Front cover image for Roman bridges

Roman bridges

"The Romans were the first great builders of bridges in the Western World. Professor O'Connor, a civil engineer and expert in bridge construction, has personally examined a large number of those bridges that still remain often in daily use, throughout the Roman empire - an area extending from Hadrian's Wall in the north of England to Shustar in modern Iran. In this book he presents a thorough listing and description of all known bridges, including some 330 stone arch bridges, 34 timber bridges and 94 aqueducts. In many cases the construction of the bridges is illustrated by the author's own photographs and sketches."--BOOK JACKET. "Introductory chapters place the bridges in their geographical and historical contexts, with detailed maps of the empire-wide system of Roman roads and discussion of how these came to be constructed, and an investigation of the technology available to the Romans. An important element of Professor O'Connor's purpose is to elucidate the principles used by the Romans in designing their bridges, and in his concluding chapters he examines the proportions of the stone arches and subjects the rules that emerge to modern structural analysis."--BOOK JACKET. "This handsome book will be of value to archaeologists and engineers and to all those interested in the history of technology."--BOOK JACKET
Print Book, English, 1993
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1993
xvii, 235 pages : illustrations, maps ; 22 x 31 cm
9780521393263, 0521393264
26543269
Introduction
Roman roads and their history
Builders of the roads and bridges
Roman technology
Masonry bridges
Timber bridges
Roman aqueducts
Design and construction of Roman arches
Analysis of Roman arches
The Roman achievement