Roman bridge
Encyclopedia
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, were the first large and lasting bridges built. Roman bridges were built with stone and had the arch
Arch
An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...
as its basic structure. (see arch bridge
Arch bridge
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side...
). Most utilized concrete
Roman concrete
Roman concrete was a material used in construction during the late Roman Republic through the whole history of the Roman Empire. Roman concrete was based on a hydraulic-setting cement with many material qualities similar to modern Portland cement...
as well, which the Romans were the first to use for bridges.
Typology
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Vault (architecture)
A Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance. When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required...
and the dome
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
the Romans were the first to fully realize the potential of arches for bridge construction.
A list of Roman bridges compiled by the engineer Colin O'Connor features 330 Roman stone bridges for traffic, 34 Roman timber bridges and 54 Roman aqueduct bridges, a substantial part still standing and even used to carry vehicles. A more complete survey by the Italian scholar Vittorio Galliazzo found 931 Roman bridges, mostly of stone, in as many as 26 different countries (including former Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
; see right table).
Roman arch bridges were usually semicircular
Semicircle
In mathematics , a semicircle is a two-dimensional geometric shape that forms half of a circle. Being half of a circle's 360°, the arc of a semicircle always measures 180° or a half turn...
, although a few were segmental
Circular segment
In geometry, a circular segment is an area of a circle informally defined as an area which is "cut off" from the rest of the circle by a secant or a chord. The circle segment constitutes the part between the secant and an arc, excluding the circle's center...
(such as Alconétar Bridge
Alconétar Bridge
The Alconétar Bridge , also known as Puente de Mantible, was a Roman segmental arch bridge in the Extremadura region, Spain. The ancient structure, which featured flattened arches with a span-to-rise ratio of 4–5:1, is one of the earliest of its kind...
). A segmental arch is an arch that is less than a semicircle. The advantages of the segmental
Circular segment
In geometry, a circular segment is an area of a circle informally defined as an area which is "cut off" from the rest of the circle by a secant or a chord. The circle segment constitutes the part between the secant and an arc, excluding the circle's center...
arch bridge were that it allowed great amounts of flood water to pass under it, which would prevent the bridge from being swept away during floods and the bridge itself could be more lightweight. Generally, Roman bridges featured wedge-shaped primary arch stones (voussoir
Voussoir
A voussoir is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, used in building an arch or vault.Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. The keystone is the center stone or masonry unit at the apex of an arch. A...
s) of the same in size and shape. The Romans built both single spans and lengthy multiple arch aqueducts, such as the Pont du Gard
Pont du Gard
The Pont du Gard is a notable ancient Roman aqueduct bridge that crosses the Gard River in southern France. It is part of a long aqueduct that runs between Uzès and Nîmes in the South of France. It is located in Vers-Pont-du-Gard near Remoulins, in the Gard département...
and Segovia Aqueduct
Aqueduct of Segovia
The Aqueduct of Segovia is a Roman aqueduct and one of the most significant and best-preserved ancient monuments left on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Their bridges featured from an early time onwards flood openings in the piers, e.g. in the Pons Fabricius
Pons Fabricius
The Pons Fabricius or Ponte dei Quattro Capi, is the oldest Roman bridge in Rome, Italy, still existing in its original state. Built in 62 BC, it spans half of the Tiber River, from the Campus Martius on the east side to Tiber Island in the middle...
in Rome (62 BC), one of the world's oldest major bridges still standing
Roman engineers were the first and until the industrial revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
the only ones to construct bridges with concrete
Roman concrete
Roman concrete was a material used in construction during the late Roman Republic through the whole history of the Roman Empire. Roman concrete was based on a hydraulic-setting cement with many material qualities similar to modern Portland cement...
, which they called Opus caementicium. The outside was usually covered with brick or ashlar, as in the Alcántara bridge.
The impact that the bridges had on the Roman Empire was huge. It changed the way that the Roman’s travelled, because of the bridges Romans could cross large waterways, rivers, lakes and even ravines.
This gave them great opportunities so their communities and existing cities could grow beyond natural boundaries. Bridges helped the roman’s to become a greater and stronger empire though the processes to become the top empire.
The Romans also introduced segmental arch bridges into bridge construction. The 330 m long Limyra Bridge
Limyra Bridge
The Limyra Bridge is a late Roman bridge in Lycia, in modern south-west Turkey, and one of the oldest segmented arch bridges in the world. The long bridge is located near the ancient city of Limyra, and spans the Alakır Çayı river over 26 segmental arches...
in southwestern Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
features 26 segmental arches with an average span-to-rise ratio of 5.3:1, giving the bridge an unusually flat profile unsurpassed for more than a millennium. Trajan's bridge
Trajan's bridge
Trajan's Bridge or Bridge of Apollodorus over the Danube was a Roman segmental arch bridge, the first to be built over the lower Danube. For more than a thousand years, it was the longest arch bridge in the world, in terms of both total and span length...
over the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
featured open-spandrel segmental arches made of wood (standing on 40 m high concrete piers). This was to be the longest arch bridge for a thousand years both in terms of overall and individual span length, while the longest extant Roman bridge is the 790 m long Puente Romano
Puente Romano (Mérida)
The Puente Romano is a Roman bridge over the Guadiana River at Mérida, Spain. It is the longest surviving bridge from ancient times, having once featured an estimated overall length of 755 m with 62 spans. Today, there are 60 spans on a length of 721 m between the abutments...
at Mérida
Mérida, Spain
Mérida is the capital of the autonomous community of Extremadura, western central Spain. It has a population of 57,127 . The Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1993.- Climate :...
.
The late Roman Karamagara Bridge
Karamagara Bridge
The Karamagara Bridge is a late Roman bridge in the ancient region of Cappadocia in eastern Turkey, and possibly the earliest known pointed arch bridge.- Location and situation:...
in Cappadocia
Cappadocia
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...
may represent the earliest surviving bridge featuring a pointed arch.
Arch shapes
Early Roman arch bridges, influenced by the ancient notion of the ideal form of the circle, often describe a full circle, with the stone arch continuing underground. A typical example is the Pons FabriciusPons Fabricius
The Pons Fabricius or Ponte dei Quattro Capi, is the oldest Roman bridge in Rome, Italy, still existing in its original state. Built in 62 BC, it spans half of the Tiber River, from the Campus Martius on the east side to Tiber Island in the middle...
in Rome. Later, Roman masonry bridges rested mostly on semi-circular arches
Arch
An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...
, or, to a lesser extent, on segmental arches
Arch
An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...
. For the later design, which shows an early, local concentration in north-eastern Italy, but can be found scattered throughout the whole empire, the Limyra Bridge
Limyra Bridge
The Limyra Bridge is a late Roman bridge in Lycia, in modern south-west Turkey, and one of the oldest segmented arch bridges in the world. The long bridge is located near the ancient city of Limyra, and spans the Alakır Çayı river over 26 segmental arches...
, the Alconétar Bridge
Alconétar Bridge
The Alconétar Bridge , also known as Puente de Mantible, was a Roman segmental arch bridge in the Extremadura region, Spain. The ancient structure, which featured flattened arches with a span-to-rise ratio of 4–5:1, is one of the earliest of its kind...
and the Ponte San Lorenzo
Ponte San Lorenzo
The Ponte San Lorenzo is a Roman segmental arch bridge over the river Bacchiglione in Padua, Italy. Constructed between 47 and 30 BC, it is one of the very earliest segmental arched bridges in the world...
are prime examples. In addition, a number of other arch form make rare appearances, in some cases of which later deformations cannot be ruled out though. The late antique
Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world. Precise boundaries for the period are a matter of debate, but noted historian of the period Peter Brown proposed...
Karamagara Bridge
Karamagara Bridge
The Karamagara Bridge is a late Roman bridge in the ancient region of Cappadocia in eastern Turkey, and possibly the earliest known pointed arch bridge.- Location and situation:...
represents an early example for the use of pointed arches.
Typical characteristics
- Many are more than 5 meters wide
- Most of them slope slightly
- Many have rustic work
- The stonework has alternating stretcher and header courses ; i.e. one layer of rectangular stones is laid lengthwise, and the next layer has the ends facing outwards
- Stones linked with dovetail jointDovetail jointA dovetail joint or simply dovetail is a joint technique most commonly used in woodworking joinery. Noted for its resistance to being pulled apart , the dovetail joint is commonly used to join the sides of a drawer to the front....
s or metal bars - Indents in the stones for gripping tools to hold onto
(Source Traianus - An endeavour to identify Roman Bridges built in former Hispania
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
)
Examples
- For outstanding achievements of Roman bridge building, see List of ancient architectural records.
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142 BC
Year 142 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Calvus and Servilianus...
, the Pons Aemilius
Pons Aemilius
The Pons Aemilius , today called Ponte Rotto, is the oldest Roman stone bridge in Rome, Italy. Preceded by a wooden version, it was rebuilt in stone in the 2nd century BC...
, later named Ponte Rotto (broken bridge) is the oldest Roman stone bridge in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
The biggest Roman bridge was Trajan's bridge
Trajan's bridge
Trajan's Bridge or Bridge of Apollodorus over the Danube was a Roman segmental arch bridge, the first to be built over the lower Danube. For more than a thousand years, it was the longest arch bridge in the world, in terms of both total and span length...
over the lower Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
, constructed by Apollodorus of Damascus
Apollodorus of Damascus
Apollodorus of Damascus was a Greek engineer, architect, designer and sculptor who flourished during the 2nd century AD, from Damascus, Roman Syria. He was a favourite of Trajan, for whom he constructed Trajan's Bridge over the Danube for the 105-106 campaign in Dacia. He also designed the Forum...
, which remained for over a millennium the longest bridge to have been built both in terms of overall and span length. They were most of the time at least 2 meters above the body of water.
An example of temporary military bridge construction are the two Caesar's Rhine bridges
Caesar's Rhine bridges
Caesar's Bridge across the Rhine, the first two bridges to cross the Rhine River, were built by Julius Caesar and his legionaries during the Gallic War in 55 BC and 53 BC, respectively...
.
Large river bridging
Roman engineers built stone arch or stone pillar bridges over all major rivers of their Imperium, save two: the EuphratesEuphrates
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
which lay at the frontier to the rival Iranian empires
History of Iran
The history of Iran has been intertwined with the history of a larger historical region, comprising the area from the Danube River in the west to the Indus River and Jaxartes in the east and from the Caucasus, Caspian Sea, and Aral Sea in the north to the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman and Egypt...
, and the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
, the longest river in the world, which was 'bridged' as late as 1902 by the British Old Aswan Dam.
The largest rivers to be spanned by solid bridges by the Romans were the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
and the Rhine, the two largest European rivers west of the Eurasian Steppe
Eurasian Steppe
The Eurasian Steppe is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Biome. It stretches from Hungary to Mongolia...
. The lower Danube was crossed by least two (Trajan's Bridge
Trajan's bridge
Trajan's Bridge or Bridge of Apollodorus over the Danube was a Roman segmental arch bridge, the first to be built over the lower Danube. For more than a thousand years, it was the longest arch bridge in the world, in terms of both total and span length...
, Constantine's Bridge) and the middle and lower Rhine by four different bridges (Roman Bridge at Mainz, Caesar's Rhine bridges
Caesar's Rhine bridges
Caesar's Bridge across the Rhine, the first two bridges to cross the Rhine River, were built by Julius Caesar and his legionaries during the Gallic War in 55 BC and 53 BC, respectively...
, Roman Bridge at Koblenz, Roman Bridge at Cologne). For rivers with strong currents and to allow swift army movements, pontoon bridges were also routinely employed. Going from the distinct lack of records of pre-modern solid bridges spanning larger rivers, the Roman feat appears to be unsurpassed anywhere in the world until well into the 19th century.
See also
- Arch bridgeArch bridgeAn arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side...
- Bridges in city of Rome
- Record-holding bridges in antiquity
- Roman architectureRoman architectureAncient Roman architecture adopted certain aspects of Ancient Greek architecture, creating a new architectural style. The Romans were indebted to their Etruscan neighbors and forefathers who supplied them with a wealth of knowledge essential for future architectural solutions, such as hydraulics...
External links
- Traianus - Technical investigation of Roman public works
- The Waters of Rome: Tiber River Bridges and the Development of the Ancient City of Rome
- Livius.org: Pontes longi - Roman bog bridges