MARINE REVIEwW—September, 1933 also flow of water in various channel prisms. Chapter IV deals with bulk- heads and revetments with sketches showing a large number of examples of bulkheads, revetments and shore protection structures. This chapter is very full and eventually develops an equally detailed discussion of deep quay walls of harbors, discussing such walls on naturally solid subsoil founda- tions and upon soft and unstable sub- soils. There then follows with numer- ous drawings, examples and discus- sions of many types of quay walls for deep waters, cellular gravity quay walls, solid gravity quay walls, high foundation pile and relieving plat- form types, etc. Chapter IV returns to river banks and river bed control, correction and protection by wing dam and_ such. Naturally, most of these works cited are from the River Danube with which Dr. Popescu is most intimately fa- miliar. This discussion, including river dredging, concludes volume one. In volume II appears discussions on: (1) “free flowing rivers,’ (2) “canalized rivers,’ (3) “artificial canals,” (4) “marine channels.” There follows a considerable collection of mathematical formulae and:a thorough discussion of dams, locks and slack water pool improvements of natural waterways by dams and locks similar to the improved Ohio river in the United States. This leads into a dis- cussion of dams and locks of various types with elaborate mathematical cal- culations: Movable dams including types similar to those on the Mohawk river in New York on the route of the Barge canal are discussed. There is a full description with nu- merous drawings of lock design, also calculations of lateral thrusts against gravity lock walls. The design of lock gates is fully considered. Lock gates of the mitre and sliding type, also various types of lock valves—stoney sector (Taintor), cylinder, butterfly, etc. Many types of locks and valves and culvert arrangements are shown. There is no difficulty in reading the drawings. EHcluze, lock in Rumanian is enough like Hcluse, French—WSecture Longitudinala Rumanian — Section Longitudinal, French, to make Ru- manian an easy language to follow in this work. The first section of Volume III covers artificial canals with additional dis- cussion of locks. The following part discusses river navigation and meth- ods of towing on open rivers. This volume closes with a discus- sion of the regulation of the Danube, especially the extensive jetties to maintain navigation through the Su- lina mouth. This is the work of ar international commission. ‘The Sulina mouth is the middle one of three mouths, the Chilia mouth to the north and St. George mouth to the south. There are many small (Continued on Page 40)