Alconétar Bridge

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The Alconétar bridge may be the oldest Roman stone segmental arch bridge historic remain in the world, predating other examples such as the Zhaozhou Bridge in China and Ponte Vecchio in Europe(both are still in use today). The bridge's construction is attributed to Trajan's architect Apollodorus of Damascus, who also built the timber-arched Trajan's Bridge in the early 2nd century.

The bridge was relocated from its original position across the Tagus when the Alcántara reservoir was created in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain . 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 . There is evidence from the position of piers that segmental spans up to 10m may have been present in the original construction.

References

External links

• Dimensioned elevations showing the surviving arches
• Photograph showing three of four surviving arches

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Last updated on Monday February 18, 2008 at 10:52:05 PST (GMT -0800)
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