The Pont sur la Laye or Pont roman de Mane ( en, Romanesque Bridge of Mane) is an old
stone arch bridge across the stream Laye in the
French Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
close to the town
Mane.
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Construction
The and bridge features three
segmental arches with a span to rise ratio of up to c. 3:1.
Its spans are 2.80 m, 7.90 m and 11.40;
the thickness of the two larger arch ribs is between one and two
Roman feet
The ancient Roman units of measurement were primarily founded on the Hellenic system, which in turn was influenced by the Egyptian system and the Mesopotamian system. The Roman units were comparatively consistent and well documented.
Length
...
,
making the structure one of the few
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 ...
s whose ratio for rib thickness to span is lower than the commonly applied
ancient
Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cov ...
standard of 1:20.
The bridge was built of local
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
whose shape varies according to its function: the arches consist of
voussoir
A voussoir () is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault.
Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. The ...
s, the
spandrel
A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fill ...
walls of irregular stonework.
The main pier is protected both upstream and downstream by large triangular cutwaters out of rectangular blocks of stone.
The paved roadway rises sharply from the left bank to the main arch, and then drops in a gentler gradient to the higher bank on the other side.
The parapet, which has been reported as partly removed by O’Connor in 1993, has been apparently repaired in the meantime.
Dating
According to the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
bridge builder Gazzola, the Pont sur la Laye dates from the end of the 1st or beginning of the 2nd century AD,
thus belonging to a round dozen known
Roman segmental arch bridges.
, though, ascribes an
early Romanesque origin to the structure (11th century).
Following the Mane homepage, the two side arches, along with their breakwaters, were added as late as the 17th century,
Homepage of the town of Mane
/ref> which means that the segmental arches are of a relatively late date.
See also
* List of Roman bridges
This is a list of Roman bridges. The Romans were the world's first major bridge builders. The following list constitutes an attempt to list all known surviving remains of Roman bridges.
A Roman bridge in the sense of this article includes an ...
* Roman architecture
Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome ...
* Roman engineering
* Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this lat ...
* List of medieval bridges in France
The list of medieval bridges in France comprises all bridges built between 500 and 1500 AD in what is today France, that is including regions which were not part of the country in the Middle Ages, such as Burgundy, Alsace, Lorraine and Savoie. ...
Notes
Sources
*
External links
*
Traianus
– Technical investigation of Roman public works
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laye, Pont sur la
Roman bridges in France
Roman segmental arch bridges
Deck arch bridges
Stone bridges in France
Romanesque architecture in France
Buildings and structures in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
Tourist attractions in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
Transport in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur