Roman Bridge (Saint-Thibéry)

Roman Bridge
Coordinates	43°23′34″N 3°25′58″E / 43.392887°N 3.432836°E / 43.392887; 3.432836
Carries	Via Domitia
Crosses	Hérault
Locale	Saint-Thibéry, Hérault, France
Characteristics
Design	Segmental arch bridge
Material	Stone
Total length	Approximately 150 m (490 ft)
Width	4 m (13 ft)
Longest span	12 m (39 ft)
No. of spans	9
History
Construction end	Reign of Augustus (30 BC–14 AD)
Location

The Roman Bridge at Saint-Thibéry (French: Pont romain de Saint-Thibéry) was a Roman bridge on the Via Domitia in southern France.^[1] The partly surviving structure crossed the river Hérault in Saint-Thibéry, 17 km (11 mi) east of Béziers.^[2]

The ancient bridge had nine arches with spans of 10–12 m. The roadway rested on wide piers, which were protected on both sides by arched floodways and large cutwaters.^[2] The original length of the structure is estimated as 150 m (490 ft), its road width as 4 m.^[2] The missing spans are known to have been destroyed by a flood some time before 1536.^[2]

The remaining arches, with a span to rise ratio of 3.3:1 (115°) or more, show a visibly flatter profile than the semi-circular arches usually preferred by Roman engineers (180°).^[1][2] The rib thickness varies between one-tenth to one-twentieth of the span, corresponding to a common ratio also observed at a number of other Roman stone bridges.^[3] The structure is dated to the reign of emperor Augustus (r. 27 BC – AD 14). Immediately upstream an old water mill and its millrace is located.^[2]

• List of Roman bridges
• Roman architecture
• Roman engineering

• O’Connor, Colin (1993), Roman Bridges, Cambridge University Press, pp. 98f. (G11), 169–171, ISBN 0-521-39326-4

Media related to Roman Bridge (Saint-Thibéry) at Wikimedia Commons

• Roman Bridge at Structurae
• Traianus – Technical investigation of Roman public works