Puente Romano, Mérida

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The Puente Romano (Spanish for Roman Bridge) is a Roman bridge over the Guadiana River at Mérida in southwest Spain.

Puente Romano
Puente Romano as seen from Alcazaba of Mérida
Coordinates	38°54′47″N 6°21′03″W / 38.91306°N 6.35083°W / 38.91306; -6.35083Coordinates: 38°54′47″N 6°21′03″W / 38.91306°N 6.35083°W / 38.91306; -6.35083
Crosses	Guadiana River
Locale	Mérida, Spain
Characteristics
Design	Arch bridge
Material	Granite ashlar
Total length	790 m (incl. approaches)
Width	Ca. 7.1 m
Longest span	11.6 m
No. of spans	60 (incl. 3 buried)
History
Construction end	Reign of Trajan (98–117 AD)
Location

It is the world's longest (in terms of distance) surviving bridge from ancient times, having once featured an estimated overall length of 755 m with 62 spans.^[1] Today, there are 60 spans (three of which are buried on the southern bank) on a length of 721 m between the abutments. Including the approaches, the structure totals 790 m. It is still in use, but was pedestrianized in 1991 as road traffic was redirected to use the nearby Lusitania Bridge.

Annexed to the bridge is the Alcazaba of Mérida, a Moorish fortification built in 835.

Close to the remains of the Acueducto de los Milagros, there exists another Roman bridge at Mérida, the much smaller Puente de Albarregas.

See also[]

• List of Roman bridges
• Roman architecture
• Roman engineering

Notes[]

Sources[]

• O’Connor, Colin (1993), Roman Bridges, Cambridge University Press, pp. 106f. (SP15), ISBN 0-521-39326-4

External links[]

Media related to Roman bridge, Mérida at Wikimedia Commons

• Puente Romano (Mérida) at Structurae
• Traianus – Technical investigation of Roman public works

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