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Alcántara Bridge
Alcántara Bridge
Crosses	Tagus River
Locale	Alcántara, Spain
Designer	Caius Julius Lacer
Design	Roman arch bridge
Material	Stone
Total length	194 metres (640 ft)
Width	8 metres (26 ft)
Height	71 metres (230 ft)
Longest span	28.8 metres (94 ft)
Number of spans	6
Load limit	52 t
Beginning date of construction	104
Completion date	106
Coordinates	39°43′21″N 6°53′33″W / 39.72242°N 6.892444°WCoordinates: 39°43′21″N 6°53′33″W / 39.72242°N 6.892444°W
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The Alcántara Bridge (aka Puente Trajan at Alcantara) is a Roman stone arch bridge built over the Tagus River at Alcántara, Spain between 104 and 106 by an order of the Roman Emperor Trajan in 98^[3]. It bears the inscription Pontem perpetui mansurum in saecula on the archway over the central pier.^[3]

[edit] History

The Alcántara Bridge has taken more damage from war than from the elements. The Moors destroyed the smallest arch on one side in 1214. This was rebuilt in 1543 with stone from the original quarries. The second arch on the other side was destroyed by the Spanish to stop the Portuguese, and was repaired in 1762 by Charles III, only to be blown up again in 1809 to stop the French. Temporary repairs made in 1819 were replaced in 1860 with mortared masonry.^[3]

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Alcantara Bridge in the Structurae database
^ Manuel Durán Fuentes: "Estudio sobre las bóvedas de los puentes romanos", Nuevos Elementos de la Ingeniería Romana, III Congreso de las Obras Públicas Romanas, Astorga 2006, p. 136
^ ^a ^b ^c Whitney, Charles S. (2003) [1929]. Bridges of the World: Their Design and Construction. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications. pp. 75–79. ISBN 0-486-42995-4.

[edit] Further reading

Galliazzo, Vittorio (1994), I ponti romani. Catalogo generale, Vol. 2, Treviso: Edizioni Canova, pp. 353–358 (No. 754), ISBN 88-85066-66-6
O’Connor, Colin (1993), Roman Bridges, Cambridge University Press, pp. 109–111(SP21), ISBN 0-521-39326-4