Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 March 1895 — Repairing a Bridge 1,800 Years Old. [ARTICLE]

Repairing a Bridge 1,800 Years Old.

Scientific American. It has taken two years to partly rebuild a bridge at Rome, which, it is stated, dates from the time of the Emperor Adrian, an assertion which is in strict consonance with many other remarkable features distinguishing the Eternal City. It doea not appear that the necessity for the partial reconstruction arose from any absolute want of repair in the ancient structure itself, but was due to the new conditions to which tbe bridge was subjected in consequence of the works undertaken in connection with the improvement of the River Tiber. These included the better regulation of the course of the river, a widening of the channel and a raising of both banks. Tbe result was that at one end the approach to the bridge was below tbe level of the newly raised hank. Originally, the structure consisted of three principal arches of 56 feel span each, and three smaller ones of 12 feet. Th'e latter were for the purpose of allowing the passage of floods, and have now been replaced by a pair of arches of the same span as that of those first built, which brings the roadway of the bridge almost on a level. The structure as it now stands has five elegant and symmetrical arches of equal span. In fact, if it were not for the difference in tint of the old and new Sasonry, it would be almost imposble to distinguish the handiwork of to-day from that of nearly 1,809 years ago.