Wooden Bridge in Thailand |
|
| Ancestor | Log bridge |
|---|---|
| Descendant | Beam bridge |
| Carries | Pedestrians, vehicles |
| Span range | Short to medium range |
| Material | Wood, may be topped with rammed earth for vehicles |
| Movable | Yes |
| Design effort | Low |
| Falsework required | No |
A wooden bridge is a bridge that uses wood as a building medium. One of the first forms of bridges, the wooden bridge has been used since ancient times, among them the Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden crossing upper Lake Zürich in Switzerland. The prehistoric timber piles discovered to the west of the Seedamm date back to 1523 BC. The first wooden footbridge led across Lake Zürich, followed by several reconstructions at least until late 2nd century AD. when the Roman Empire built a 6 metres (20 ft) wide wooden bridge. Between 1358 and 1360, Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, built a 'new' wooden bridge across the lake that has been used to 1878 – measuring approximately 1,450 metres (4,760 ft) in length and 4 metres (13 ft) wide. On April 6, 2001, the reconstructed wooden footbridge was opened, being the longest wooden bridge in Switzerland. The Kapellbrücke is a 204 metres (669 ft) long bridge crossing the Reuss River in the city of Lucerne in Switzerland. It is the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe, and one of Switzerland's main tourist attractions.
In ancient times, people mostly used trees, (letting them fall over the river so they could walk over it)
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Wooden_bridges Wooden bridges] at Wikimedia Commons