482 



BRIDGE. 



Bridge. 



Roman 



which, in Europe, would not be'honoured with those 

 ' appellations. 



We have also heard of a bridge over a river named 

 Laffrany in China, which joins two mountains toge- 

 ther, said to be of one arch oOO feet span, and 750 feet 

 in height j but having no distinct authority for this, 

 and its being so very unlike to those described in Du- 

 halde's work, we mention it merely as a matter de- 

 serving of more enquiry. 



But it is of real importance to notice the descrip- 

 tion given by Mr Barrow of the mode in which some 

 of the arches in China are constructed. " Each stone 

 from five to ten feet in length, is cut so as to form 

 the segment of the arch, and in such casi-s there is no 

 key stone ; ribs of wood fitted to the convexity of 

 the arch, are bolted through the stones by iron bars 

 fixed into the solid part ot the bridge ; sometimes they 

 are without wood, and the curved stones are mortised 

 into long transverse blocks of stone." 



In Egypt and India, from whence the western 

 world derived the rudiments of many sciences and 

 arts, the construction of the arch was totally un- 

 known ; for the magnificent temples of the latter, 

 and the splendid tombs of the former, were produced 

 by cutting matter away in the manner of sculpture. 

 There is no trace of the arch met with in the ancient 

 works of Persia or Phoenicia ; and even the Greeks, 

 who created a school of architecture and sculpture, 

 and carried it to the utmost degree of perfection 

 of which it was capable, have a very doubtful claim 

 to the knowledge of the arch. It is certain they never 

 used it as an external feature of their temples, much 

 less in the construction of bridges over rivers; and it 

 has been observed, that the great Pericles, while he 

 adorned the city of Athens with splendid edifices, 

 never constructed a stone bridge over the small river 

 Cephisus, although upon the most frequented road 

 to that city. It is therefore to the Romans that the 

 western wcrld is indebted for this singularly useful 

 application of architecture. 



There is no certainty respecting the time when the 

 Romans first used arches : If the Cloacae of Rome 

 were really constructed in the time of the elder Tar- 

 quin, the use of arches must have then been well 

 known ; and from that prince's origin and connection, 

 it is probable that they would be the labours of Tus- 

 can workmen. It has been positively said by some, 

 that the Romans received their knowledge of the arch 

 from the Tuscans, who were at that time much far- 

 ther advanced in the arts than their Italian neigh- 

 bour:;. If this is admitted, the first knowledge of 

 the arch is at least very intimately connected with 

 Greece, the Tuscans being acknowledged as a colony 

 of Dorians. 



Whatever doubtful circumstances attend the claim 

 to the invention of the arch, we know, from the best 

 historical evidence, that the Romans first applied it 

 to works of general use, as in forming aqueducts for 

 conveying water to large cities, constructing bridges 

 over rivers, vaulting magnificent temples, and in erect- 

 ing monuments for recording the actions of their 

 greatest heroes. 



We at present consider only their bridges. At 



or adjacent to Rome, Gautier mentions eight bridges. 



1. Pons jlilius, built by the Emperor Adrian, and 



samed after him, It is saul to have once had a- cover 



It is now called Brid 



of bronze supported by 42 columns. 

 Sancto Angelo. 



2. A triumphal bridge, the ruins of which are now 

 seen in the Tiber. The emperors and consuls passed 

 over this bridge when they were decreed a triumph. 



3. Pons Janiculensis, now Ponto Sixtus, it having 

 been rebuilt by Pope Sixtus IV. in 1475. 



4. Pons Cestius, at present St Bartholomew. It 

 was rebuilt by the Emperor Valentinian. 



5. Pons Fabricius, now Ponto Caspi. 



6. Pons Senatorius, at present Sancta Maria. 



7. Pons Horatius formerly Sublicius, built of stone 

 by Horatius Codes; rebuilt by Emilius Lepidus; the 

 ruins are still seen in the Tiber. 



8. Pons MiK-in?, which is about two miles out of 

 Rome upon the Flaminian way. 



Palladio gives a description of the bridge of Rimi- 

 ni, built by the Romans also upon the Flaminian way, 

 which has five arches ; likewise that of Vicenza upon 

 the Bachliglione, of three arches ; and of one upon the 

 Rerone, of three arches. 



And Martinellis mentions a bridge near Narni, on 

 the road from Rome to Loretto, built by Augustus. 

 It consisted of four arches, the first 75 feet span and 

 102 high: the spans of the others were 135, 114, and 

 142 feet. This appears to be the most magnificent 

 bridge the Romans constructed in Italy. 



In the provinces the Romans built many bridges, 

 some very magnificent. We shall instance two in Spain, 

 both in the province of Estremadura. That of Me- 

 rida is upon the river Guadiana. Don Antonio Ponz, 

 in his Fiage de Espana, says he found its length 1300 

 paces ; Vargas reckons 64 arches. In the time of 

 Philip III. one of the large arches towards the middle 

 was destroyed by an inundation, on which account 

 three or four adjoining were rebuilt in 1610. 



But perhaps the most magnificent of all the Ro- 

 man bridges, and one of the nobles., monuments of 

 antiquity, is, the bridge of Alcantara upon the Tagus, 

 at the town of that name. The town has probably 

 taken its name from that structure, as the word at- 

 canlara, in the Arabic, signifies a bridge. It con- 

 sists of six arches : its whole length is 670 Spanish 

 feet, and from the bottom of the river to the road- 

 way the height is 205 feet. For these Roman bridges, 

 see Plate LXXXII. 



Besides these ancient bridges which still exist, or 

 are correctly described, we have accounts of many 

 others ; as that of Darius upon the Bosphorus of 

 Thrace, Xerxes upon the Hellespont, Pyrrhus upon 

 the Adriatic Gulf, Cassar upon the Rhine, and 

 Trajan upon the Danube ; but these were construc- 

 ted for the temporary purposes of war. The descrip- 

 tions are vague, some of them improbable, and they 

 belong more to military than civil architecture. 



Theancientaqueducts, which were magnificent, will 

 be described under the head of INLAND Navigation. 



From the destruction of the Roman empire, to the 

 establishment of modern Europe, it is in vain there 

 to enquire for the progress, or expect the improve- 

 ment of bridge building. In this, however, we ought 

 to except the fine works of the Moors in Spain, par- 

 ticularly the bridge of Cordova over the Guadalqui- 

 vir, built by Issim, the son and successor of Abduel 

 Akman, the first of the Moorish kings of Spain. 



When the arts began to revive in Europe,, it was 



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