Trajan's Bridge

Trajan's Bridge (Romanian: Podul lui Traian; [Трајанов мост, Trajanov Most] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) or Bridge of Apollodorus over the Danube was a Roman segmental arch bridge, the first to be built over the lower Danube. For more than a thousand years, it was the longest arch bridge in the world to have been built, in terms of both total and span length.^[1] The bridge was constructed by the Greek architect Apollodorus of Damascus for the deployment of Roman troops in the war against Dacia, in 105 AD.

Description

The bridge was situated East from the Iron Gates, nearby the present-day cities of Drobeta-Turnu Severin (Romania) and Kladovo (Serbia). Its construction was ordered by Emperor Trajan as a supply route for the Roman legions fighting in Dacia.

The structure was 1,135 m in length (the Danube is 800 meters-wide in that area), 15 m in width, and reached 19 m in height (measured from the river's surface). At each end was situated a Roman castrum, each of them built around an entrance (crossing was possible only by walking through the camp).

Its engineer, Apollodorus of Damascus, used wooden arches set on twenty masonry pillars (made with bricks, mortar and pozzolana cement) that spanned 38 m each.^[2] Nevertheless, it was built over an unusually short period of time (between 103 and 105) — one possible explanation is that the river was diverted during the bridge's construction.

Tabula Traiana

A Roman memorial plaque ("Tabula Traiana"), 4 meters in width and 1.75 meters in height, commemorating the completion of Trajan's military road is located on the Serbian side facing Romania near Ogradina. It reads:

IMP. CAESAR. DIVI. NERVAE. F
NERVA TRAIANVS. AVG. GERM
PONTIF MAXIMUS TRIB POT IIII
PATER PATRIAE COS III
MONTIBVUS EXCISI(s) ANCO(ni)BVS
SVBLAT(i)S VIA(m) F(ecit)

The text was interpreted by Otto Benndorf to mean:

Emperor Caesar son of the divine Nerva, Nerva Trajan, the Augustus, Germanicus, Pontifex Maximus, invested for the fourth time as Tribune, Father of the Fatherland, Consul for the third time, excavating mountain rocks and using wood beams has made this road.

Tabula Traiana was declared Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1979, and it is protected by Republic of Serbia.

Destruction/erosion and remains

The bridge was destroyed by Aurelian, after the Roman Empire withdrew its troops from Dacia.^{[citation needed]}

The twenty pillars could still be seen in the year 1856, when the level of the Danube hit a record low.

In 1906, the International Commission of the Danube decided to destroy two of the pillars that were obstructing navigation.

In 1932, there were 16 remaining pillars underwater, but in 1982 only 12 were mapped by archeologists — the other four had probably been swept away by water. Only the entrance pillars are nowadays visible on either bank of the Danube.^[3]

In 1979, Trajan's Bridge was added to the Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance, and in 1983 on Archaeological Sites of Exceptional Importance list, and by that it is protected by Republic of Serbia.

References

^ In terms of overall length, the bridge seems to have been surpassed by another Roman bridge across the Danube, Constantine's Bridge, a little-known structure whose length is given with 2437 m (Tudor 1974b, p. 139; Galliazzo 1994, p. 319).
^ Troyano, Leonardo Fernández, "Bridge Engineering - A Global Perspective", Thomas Telford Publishing, 2003
^ Romans Rise from the Waters

External links

Bridge of Apollodorus over the Danube at Structurae
Romans Rise from the Waters – Excavations
Traianus – Technical investigation of Roman public works
Trajan's bridge near Kladovo (language?)

Template:Cultural Property of Great Importance

44°37′26″N 22°40′01″E / 44.623769°N 22.66705°E / 44.623769; 22.66705

[1] In terms of overall length, the bridge seems to have been surpassed by another Roman bridge across the Danube, Constantine's Bridge, a little-known structure whose length is given with 2437 m (Tudor 1974b, p. 139; Galliazzo 1994, p. 319).

[2] Troyano, Leonardo Fernández, "Bridge Engineering - A Global Perspective", Thomas Telford Publishing, 2003

[3] Romans Rise from the Waters

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Roman bridges
England	Chesters Bridge Piercebridge Roman Bridge Pons Aelius
France	Pont Ambroix Pont de Bornègre Pont des Marchands Pont du Gard Pont Flavien Pont Julien Pont Serme Pont sur la Laye Roman Bridge (Saint-Thibéry) Roman Bridge (Vaison-la-Romaine)
Germany	Caesar's Rhine bridges Roman Bridge (Trier)
Iran	Band-e Kaisar
Italy	Pons Aemilius Pons Agrippae Ponte Altinate Pons Cestius Pons Fabricius Pons Neronianus Pons Probi Pons Sublicius Pont d'Aël Pont de Pierre (Aosta) Pont-Saint-Martin Ponte d'Augusto (Narni) Ponte di Tiberio Ponte Corvo Ponte del Gran Caso Ponte Milvio Ponte Molino (Padua) Ponte Nomentano Ponte Pietra (Verona) Ponte di Pioraco Ponte di Quintodecimo Ponte Salario Ponte San Lorenzo Ponte di San Vito Ponte Sant'Angelo Susegana Bridge
Lebanon	Leontes Bridge
Portugal	Ponte de Rubiães Ponte Nova da Cava da Velha Roman Bridge (Chaves) Roman Bridge of Catribana
Romania	Constantine's Bridge (Danube) Trajan's Bridge
Spain	Acueducto de los Milagros Albarregas Roman bridge Alconétar Bridge Aqueduct of Segovia Alcántara Bridge Les Ferreres Aqueduct Puente de Alcántara Puente Romano, Mérida Roman bridge of Ávila Roman bridge of Córdoba Roman bridge of Lugo Roman bridge of Salamanca Roman bridge of Talamanca de Jarama
Syria	Ain Diwar Bridge Bridge at Nimreh Gemarrin Bridge Kharaba Bridge
Turkey	Aesepus Bridge Arapsu Bridge Bridge at Oinoanda Constantine's Bridge (Mysia) Eurymedon Bridge (Aspendos) Eurymedon Bridge (Selge) Karamagara Bridge Kemer Bridge Limyra Bridge Misis Bridge Macestus Bridge Nysa Bridge Penkalas Bridge Pergamon Bridge Sangarius Bridge Severan Bridge Stone Bridge (Adana) Valens Aqueduct Bridge White Bridge (Mysia)
Full list of Roman bridges