\paperw6795 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 \b VAULT\b0 - Curved ceiling or roof of a room or part of it. Derived from the arch, it was already used in ancient Roman a
rchitecture. Of the different types, the simplest is the barrel or tunnel vault, semicylindrical in shape, that discharges the load uniformly on two parallel walls. The intersection of two barrel vaults at right angles produces a cross or groin vault, ma
de up of four segments known as vaulting cells, bounded by bands in relief called ribs. In this case the load is shifted onto the ribs, which carry it in turn to the four supports of the vault itself.\par
