Pont de Pierre (Aosta)

Pont de Pierre

The single arched Pont de Pierre
Coordinates 45°44′23″N 7°19′48″E / 45.739675°N 7.329984°E / 45.739675; 7.329984Coordinates: 45°44′23″N 7°19′48″E / 45.739675°N 7.329984°E / 45.739675; 7.329984
Carries Connection Po Valley-Gaul
Crosses Buthier
Locale Aosta, Aosta Valley, Italy
Characteristics
Design Segmental arch bridge
Material Pudding stone, Roman concrete
Width 5.9 m
Longest span 17.1 m
Number of spans 1
History
Construction end Reign of Augustus (30 BC–14 AD)
Pont de Pierre
Location in Italy

The Pont de Pierre (Italian: Ponte di pietra), meaning "Stone Bridge", is a Roman segmental arch bridge in the Italian city of Aosta in the Aosta Valley. The bridge crossed the Buthier about 600 m from the eastern exit of the Roman colony Augusta Praetoria; in later times the torrente changed its course, leaving the ancient bridge today without water.[1]

The single-arch bridge has a span of 17.1 m and a width of 5.9 m.[1] The arch vault consists of large voussoirs and shows a comparatively flat profile (span to rise ratio 3:1).[2] The facing was built of pudding stone, the spandrels filled with Roman concrete.[1]

The structure is dated to the second half of the reign of Augustus (30 BC–14 AD), who had earlier founded the military colony Augusta Praetoria at an important road junction (24 BC).[1] The Pont de Pierre was of particularly strategic importance, since in Aosta the transalpine routes to Gaul branched off into the Little St Bernard and the Great St Bernard Pass.[1] In southeasterly direction towards the Po Valley, the road led over another segmental arch bridge, the excellently preserved Pont-Saint-Martin Bridge, located at the exit of the Aosta valley.

References

Sources

See also

Media related to Pont de Pierre (Aosta) at Wikimedia Commons

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