Arch

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For other uses, see Arch (disambiguation).

A masonry arch
1. Keystone 2. Voussoir 3. Extrados 4. Impost 5. Intrados 6. Rise 7. Clear span 8. Abutment

An arch is a structure capable of spanning a space while supporting significant weight (e.g. a doorway in a stone wall). True arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and in Persian ziggurats (see Chogha Zanbil). True arches were also built by the Babylonians in the 6th century BC (see Ishtar Gate ). The arch then spread to Europe and was adopted by the Ancient Greeks, Etruscans, and Ancient Romans. The arch became an important technique in medieval European cathedral building as well as Islamic architecture. Across the ocean in Mexico and Central America, Mesoamerican civilizations created various types of corbelled arches, such as with the interior tunnels in the Great Pyramid of Cholula and the many styles of corbelled arches built by the Mayan civilization. In Peru, the Inca civilization used a trapezoidal arch in their architecture. The arch is still used today in some modern structures such as bridges.

1 History
2 Construction
3 Technical aspects
4 Other types
5 Gallery
6 References
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] History

Roman bridge in Alcántara, Spain

Arch of the General Staff Building in Palace Square, St Petersburg

The incomplete mausoleum of Adil Shah, Barakaman (Ali Roza-II), which means twelve arches in Urdu

Arches were first created and used by the Mesopotamian, Persian, Harappan, Egyptian, Babylonian, and Assyrian civilizations. Many arches were used in buildings and in monumental architecture, such as in the Ishtar Gate and the ziggurat of Chogha Zanbil. Other arches were used in underground structures such as drains where the problem of lateral thrust is greatly diminished.

From the Middle East, knowledge of arch building spread to Europe. The ancient Romans learned the arch from the Etruscans (who originally migrated out of the Middle East), refined it and employed it for above ground buildings. Throughout the Roman empire, their engineers erected arch structures such as bridges, aqueducts, and gates. They also introduced the triumphal arch as a military monument. Vaults began to be used for roofing large interior spaces such as halls and temples, a function which was also assumed by domed structures from the 1st century BC onwards.

The Roman arch is semicircular, and built from an odd number of arch bricks (called voussoirs). An odd number of bricks is required for there to be a capstone or keystone, the topmost stone in the arch. The Roman arch's shape is the simplest to build, but not the strongest. There is a tendency for the sides to bulge outwards, which must be counteracted by an added weight of masonry to push them inwards. The Romans used this type of semicircular arch freely in many of their secular structures such as aqueducts, palaces and amphitheaters.^{[citation needed]}

The semicircular arch was followed in Europe by the pointed Gothic arch or ogive (derived from the Islamic pointed arch in Moorish Spain), whose centreline more closely followed the forces of compression and which was therefore stronger. The semicircular arch can be flattened to make an elliptical arch as in the Ponte Santa Trinita. The parabolic and catenary arches are now known to be the theoretically strongest forms. Parabolic arches were introduced in construction by the Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí, who admired the structural system of Gothic style, but for the buttresses, which he termed “architectural crutches”. The catenary and parabolic arches carry all horizontal thrust to the foundation and so do not need additional elements.

The horseshoe arch is based on the semicircular arch, but its lower ends are extended further round the circle until they start to converge. The first examples known are carved into rock in India in the first century AD, while the first known built horseshoe arches are known from Aksum (modern day Ethiopia and Eritrea) from around the 3rd–4th century, around the same time as the earliest contemporary examples in Syria, suggesting either an Aksumite or Syrian origin for the type of arch.^[1] It was used in Spanish Visigothic architecture, Islamic architecture and mudéjar architecture, as in the Great Mosque of Damascus and in later Moorish buildings. It was used for decoration rather than for strength.

In Mexico and Central America, Mesoamerican civilizations created various types of corbelled arches, such as with the interior tunnels in the Great Pyramid of Cholula and the many styles of corbelled arches built by the Mayan civilization.

[edit] Construction

Isometric view of a typical arch

An arch requires all of its elements to hold it together, raising the question of how an arch is constructed. One answer is to build a frame (historically, of wood) which exactly follows the form of the underside of the arch. This is known as a centre or centring. The voussoirs are laid on it until the arch is complete and self-supporting. For an arch higher than head height, scaffolding would in any case be required by the builders, so the scaffolding can be combined with the arch support. Occasionally arches would fall down when the frame was removed if construction or planning had been incorrect. (The A85 bridge at Dalmally, Scotland suffered this fate on its first attempt, in the 1940s). The interior and lower line or curve of an arch is known as the intrados.

Old arches sometimes need reinforcement due to decay of the keystones, known as bald arch.

The gallery shows arch forms displayed in roughly the order in which they were developed.

Triangular arch	Round arch or Semi-circular arch	Segmental arch	Unequal round arch or Rampant round arch
Lancet arch	Equilateral pointed arch	Shouldered flat arch -see also jack arch	Three-foiled cusped arch
Horseshoe arch	Three-centered arch	Elliptical arch	Inflexed arch
Ogee arch	Reverse ogee arch	Tudor arch	Catenary or Parabolic arch

[edit] Technical aspects

When made from stone this becomes a true arch bridge, requiring stone approaches for structural stability. Chinese moon bridge

The arch is significant because, in theory at least, it provides a structure which eliminates tensile stresses in spanning an open space. All the forces are resolved into compressive stresses. This is useful because several of the available building materials such as stone, cast iron and concrete can strongly resist compression but are very weak when tension, shear or torsional stress is applied to them. By using the arch configuration, significant spans can be achieved. This is because all the compressive forces hold it together in a state of equilibrium. This even applies to frictionless surfaces. However, one downside is that an arch pushes outward at the base, and this needs to be restrained in some way, either with heavy sides and friction or angled cuts into bedrock or similar.

This same principle holds when the force acting on the arch is not vertical such as in spanning a doorway, but horizontal, such as in arched retaining walls or dams.

Even when using concrete, where the structure may be monolithic, the principle of the arch is used so as to benefit from the concrete's strength in resisting compressive stress. Where any other form of stress is raised, it has to be resisted by carefully placed reinforcement rods or fibres. (See Arch bridge.)

[edit] Other types

The Delicate Arch, a natural arch

The Arc de Triomphe, Paris; a 19th century triumphal arch modeled on the classical Roman design.

A blind arch is an arch infilled with solid construction so it cannot function as a window, door, or passageway.

A dome is a three-dimensional application of the arch, rotated about the center axis. Igloos are notable early structures making use of domes.

Natural rock formations may also be referred to as arches. These natural arches are formed by erosion rather than being carved or constructed by man. See Arches National Park for examples.

A special form of the arch is the triumphal arch, usually built to celebrate a victory in war. A famous example is the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France.

A vault is an application of the arch extended horizontally in two dimensions; the groin vault is the intersection of two vaults.

[edit] Gallery

The dry stone bridge, so called Porta Rosa (4th century BC), in Elea	Arch of Constantine, Rome, Italy commemorating a victory by Constantine I in 312 AD	The Gateway Arch in Saint Louis, Missouri; a sculpture based on a catenary arch	Doubled round archivolts - Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Assunção, Linhares da Beira, Portugal.
Stonework arches seen in a ruined stonework building - Burg Lippspringe, Germany	Several arches at the Casa Simón Bolívar in Havana, Cuba	Arches in the Armenian monastery of Geghard.