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, and partially into a vertical load on the arch supports. A viaduct (a long bridge) may be made from a series of arches, although other more economical structures are typically used today.
66-579: The Windsor Bridge or Windsor Town Bridge , an iron and granite arch bridge over the River Thames , connects the towns of Windsor and Eton in the English county of Berkshire . The Thames Path crosses the river here. The bridge carries pedestrian and cycle traffic, and crosses the Thames just above Romney Lock . It is a Grade II listed structure. It is likely that the first bridge on this site
132-677: A battle against the Sabines the Romans set one of their wooden bridges on fire, driving the enemy back. Other early wooden bridges used post and lintel construction. Pontoon bridges were built by laying boats from side to side across a river. During Julius Caesar 's campaign in Germany , he built bridges by driving wooden piles into the stream bed from floating platforms and fixing beams at right angles across them to create trestles. Trajan built another bridge supported by stone during
198-512: A deck arch bridge. Any part supported from arch below may have spandrels that are closed or open. The Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Bayonne Bridge are a through arch bridge which uses a truss type arch. Also known as a bowstring arch, this type of arch bridge incorporates a tie between two opposite ends of the arch. The tie is usually the deck and is capable of withstanding the horizontal thrust forces which would normally be exerted on
264-456: A flat downstream face, though some bridges, such as a bridge in Chester , are exceptions. Two niches carrying cornices were inserted between pilasters . They were then put above the framed starlings. Roman bridges had spandrels , between which images of dolphins were often inserted. They rarely had wide spans and thick piers with bow -shaped piers that used small openings to allow for
330-448: A foundation. At first, they used heavy timbers as deep foundations in the riverbed, but a later technique involved using watertight walls to redirect the water and then laying a stone foundation in the area. To aid in the construction of a foundation, work was exclusively done during the dry season . This ensured as many piers as possible were accessible. There is some evidence that in order to construct bridges rivers were diverted. Such
396-609: A length of 167 feet (51 m) and span of 123 feet (37 m), is the world's first wholly stone open-spandrel segmental arch bridge, allowing a greater passage for flood waters. Bridges with perforated spandrels can be found worldwide, such as in China ( Zhaozhou Bridge , 7th century). Greece ( Bridge of Arta , 17th century) and Wales ( Cenarth Bridge , 18th century). In more modern times, stone and brick arches continued to be built by many civil engineers, including Thomas Telford , Isambard Kingdom Brunel and John Rennie . A key pioneer
462-444: A new bridge in new materials. Construction on the current bridge was started in 1822 and it opened on 1 June 1824. The bridge has three arches , each comprising seven cast iron segments, and is supported in mid-stream by two granite piers. Built as a road bridge, tolls were originally levied on traffic crossing the bridge. Following protests and a court case, The Mayor &c. of New Windsor and ano. v Joseph Taylor , which went to
528-420: A practice might have been performed by Trajan when constructing his Danube bridge. Roman engineers might have diverted rivers using rudimentary methods and tools. Sometimes dirt was added to the foundation. The foundation of a bridge could either be built above or below water level . Building the bridge above water level resulted in a need for a wider span. Bridge's tunnels and spandrels were designed to decrease
594-448: A quantity of fill material (typically compacted rubble) above the arch in order to increase this dead-weight on the bridge and prevent tension from occurring in the arch ring as loads move across the bridge. Other materials that were used to build this type of bridge were brick and unreinforced concrete. When masonry (cut stone) is used the angles of the faces are cut to minimize shear forces. Where random masonry (uncut and unprepared stones)
660-531: A reconstruction during the reign of Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD). The Pons Fabricius, built in 62 BC during the late Republic, is the oldest Roman bridge that is still intact and in use. The largest Roman bridge was Trajan's Bridge over the lower Danube , constructed by Apollodorus of Damascus , which remained for over a millennium the longest bridge to have been built both in terms of overall and span length. Roman engineers built stone arch or stone pillar bridges over all major rivers of their Imperium , save two:
726-415: A result, masonry arch bridges are designed to be constantly under compression, so far as is possible. Each arch is constructed over a temporary falsework frame, known as a centring . In the first compression arch bridges, a keystone in the middle of the bridge bore the weight of the rest of the bridge. The more weight that was put onto the bridge, the stronger its structure became. Masonry arch bridges use
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#1732782413786792-533: A span of 1.3 metres (4 ft 3 in). Another bridge over the Bibey River in Galicia has a pier 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) wide, arches with a 4.3-metre (14 ft) span, 6-and-9-metre (20 and 30 ft) side arches, and an arch spanning 18.5 metres (61 ft). Wider spans increase the bridge's drainage, reduce water pressure on the spandrels , and reduced the bridge's weight. Trajan's Bridge over
858-454: 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 countries (including former Yugoslavia ). Roman arch bridges were usually semicircular , although a number were segmental arch bridges (such as Alconétar Bridge ), a bridge which has a curved arch that
924-430: A three-hinged bridge has hinged in all three locations. Most modern arch bridges are made from reinforced concrete . This type of bridge is suitable where a temporary centring may be erected to support the forms, reinforcing steel, and uncured concrete. When the concrete is sufficiently set the forms and falseworks are then removed. It is also possible to construct a reinforced concrete arch from precast concrete , where
990-613: A triangular corbel arch. The 4th century BC Rhodes Footbridge rests on an early voussoir arch. Although true arches were already known by the Etruscans and ancient Greeks , the Romans were – as with the vault and the dome – 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 ,
1056-428: Is a masonry, or stone, bridge where each successively higher course (layer) cantilevers slightly more than the previous course. The steps of the masonry may be trimmed to make the arch have a rounded shape. The corbel arch does not produce thrust, or outward pressure at the bottom of the arch, and is not considered a true arch . It is more stable than a true arch because it does not have this thrust. The disadvantage
1122-670: Is less than a semicircle. The Romans built both single spans and lengthy multiple-arch aqueducts , such as the Pont du Gard and Segovia Aqueduct . Their bridges often had flood openings in the piers, e.g. in the Pons Fabricius in Rome (62 BC), one of the world's oldest major bridges still standing. There were two main types of wooden bridge in Britain. Small timber bridges with girders , and large ones made of stone and wood. Throughout
1188-452: Is less than a semicircle. The advantages of the segmental 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 ( voussoirs ) of the same in size and shape. The Romans built both single spans and lengthy multiple arch aqueducts , such as
1254-432: Is that this type of arch is not suitable for large spans. In some locations it is necessary to span a wide gap at a relatively high elevation, such as when a canal or water supply must span a valley. Rather than building extremely large arches, or very tall supporting columns (difficult using stone), a series of arched structures are built one atop another, with wider structures at the base. Roman civil engineers developed
1320-402: Is used they are mortared together and the mortar is allowed to set before the falsework is removed. Traditional masonry arches are generally durable, and somewhat resistant to settlement or undermining. However, relative to modern alternatives, such bridges are very heavy, requiring extensive foundations . They are also expensive to build wherever labor costs are high. The corbel arch bridge
1386-610: The Alcántara Bridge . The Romans also introduced segmental arch bridges into bridge construction. The 330 m-long (1,080 ft) Limyra Bridge in southwestern Turkey 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 over the Danube featured open- spandrel segmental arches made of wood (standing on 40 m-high (130 ft) concrete piers). This
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#17327824137861452-557: The Dacian Wars . Roman engineers gradually developed new techniques to build bridges, such as oval-shaped bases and pierced bases to facilitate the movement of water. Many bridges would have marble reliefs or carvings , but these bridges were likely used exclusively by government officials because of the difficulty and expense of carving marble artwork. There were three major types of Roman bridges. These were wooden, pontoon, and stone bridges. A list of Roman bridges compiled by
1518-425: The Danube featured open-spandrel segmental arches made of wood (standing on 40 metres (130 ft) high concrete piers). This was to be the longest arch bridge for a thousand years both in terms of overall and individual span length. The longest extant Roman bridge is the 790-metre (2,590 ft) Puente Romano at Mérida . When building bridges across moving bodies of water, Roman engineers would begin by laying
1584-739: The Euphrates , which lay at the frontier to the rival Persian empires , and the Nile , 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 and the Rhine , the two largest European rivers west of the Eurasian Steppe . The lower Danube was crossed by least two ( Trajan's Bridge , Constantine's Bridge ) and
1650-531: The Pons Fabricius , and even after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire , engineers copied their bridges. Roman bridge-building techniques persisted until the 18th century: for example, the prevalence of arches in bridges can be attributed to the Romans. Roman bridges were much larger than the bridges of other civilizations. They could be anywhere from 4.6 to 18.3 metres (15 to 60 ft) long. By
1716-519: The Pont du Gard and Segovia Aqueduct . Their bridges featured from an early time onwards flood openings in the piers, e.g. in the Pons Fabricius in Rome (62 BC), one of the world's oldest major bridges still standing. Roman engineers were the first and until the Industrial Revolution the only ones to construct bridges with concrete , which they called Opus caementicium . The outside was usually covered with brick or ashlar , as in
1782-661: The Queen Elizabeth Bridge on the Royal Windsor Way (formerly the Windsor and Eton relief road) 0.25 miles (0.40 km) to the west. For those approaching from Old Windsor or Runnymede , the Albert Bridge provides an alternative route via Datchet 's High Street. In 2002 the bridge was refurbished, with repairs to the structure and new parapets including integral lighting. The bridge deck
1848-703: The Venetian Rialto bridge and the Fleischbrücke in Nuremberg (span-to-rise ratio 6.4:1) were founded on thousands of wooden piles, partly rammed obliquely into the grounds to counteract more effectively the lateral thrust. In China, the oldest existing arch bridge is the Zhaozhou Bridge of 605 AD, which combined a very low span-to-rise ratio of 5.2:1, with the use of spandrel arches (buttressed with iron brackets). The Zhaozhou Bridge, with
1914-565: The 15th century, even featured a span length of 72 m (236 ft), not matched until 1796. Constructions such as the acclaimed Florentine segmental arch bridge Ponte Vecchio (1345) combined sound engineering (span-to-rise ratio of over 5.3 to 1) with aesthetical appeal. The three elegant arches of the Renaissance Ponte Santa Trinita (1569) constitute the oldest elliptic arch bridge worldwide. Such low rising structures required massive abutments , which at
1980-473: The 2nd century BC stone was being used. Stone bridges used the arch as their basic structure , and most used concrete , the first use of this material in bridge-building. Following the conquests of Tarquinius Priscus , Etruscan engineers migrated to Rome, bringing with them their knowledge of bridge-building techniques. The oldest bridge in ancient Rome was the Pons Sublicius . It was built in
2046-456: The 2nd century BC, the Romans had further refined their bridge-building techniques, using stronger materials such as volcanic ash , lime and gypsum . Also, they began to use iron clamps to hold together bridges, constructing midstream arches, and pentagonal stones to allow for wider vaults . According to Canadian classicist John Peter Oleson , no known stone bridges existed in Italy before
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2112-527: The 2nd century BC. This view is not supported unanimously: Spanish engineer Leonardo Fernández Troyano suggested that stone bridges have existed since Pre-Roman Italy . Between 150 and 50 BC, many stone Roman bridges were built, the Pons Aemilius being the first. Engineers began to use stone instead of wood to exemplify the Pax Romana and to construct longer-lasting bridges. These were
2178-498: The 6th century BC by Ancus Marcius over the Tiber River . The Romans improved on Etruscan architectural techniques. They developed the voussoir , stronger keystones , vaults , and superior arched bridges. Roman arched bridges were capable of withstanding more stress by dispersing forces across bridges. Many Roman bridges had semicircular arches, but a few were segmental , i.e. with an arc of less than 180 degrees. By
2244-608: The Pons Sublicius, the oldest bridge in ancient Rome, and they were probably common across northern Europe and the Tyrrhenian coast ; however, because of their lack of durability few have survived to the modern day. These bridges were supported by wooden trestles spanned by horizontal timbers and reinforced with struts , and they were possibly cantilevered . In order to simplify the process of cutting trees, multiple shorter timbers were used. Wooden poles were driven into
2310-436: The abutments of an arch bridge. The deck is suspended from the arch. The arch is in compression, in contrast to a suspension bridge where the catenary is in tension. A tied-arch bridge can also be a through arch bridge. An arch bridge with hinges incorporated to allow movement between structural elements. A single-hinged bridge has a hinge at the crown of the arch , a two-hinged bridge has hinges at both springing points and
2376-416: The arch and the deck is known as the spandrel . If the spandrel is solid, usually the case in a masonry or stone arch bridge, the bridge is called a closed-spandrel deck arch bridge . If the deck is supported by a number of vertical columns rising from the arch, the bridge is known as an open-spandrel deck arch bridge . The Alexander Hamilton Bridge is an example of an open-spandrel arch bridge. Finally, if
2442-400: The arch is built in two halves which are then leaned against each other. Many modern bridges, made of steel or reinforced concrete, often bear some of their load by tension within their structure. This reduces or eliminates the horizontal thrust against the abutments and allows their construction on weaker ground. Structurally and analytically they are not true arches but rather a beam with
2508-422: The arch supports the deck only at the top of the arch, the bridge is called a cathedral arch bridge . This type of bridge has an arch whose base is at or below the deck, but whose top rises above it, so the deck passes through the arch. The central part of the deck is supported by the arch via suspension cables or tie bars, as with a tied-arch bridge . The ends of the bridge may be supported from below, as with
2574-499: The concrete. Travertine limestone and tuff were used to build Roman bridges, or they could be made of dry rubble or concrete. Often the building materials varied in smoothness , or rustication . Other bridges were made of bossed limestone combined with cornices, voussoirs and slabs. Sometimes bedrock , buttresses , and vaults were used to construct bridges. Bridges built in Iberia tended to have cylindrical vault geometry. In
2640-414: The design and constructed highly refined structures using only simple materials, equipment, and mathematics. This type is still used in canal viaducts and roadways as it has a pleasing shape, particularly when spanning water, as the reflections of the arches form a visual impression of circles or ellipses. This type of bridge comprises an arch where the deck is completely above the arch. The area between
2706-455: The earliest surviving bridge featuring a pointed arch, though it is now submerged by the Keban Dam . Roman arches were unable to properly fit into the arch springings, forcing the base of the arches upwards. In the 2nd century, arches become thinner, and spandrels became flat and pierced with holes. They were constructed using a wooden frame to hold wedge-shaped blocks in place. Afterwards
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2772-503: The eccentric Puente del Diablo (1282). The 14th century in particular saw bridge building reaching new heights. Span lengths of 40 m (130 ft), previously unheard of in the history of masonry arch construction, were now reached in places as diverse as Spain ( Puente de San Martín ), Italy ( Castelvecchio Bridge ) and France ( Devil's bridge and Pont Grand ) and with arch types as different as semi-circular, pointed and segmental arches. The bridge at Trezzo sull'Adda , destroyed in
2838-471: The empire for opus pontis . The Anglo-Saxons continued this practice with bricg-geworc , a literal translation of opus pontis . Built in 142 BC, the Pons Aemilius , later named Ponte Rotto (broken bridge), is the oldest Roman stone bridge in Rome , with only one surviving arch and pier. However, evidence suggests only the abutment is original to the 2nd century BC while the arch and pier perhaps date to
2904-414: The engineer Colin O'Connor features 330 stone bridges for traffic, 34 timber bridges and 54 aqueduct bridges , a substantial number 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 ; see right table). A segmental arch is an arch that
2970-486: The first half of the 2nd century BC, blocks of stone held together with iron clamps were used to aid in the construction of bridges. Although Roman bricks were used to build many bridges, they were far more commonly used to build aqueducts. Bridges built from bricks were rare as bricks often failed to survive erosion . The brick bridges that were built were generally used by the military , and they used construction techniques called opus vittatum and opus mixtum ,
3036-561: The first large-scale bridges ever constructed. Bridges were constructed by the Roman government to serve the needs of the military and the empire's administration. Sometimes roads and bridges were used for commercial purposes, but this was rare as boats better served the needs of the Roman economy . By the 2nd century Roman techniques had declined, and they had been mostly lost by the 4th century. Some Roman bridges are still used today, such as
3102-418: The flow of water. During construction, cranes were used to move materials and lift heavy objects. Some bridges had aprons . They were used to surround piers. Usually, the aprons covered the area of the stream bed near the bridge. Agrippa used ashlar and bricks to cover the outside of bridges and concrete for footings and water channels. Ashlar was used because large amounts of wood was needed to cast
3168-528: The foundation of the bridge would be put in this area. Cofferdams were constructed of many piles held together. It is possible the piles were interconnected, likely to improve positioning, waterproofness , or both. Cofferdams would have been sealed with packed clay. The cofferdams also needed to be consistently dry. In order to achieve this, engineers would use tools such as buckets to drain the water. Wooden bridges could be burned to stop an attacker, or dismantled quickly. For example, according to Livy , during
3234-509: The ground, and flat pieces of timber laid across them to create a flat surface. Other early techniques used to build wooden bridges involved barges , sometimes they were moored side by side. Workmen would raise weights, sometimes by rope, then it would fall down onto the piles. This method of construction, called pile driving , was necessary for wooden bridges to properly function. Because this technique created cofferdams , which are enclosures build to pump water out of an area. The base for
3300-467: The highest court at the time , these tolls were scrapped in 1897. In the 20th century the bridge carried the A332 , the busy main road between Slough and Windsor. In 1970, cracks were discovered in some of the cast iron segments, and despite local protests, but with almost equal support, it was decided to close the bridge to all motorised traffic. All such traffic between Windsor and Eton must now travel via
3366-550: The hill 200 metres (660 ft) to the south-west, is served by Great Western Railway trains to Slough for connecting services to London Paddington . Arch bridge Possibly the oldest existing arch bridge is the Mycenaean Arkadiko Bridge in Greece from about 1300 BC. The stone corbel arch bridge is still used by the local populace. The well-preserved Hellenistic Eleutherna Bridge has
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#17327824137863432-624: The latter alternating rows of bricks in opus reticulatum . Examples are bridges in Carmona , Palomas , Extremadura , and the Ponte della Chianche in Italy. One brick bridge in Ticino , Switzerland , has stone arches and brick spandrels. Bricks were sometimes used to create parts of bridges, such as vaults , piers with welding joints , and brick and mortar rubble . Early Roman bridges were wooden, including one constructed by Apollodorus and
3498-493: The middle and lower Rhine by four different bridges (the Roman Bridge at Mainz , Caesar's Rhine bridges , the Roman Bridge at Koblenz , the Roman Bridge at Cologne ). For rivers with strong currents and to allow swift army movements, pontoon bridges were also routinely employed. Judging by the distinct lack of records of pre-modern solid bridges spanning larger rivers, the Roman feat appears to be unsurpassed anywhere in
3564-516: The responsibility of multiple local municipalities. Their shared costs prove Roman bridges belonged to the region overall, and not to any one town (or two, if on a border). The Alcántara Bridge in Lusitania , for example, was built at the expense of 12 local municipalities, whose names were added on an inscription. Later, in the Roman Empire , the local lords of the land had to pay tithes to
3630-585: The rest of the Roman world, except for northern Europe, arched bridges made of stone were common. This was likely due to the climate and rivers of the regions. Rivers were much calmer and water levels were lower in the southern parts of the Empire. This ensured foundations were easy to construct. While in the northern parts it was much harder to lay down foundations due to the high water level, muddy water, and substantial waterflow. The costs of building and repairing bridges, known as opus pontis ("bridge work"), were
3696-455: The shape of an arch. See truss arch bridge for more on this type. A modern evolution of the arch bridge is the long-span through arch bridge . This has been made possible by the use of light materials that are strong in tension such as steel and prestressed concrete. "The Romans were the first builders in Europe, perhaps the first in the world, fully to appreciate the advantages of the arch,
3762-473: The time of Augustus around the turn of the 1st millennium the maximum span of Roman bridges increased from around 24 metres (79 ft) in 142 BC to 35 metres (115 ft). The Ponte Sant'Angelo , built during the reign of Hadrian , has five arches each with a span of 18 metres (59 ft). A bridge in Alcántara has piers 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) wide, 47 metres (154 ft) high, and arches with
3828-409: The use of pointed arches . Roman piers were thick enough to support the pressure of an arch. Stone arches allowed bridges to have much longer spans. Usually, iron clamps covered in lead were used to build piers. Because of poor performance underwater, Roman piers were often destroyed over time. Bridges that survived to the modern day were often furnished with cut waters on the upstream side and
3894-433: The vault and the dome." Roman bridge The ancient Romans were the first civilization to build large, permanent bridges . Early Roman bridges used techniques introduced by Etruscan immigrants , but the Romans improved those skills, developing and enhancing methods such as arches and keystones . There were three major types of Roman bridge : wooden, pontoon, and stone. Early Roman bridges were wooden, but by
3960-790: The weight of the bridge and function as flood arches . The Pons Aemilius probably had stone piers, with wooden roadbeds and arches. They were rebuilt in stone in 142 BC, and either extended from the abutments to the piers , or vice versa. Throughout Roman history, brick or stone arches were used to support bridges' weight. Roman engineers built bridges with one long arch instead of several smaller ones. This practice made construction easier, as they only needed to build one arch on land, instead of many in water. Roman arches were semi-circular and used voussoirs with equal dimensions and conic sections with equal circumference. Later in Roman history arches started to become semi-circular . Sometimes arches were segmented , or not semicircular. This technique
4026-486: The wooden frame was removed, but the weight of the keystone , the last block to be put in place, held it together. Bridges had abutments at each end and piers in the middle, these two design features carrying most of the bridge's weight. Abutments could be constructed in the many arches of a bridge, allowing each to be built separately. Piers were usually twenty-six feet thick and framed with starlings . The late antique Karamagara Bridge represents an early example of
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#17327824137864092-402: Was Jean-Rodolphe Perronet , who used much narrower piers, revised calculation methods and exceptionally low span-to-rise ratios. Different materials, such as cast iron , steel and concrete have been increasingly used in the construction of arch bridges. Stone, brick and other such materials are strong in compression and somewhat so in shear , but cannot resist much force in tension . As
4158-478: Was built in the 12th century AD. By 1172 it is recorded that Osbert de Bray derived over £4 from tolls levied on vessels passing beneath the bridge. In 1242, permission was granted for oak trees to be felled in Windsor Forest for the purpose of constructing a new bridge between Windsor and Eton. By 1819 the wooden bridge, presumably rebuilt many times over its life, had deteriorated and it was decided to build
4224-508: Was invented by the Romans. Segmented arches allowed greater amounts of flood water to pass, preventing the bridge from being swept away and allowing it to be lighter. The Limyra Bridge in southwestern Turkey has 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. The late Roman Karamagara Bridge in Cappadocia in eastern Turkey may represent
4290-486: Was replaced using Yorkstone and seating areas provided. The bridge remains in use by pedestrians and cyclists only; it provides an excellent walking route from central Windsor to Eton's High Street, and a good viewing spot for both the river and Windsor Castle . About 80 metres (260 ft) east of the bridge is Windsor & Eton Riverside railway station , served by South Western Railway trains to London Waterloo , while Windsor & Eton Central railway station , up
4356-603: 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 (2,590 ft) long Puente Romano at Mérida . The late Roman Karamagara Bridge in Cappadocia may represent the earliest surviving bridge featuring a pointed arch. In medieval Europe, bridge builders improved on the Roman structures by using narrower piers , thinner arch barrels and higher span-to-rise ratios on bridges. Gothic pointed arches were also introduced, reducing lateral thrust, and spans increased as with
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