Alconétar Bridge
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The Alconétar bridge on the river Tagus in Spain may be the oldest stone segmental arch bridge in the world, predating other examples such as the Zhaozhou Bridge in China and Ponte Vecchio in Europe (both of which are still in use today). The bridge is Roman and its construction is attributed to Trajan's architect Apollodorus of Damascus[citation needed], who also built the timber-arched Trajan's Bridge in the early 2nd century.
The bridge was relocated from its original position when the Alcántara reservoir was created in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain [1]. Two original segmental arches were preserved, of 6.7m and 7.2m span, and a span-to-rise ratio of between 4 and 5, as were segmental arches from a later date [2]. There is evidence from the position of piers that segmental spans up to 10m may have been present in the original construction.
[edit] References
- ^ Troyano, Leonardo Fernández, "Bridge Engineering - A Global Perspective", Thomas Telford Publishing, 2003
- ^ "A brief analysis of the Roman bridges of the way La Via de la Plata", Limón, Hortelano & Fernández
[edit] External links
- Dimensioned elevations showing the surviving arches
- Photograph showing three of four surviving arches
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