The Susegana Bridge (in Italian: ''Ponte romano di Susegana'') is one of a series of
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 ke ...
s on the
Via Claudia Augusta
The Via Claudia Augusta is an ancient Roman road, which linked the valley of the Po River with Rhaetia (encompassing parts of modern Eastern Switzerland, Northern Italy, Western Austria, Southern Germany and all of Liechtenstein) across the Alps ...
in
Susegana
Susegana is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Treviso in the Italian region Veneto, located about north of Venice and about north of Treviso.
History
Traces of human presence from the late Bronze Age have been found in Susegana area ...
, northern
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. The small structure is notable for its flattened arch, which classify it as a
Roman segmental arch 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 k ...
.
Being the fifth of altogether six ancient
footbridge
A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...
s in the
frazione
A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...
Colfosco, it crosses a stream without name downstream of the provincial road bridge, shortly before the road reaches the intersection to Falzè di Piave.
The bridge is 5.3 m wide; its single arch, built of eleven irregular
wedge-shaped stones, has a clear span of 3 m and a very low rise compared to the standard semi-circular bridge arch of
antiquity
Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to:
Historical objects or periods Artifacts
*Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures
Eras
Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...
.
Its construction is dated to the first half of the 1st century AD.
Such material-saving flat arches occur in ancient bridges of the
Veneto
Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona.
Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...
region quite frequently, leading to suggestions of a local building school. One reason for this concentration may have been the particular topography of the coastal region, whose soft
alluvial soil
Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...
s would not have been suitable for the massive semi-circular arches and piers characteristic for Roman bridge building. Moreover, the approaches of segmental arch bridges, with their lower crest, provided less of an obstacle to foot traffic and pack animals, an obvious advantage in the flat Venetian landscape.
The structure was reportedly still in a good condition in 1938, but has since deteriorated, with one of its
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 having collapsed.
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, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often considered on ...
*
Roman engineering
The ancient Romans were famous for their advanced engineering accomplishments. Technology for bringing running water into cities was developed in the east, but transformed by the Romans into a technology inconceivable in Greece. The architecture ...
References
Sources
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{{Roman bridges
Roman bridges in Italy
Roman segmental arch bridges
Stone bridges in Italy
Buildings and structures in the Province of Treviso
Roman sites of Veneto