Table of Contents
III
Table of Contents
Volume 3
[For the complete Table of Contents,
see
the end of this
volume]
The 100 Ft Vault: The Construction
5. TECHNOLOGY
and Geometry
-
Foundations
&
Masonry
The Achievement ofStructural
in the
Stability
Drystone Iron-Age Broch
in North
Scotland,,
John Barber,
Masonry
ofthe Sala dei Baroni
Naples, Enrique
Rabasa Diaz, Miguel Angel Alonso-Rodn'guez,
Tomas Gil Lopez, Ana Lopez-Mozo,
Jose' Calvo-Lopez, Alberto Sanjurjo Alvarez.... 53
ofthe Castel Nuovo,
Dimitris
Towers
Theodossopoulos,
Graeme Cavers,
Andy Heald
3
in
Constructions as Built Archives:
An Innovative AnalyticalApproach
of the
ofltdlica: Notes
the Construction Process,
Alberto
on
Roman Theatre
21
Vega
Techniques
in the
Early Modern
29
Ramparts and Bastions
Rosenberg in Kronach, Germany,
The Pentagon
of Fortress
Philip S.C.
Caston
The Irregular Ribbed Vaidt of the Sacristy
ofthe Cathedral ofSaint-fean Baptiste
in Perpignan, Rosa Senent Domfnguez,
Miguel Angel Alonso Rodriguez,
Enrique Rabasa Diaz
37
in Roman Asia
Masterpiece ofIranian Construction
Minor, Ursula
Barbara Thuswaldner
Stefania Petralla
45
History, Construction
Techniques and New Design Perspectives,
Giuseppe Fallacara
91
The Lecce Vault:
revinctum in Dome and Barrel Vault
Quatember,
83
Safavid Ribbed Vaults
Techniques,
-Vaults & Stereotomy
Constructions
75
with Spanish Ribbed Vaults, Rafael Martin
Talaverano, Carmen Perez
de los Bios, Rosa Senent Dommguez
as a
Opus
67
of Vault Design and Their Relationships
St.
Walpurgis in Antwerp,
Maud De Voght, Krista De Jonge
-
Sanjurjo Alvarez
Late German Gothic Methods
Low Countries [1600-1750]: A Problematic
Case
Chambiges and the Construction
ofVaulted Stone Spiral Staircases,
Francisco Pinto Puerto, ]os Maria
Foundation
61
13
The Scaenae Frons
Guerrero
ofEarly Rib-Vaults
Croatia, Marina Simunic Bursic
The
Reconstructing the Evolution ofImperial
Opus Testaceum Brickwork in Rome,
to
GeroldEfier
Construction
99
IV
Nuts & Bolts of Construction
History
Shells & Thin Vaults
-
Tests
on
Century,
-
Tile Vaults in France in the 19th
Esther Redondo Martinez
Pioneer Concrete Shells in
107
Spanish Architecture:
The Innovation
System-Design of lldefonso
Sdnchez del Rio, Pepa Cassinello
117
Roof Construction,
Concrete and Fabric Formwork
Technologies,
Ciaran Cordon
Shell Wars: Franz
125
Reinforced Concrete Shells in
during the
Two
Crystal Palaces: Constructive Technology
May
133
United States 1853, Donald Friedman,
215
Wrought Iron and Steel Structures in Berlin
with
a
Focus
Ines
Prokop
1925,
Buildingsfor the Arts,
on
225
Estonia
A
Soviet Period: Science
and Practice, Maris Suits
143
Prefabricated Cast Iron Three-Hinged
Bridge in Ljubljana, Lara Slivnik
Arch
Historic
-Wood Structures
on
A New Approach in
Studying the Structural
Systems ofPrehistoric Wooden Post Buildings:
A Case Studyfrom Asagi Pinar in Eastern
Thrace, Zeynep Eres, Eylem Ozdogan
149
Roof under One's Feet: Early Neolithic Roof
Constructions at Gobekli Tepe, Southeastern
157
Turkey, Dietmar Kurapkat
Fan-Shaped Bracket Sets and Their Application
in Different Building Materials: A Discussion
of the Chinese Fangmu Tradition
andJin-dynasty Tomb Architecture
in Southwest Shanxi Province,
Alexandra Harrer
Medieval Timber Structures in Eastern
Germany: Archaeological Evidencefrom
tberswalde, Christof Krauskopf
Bridge Bearings: Material Research
Cast Steel, Volker Wetzk
The Vierendeel
Bridge at
243
its
Heyday:
Experiments and Brittle
Failure, Bernard Espion
Interior Environment &
Heated
Vaulting in Roman Britain
ofHollow Terracotta
Voussoirs, Lynne C. Lancaster
and the Invention
The Stube: Constructive Evidencefor the Concept
ofa Smoke-Free Heated Living Room between
the Alps and Southern Scandinavia,
269
The Construction
and Integration ofHistoric
175
Heating Systems
Kingdom from the 17th to the Early
20th Century, Spyridon Papavasileiou,
Magdalini Makrodimitri, James Campbell
of Construction Timber in the Trentino-Verona
Comfort versus Industry: Maintenance
Area
of the Royal Palaces ofMilan during
183
the 1860s, Carlo Manfredi
Wooden 'Italian
Wide-Span Roof of German
19th Century Theatre Buildings, Anja
Clemens Voigts
277
289
The Military Engineers and Hygiene in Barracks
Wiinnemann, Stefan
M. Holzer,
261
in Churches in the United
Categories and Applications
[I4th-l6th Centuries], Silvia Dandria....
253
Energy
Rainer Atzbach
167
235
Rational Design,
-
A
Commercial
-
Brian Bowen
in Their Prime from 1875 to
Dischinger
and Ulrich Finsterwalder, Roland
Rebuilding St. Petersburg's Winter Palace
in the Context ofEarly European Steel Structures
1838-1850s: Contemporary Sources
and Documents, Sergej Fedorov
203
and Practice; Great Britain 1851
James Hardress de Warenne Waller
and His Contribution to Shell
Metal Structures
in the Second
193
Halfofthe 19th Century,
Francesca Turri, Emanuele
Zamperini
299
Table of Contents
The Simplification
Scientific Developments ofHeating
and Ventilation
Professional
in France
Societies
during
of the 20th Century,
Unions and Learned
Frame: Window
ofLe Corbusier
in the 1920s, Vanessa Fernandez
the First Part
Emmanuelle Gallo
Experiments
of the
in the Work
309
Rationalization
V
405
ofSystems and Materials
Innovations in Ventilation: Wind Cowls in the
in Construction in the Spanish Modem Movement:
19th
Fernando Garcia Mercadal, 1921-1937,
Century, Maaike van der Tempel,
Filip Descamps,
Rafael Hernando de la Cuerda
Ine Wouters,
DorienAerts
317
Dirk Van deVijver
Valley
325
Development ofFloor
Cells in Colombia, 1949-1989,
between the 17th and 18th
Landi
RetCel: The
Hernando Vargas
333
Milanese: Some Features
ofIndustrialization in Construction
Applied to Office Buildings in
World War Period in
341
Elaine: Mountain
The World Health
in Geneva
Organization Headquarters
[1960-1966]: How Mechanical
and Electrical Services are Integral to
Reading
Built Form, Giulia Marino
431
The First ENI-SNAM Headquarters
in San Donato
Artificial Light in Architecture in France
and Italy during the First Years ofthe 20th
Century: From Gas Light to Electric Light,
Giulio Sampaoli
421
and RoofAssemblies ofPrecast Concrete
Centuries, Laura Balboni, Paolo Corradini,
Angelo
the Netherlands,
Rafael Garcia Garcia
Artificial Light in the Aristocratic Palaces
in the Po
Concrete Meccanos: Precast Constructions
after the Second World War in
Hygiene in Belgian Architecture:
The Case ofVictor Horta [1861-1947],
413
351
Italy,
City;
Techniques
the Post Second
Laura Greco
The
439
Building
Altitude Citadel,
ofa High
Yvan Delemontey
449
Architectural Expression in the 60s
and the Prefabrication
The Morphological Evolution
of the
Vertical
ofFormwork,
Figueres, Jesica Moreno
Puchalt, Veronica Llopis Pulido
457
Competing Building Systems: Post-War
University Architecture in the Ruhr Area,
Sonja Hnilica, Markus Jager
463
Make Palomares
Axle Windmill between the Second
and the 18th Centuries A. D.,
Kambiz
Mosthtaghe Gohari
Constructing a Solar House,
c.
359
1959,
367
Natural & Technical Risk Prevention
-
Daniel A. Barber
The Thermal Insulation
ofFacades
Not Built in
after the Oil Crisis of1974 to the 80s,
Samaher Wannous
379
a Day: Awareness
of Vulnerability and Construction Techniques
in Roman
-
Prefabrication & Industrialization
Times, Helene Dessales
Cellars: Construction and Insulation
Post-War Industrialized Construction Processes
the
in France and Architectural Flexibility,
Antonia Brauchle
Leda Dimitriadi
385
The Dismantled War: Barracks
and Industrialization
ofLight Construction
[1914-1918], Kinda
Fares
395
471
through
Beginning of the 20th Century,
479
Tiled Vaults in Western
Sicily:
Originality and Continuity ofan Imported
Building Technique, Giovanni Fatra,
Tiziana Campisi, Calogero Vinci
487
VI
Nuts & Bolts of Construction
History
The Use of Vaults in the Reconstruction
Innovation in 19th
ofPombaline Downtown Lisbon,
Construction, Stefan M. Holzer
Joao Caldas,
Rita Lisboa
495
The Timber Trusses
The First Earthquake-Resistant Structures
Design
Japan: Lessons from the Forgotten
Earthquake oflschia [1883], Nobi [1891]
Sarah
in
and San Francisco [1906], Akio Sassa
The RoofFrame
515
Techniques and History
-
A
Way
to
Territory
<?/Capitanata between the 18th and 19th
Centuries, Giuseppe Rociola
Construction Process
533
Technological and Architectural
of the Tsujun Irrigation Canal's
fa Cultural Landscape [Shiraito Plateau,
549
Water Pumping Plants for Land
Drainage
Valley,
of The Mantua
Region [1866-1940]: People, Techniques,
Materials, Carlo Togliani
557
A Case Study
565
Bridges ofthe Via Traiana: An
Innovative Building System, Ivan Ferrari
627
the Interbellum: The Makris Project,
637
ofMisumi Port, Yuji Hoshino,
Sachiko Okada, Daijiro Kitagawa
647
The Development ofMulti-Cable-Stayed
Bridges, Eberhard Pelke,
Karl-Eugen Kurrer
657
Sunderland, Birdsall and the Roebling Co:
Development and Diffusion ofConstruction
Technologiesfor Suspension Bridges,
1928-1952, Dario A. Gasparini
667
Technical Systems and Networks
in Sondalo
Italy: The Project, the Plan,
the Construction, Carla Maria Amici
City:
for a Modern High Altitude Settlement:
The Construction of the Sanatorium Village
& Public Works
A Cloaca Maxima in the Roman Town
Lazio,
the American
Automobility, Urbanity and the Functioning
of City Streets, Ted Shelton
and Construction
541
Construction and Maintenance in the Creation
Infrastructure
to
Historical Researchfor the Planning
in the Edo
Kumamoto, Japan], Naoto Tanaka
617
Paschalis Samarinis, Areti Sakellaridou
Period, Yasuhiro Honda, Keiko Nagamura,
Kobayashi
Substations, 1880-1915,
Evangelia Chatzikonstantinou,
Case Study
ofJapanese Bridge Construction
The Roman
607
Munoz
Road Construction in Greece during
of the Tsujunkyo
Aqueduct Bridge [1854]-A
o/Privernum,
on
The Highway Comes
525
Wooden Embankments in the Lagoon
-
Construction in Bahia's
Important
Matteo Porrino
Know,
Anna Deed
in the Po
Notes
599
Century History: Salvador's Mountain
Stations and
The Historical Aqueduct of Genoa: Materials,
rhe Role
Ebright, Alex Smith
Aspects ofLondon Transport Power
Hydraulics
Ichiro
ofR. W. Smith: History,
Stephen Buonopane,
Retaining Wall, Rosana
ofthe Salon Carre,
Guillaume Fonkenell
-
19th
589
and Behavior,
The Most
503
Century Vaulted Bridge
[1932-1946], Davide Del Curto,
Francesco Carlo Toso
Postscript: For a multilingual
Dictionary of Construction History,
Andre Guillerme
685
Author Index
691
General Index
697
573
Development and Use ofMechanized Heavy
Construction Equipment in the United States,
Richard C. Ryan
579
675
Complete Table
of Contents
717
The Roman Bridges of the Via Traiana:
An Innovative Building System
Ivan Ferrari
University of Salento, Lecce, Italy
The extraordinary organization and technical
competence of the ancient Romans in several
building fields enabled them to design and build
numberless monuments and facilities in order to
satisfy any military, civil, religious and entertaining need. Among these structures, the monumental road network and the numerous bridges
built along it had a primary role since it permitted to move all over the Empire.
One of their masterpieces was the Via Appia
connecting Roma to Brindisi, but the increasing
importance of the port of Brindisi as a strategic
link with eastern Roman provinces needed a faster
connection with Rome. Emperor Trajan financed
the construction of a new majestic road linking
Benevento to Brindisi by a farther north path,
in the South of Italy, aware of the high prestige
and the great military and commercial advantages.
The road construction started between 108 AD
and 109 AD and lasted about five years (Ceraudo
2008, 9-10). This road was called Via Traiana as
documented by some gold coins minted in 112
AD (Mattingly 1966, 3: 99-99, 208-209) (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1: The paths of the Via Traiana and Via Appia in southern Italy.
Although at present some parts of its ancient
layout are still uncertain, the few visible bridges
along it constitute an important landmark for
research. A study on these structures has been carried out within the sphere of a PhD in Ancient
Topography at Cultural Heritage Department
based at University of Salento [Lecce, Italy]
through 3D elaborations. It aimed at retracing
all phases of construction characterizing each single structure and at highlighting the architectural
solutions which were adopted. The 3D reconstructions have helped in rejecting or confirming
reconstruction hypothesis about several bridges,
by making the architectural solutions which were
proposed more scientifically reliable. The DTM
[Digital Terrain Model] has permitted to contextualize each structure in its natural environment, reproducing the site morphology. Data
derive from bibliographic archive researches and
have been completed by surveys of structures,
which produced a rich documentation of photos and technical drawings: planimetries, fronts
and sections, often unpublished, but extremely
useful for carrying out comparisons among the
various bridges. The greatest difficulty arose from
the neglected state of the remains, mostly underground and hidden by thick vegetation. Most of
these structures have never been object of archeological researches and only partial essays on them
have been published. Moreover, the current bibliography is purely descriptive and based on surveys dating back to the beginning of last century
(Ashby and Gardner 1916). At present, many of
the original bridges built along the Via Traiana
are unknown and their remains still in situ call for
573
Technology / Infrastructure & Public Works
more accurate structural analyses (Quilici 1989;
Galliazzo 1995).
The bridges in the first section of the Via
Traiana run from Benevento to Aecae [Troia]
and cross over the Apennines towards a roughly
SW-NE direction, due to their construction and
to the presence of many mountain streams having
a considerable torrential regime in winter. Here,
Ponte delle Chianche and Ponte Santo Spirito are
the most noteworthy structures. The former in
the territory of Buonalbergo, about 1km far from
the urban centre, towards S, is the best preserved
structure although only three of its original arches
survive. It is the only bridge which presents the
original paving stones of the Via Traiana, called
chianche in local language and placed on its top
(Fig. 2). However, the high ground level hides
almost entirely the pillars [pilae] grazing the
arches. The latter, Ponte Santo Spirito, is in the
territory of Montecalvo Irpino about three km
far from urban centre towards NNE. Only its
eastern end is still in situ and consists of several
buried ruins and a stately pillar supporting part of
the gable [tympanum] and the two lateral arches.
These bridges present the same construction technique: pillars are made of a nucleus of concrete
with a facing of rows of large square limestone
blocks supporting arches. These present a double
ring of two-ft large overlapping bricks [bipedales],
while tympana, placed between the arches, have a
nucleus of concrete faced with brickwork [opus
latericium]. On both sides of the bridges and in
line with the shoulders, there were viaducts made
of opus latericium which banked the roads and
afterwards joined them to the ground level. Ponte
Santo Spirito, owing to the erosive activity of the
stream called Torrente della Ginestra, has been
Fig. 2: Ponte delle Chianche: view from S of the three original arches still in situ.
574
Fig. 3: Ponte Santo Spirito: view from N-W of the single pylon
in opus quadratum still in situ.
completely demolished and the rocky riverbed
results 2m lower than its original level. This situation has made possible to observe the cross section
of the monument and to highlight the presence
of a large platform at the pillar base (Fig. 3). This
platform is 18,40m large thus resulting much
wider than the pillars, beyond which it extends
more than 5m both upstream and downstream.
The platform is composed of large square limestone blocks variable in height, lying on a bed
of concrete [opus caementicium] which, placed in
direct contact with the rocky riverbed gradually
increases in height while sloping downstream, as
shown in section. It is ascertained that this platform is not a supporting surface for pillars, but
envelops their foundations. The upper horizontal
surface is devoid of relevant inclinations and its
downstream front is covered with opus latericium.
It is reasonably deduced from this technique that
platform construction was carried out in a dry site.
In most cases the bridges construction took place
in summer when the water level was not particularly high; therefore, the platform was realized by
conveying river water with bulkheads or embank-
I Ferrari / The Roman Bridges of the Via Traiana
ments. This hypothesis is further strengthened by
the presence of holes in the blocks, used to insert
big pincers [ferrei forfices] for their lifting, which
required elevator machines and many workers
able to move and drive them as well as place and
assemble the blocks on the concrete bed.
It can be deduced that, after selecting a suitable site and choosing which side of the bridge was
to be built first, the initial operations consisted
in driving the corresponding part of the riverbed
and installing the yard. The lack of water and
moisture guaranteed workers a high security and
swift movements. Afterwards, the rocky riverbed
was cleaned of debris and levelled to ensure a better adherence to the large square limestone blocks
forming the pilae foundations.
The following phase regarded the big platform
construction composed of a first layer of mortar and stones directly placed over the bedrock
which was covered with opus latericium on the
downstream side and paved with big square stone
blocks on the upper side. Such platform cancelled the steep slope of riverbed, thus creating
a wide and nimble space around pillars to transport and storage building materials and, contemporaneously, ensure swift movements of workers,
animals, machines and tools during the bridge
construction. Moreover, this stately platform,
wrapping pilae foundations, protected them from
the erosive activity of river water, dangerous for
the structural stability of the bridge and constituted a great help for the maintenance works
such as cleaning the lower part of pilae and, more
generally, the whole riverbed close to the bridge.
Successively, works proceeded with the erection of pilae whose nucleus of opus caementicium
consisted of irregular shaped and medium sized
stones, manually placed in the mortar. This is evident from the horizontal lying of each stone and
lack of air pockets in concrete. The opus caementicium was covered with rows of large and square
stone blocks [opus quadratum] presenting holes
for their lifting. These blocks, though devoid of
mortar on both jointing and laying planes, were
closely held together horizontally with metal
clamps and vertically with metal dowels.
After erecting the pilae, at a height of about 3m,
wooden centres were placed on the blocks forming
the upper rows of pillars (Adam 1998, 189-192),
which often overhang about 10cm laterally the
vertical plane of the lower rows, offered wooden
structures a solid supporting corbel. Bipedales were
radially arranged to build the first ring of the arch
and contemporaneously or immediately after, the
second ring overlapping the first was built following the same method. This innovative technique, first applied to the Via Traiana bridges,
typified them and gave the vault a double guarantee of solidity and durability. This can be verified
in Ponte delle Chianche whose surviving arches
show whole or partial collapses of the lower ring,
but the upper integral ring still supports a paved
road on the bridge top.
Immediately after arches, tympana were built
with a nucleus of opus caementicium faced with
opus latericium. Unlike the tympanum placed
between the last arch and the shoulder contiguous
to the viaduct, the one placed on the opposite side
of the yard and close to the walls containing river
water, was built at least halfway to ensure a minimum of back pressure to the new double arch.
After building a half of the bridge, river water
was conveyed towards the pillars just realized in
order to drain the opposite riverbed and install a
new yard. Successively, all operations previously
described were repeated in order to construct the
remaining part of the bridge (Fig. 4).
The hypothesis here proposed, based on cross
analyses of several structures, stands in contrast
Fig. 4: Ponte Santo Spirito: 3D reconstruction of the starting
(A) and final yard (B).
575
Technology / Infrastructure & Public Works
Fig. 5: Ponte delle Chianche: the brick-wall face of the central tympanum showing the vertical suture.
with the theory supported by surveys dealing
exclusively with Ponte delle Chianche, which conjectures the presence of two different and parallel teams of workers starting contemporaneously
from the opposite sides of the bridge and meeting
exactly at the centre of it (Galliazzo 1995, 2: 115).
This assumption comes from an element visible
on the downstream brick wall face of the central
tympanum, showing a vertical suture considered
the workers meeting point. This suture is also visible on the opposite side, where, though lacking in
bricks, the concrete of tympanum presents a vertical line indicating two different phases of realization (Fig. 5). Looking carefully at the suture,
it is noted that it is not exactly in the middle
of the tympanum but grazes the E arch, which is
supposed to be the first part of the bridge to be
built otherwise there could not be enough space
to allow workers an easy construction of the double ring and the remaining half of the tympanum. Furthermore, there is a high probability of
the presence of a platform at the base of pilae, as
found in the coeval Ponte Santo Spirito, and the
need for draining a part of the yard. This supports the theory that such a suture was not the
meeting point of two different teams, but of an
only group of skilled workers employed firstly in
building the E part of the bridge and secondly the
W part (Fig. 6).
One of the final phases of the bridge construction was represented by the realization of two rows
of square blocks running parallel along lateral
walls of tympana and having a threefold func-
576
tion: to create the outside crowning cornice of the
bridge with a slight projection, act as pavement
on the opposite side outlining the cart-road and
form the base of railings on the upper side. These
completed the bridge construction and incorporated two rectangular limestone blocks, with a
carved box hosting a commemorative inscription, which ascribed emperor Trajan the paternity of the structure with the final sentence: “viam
et pontes a Benevento Brundisium pecunia sua
fecit” (Silvestrini 1999, 88-90).
A considerably important feature of the Via
Traiana bridges is represented by the viaducts,
whose foundations were made by installing
wooden boxes after excavating the ground and
reaching the rocky stratum. They acted as containers of opus caementicium and were removed
when concrete was dried in order to level the
upper plane by laying bipedales. These bricks
formed the base of two parallel walls about 90cm
thick constituting the natural continuation of the
bridge sides. Both walls presented a nucleus of
opus caementicium, but the outer side was covered
with opus latericium and the inner side with opus
incertum. The decision to face the inner wall with
irregularly shaped stones and not with bricks, was
probably due to a lower cost of the former, more-
Fig. 6: Ponte delle Chianche: 3D elaborations of the starting (A) and final yard (B), with the final construction of the
road (C).
I Ferrari / The Roman Bridges of the Via Traiana
Fig. 7: Ponte Rotto on the Carapelle river: 3D reconstruction.
over, this side was not visible, but relegated to stay
in direct contact with ground. Couples of quadrangular buttresses of opus latericium were built
externally and on both sides of the viaduct at
almost regular intervals to offer to it a greater stability and to oppose the internal soil pressure. The
viaducts present several variable forms and aspects
according to the site morphology and hydrology,
in order to avoid steep slopes between arches and
soil as well as guarantee safety precaution against
possible river overflows. This is the case of the
colossal Ponte Rotto on the Carapelle river (De
Felice 2000, 215-230), whose structure was originally intended to reach the remarkable length of
450m (Fig. 7). It is about 2km far from Ordona
towards WNW in Apulia, a flat land characterized of rivers with a greater range of water and
subject to numerous changes in their course. To
obviate this, the bridge was equipped in the E
end with a long straight viaduct, which originally
reached the considerable length of 200m. It was
designed to permit the water down flow through
several arched openings. In other contexts, viaducts adapted to roads subject to sudden changes
in direction just before or just after the bridge,
even reaching digressions close to 70° as verified
in Ponte Ladrone, another bridge along the Via
Traiana (Fig. 8).
The complexity of such structures suggests the
presence of a military genius: architects, engineers and technicians who were present in the
Roman imperial army, able to plan and build
bridges through a high coordinated work, an
efficient setting up and organization of yards
such as supplying, transporting and storing
building materials and tools until reaching the
bridge construction in the shortest possible time.
Everything had to be assisted by teams of highly
skilled workers in every processing phase: smiths
[fabri], woodworkers specialized both in cutting
long boards [sectores materiarum] and producing
dowels to joint and assemble beams [clavarii
materiarum], carpenters [tignarii], lime producers
[coctores calcis], experts at laying concrete [caementari], experts at cutting both small irregular stones [siliconi et lapidarli] and large square
blocks [quadratoni], pins and clamps producers
[plumbarii], builders specialized in opus latericium
[structores] and in arches and vaults construction
[arcuarli] (Galliazzo 1995, 1: 196-197). The discovery of some stamps on the bricks utilized for
constructing Ponte delle Chianche (Ashby and
Gardner 1916, 119) strengthens the hypothesis
about the use of special furnaces producing lateres
in loco and, therefore, the employment of specific
workers.
The Via Traiana bridges have a strong pragmatic character both in design and construction.
Though a standardized and highly organized
modus operandi was employed in their realization, Roman engineers often opted for immediate
architectural solutions to tackle problems arising
during works. Therefore, these structures are not
imprisoned in rigid aesthetic rules, but suitable for
any kind of planimetric composition according to
ground morphology and hydrography. This technique clearly proves that the Via Traiana bridges
were planned in order to achieve pre-established
aims in the shortest time with the slightest effort,
resulting conceptually modern from different
points of view.
Fig. 8: Ponte Ladrone: 3D reconstruction.
577
Technology / Infrastructure & Public Works
R
A T. and R. G, 1916. The via Traiana . Papers
British School Rome VIII, 104-171.
G C, F., 1998. L’edilizia nell’antichità.
Roma: Carocci Editore.
C, G., 2008. Sulle trace della Via Traiana. Indagini aerotopografiche da Aecae a Herdonia. Foggia: Claudio
Grenzi Editore.
M, H., 1966. Coins of the roman empire in the
British Museum. London: British Museum Publications.
D F, G., 2000. Il ponte romano sul Carapelle. Ordona X, 215-230.
G, V., 1995. I ponti romani. Treviso: Canova
Editore.
578
Q, L., 1989. Via Appia: dalla pianura pontina a Brindisi. Roma: Fratelli Palombi Editori.
S, M., 1999. Un itinerario epigrafico lungo la
via Traiana: Aecae, Herdonia, Canusium. Bari: Edipuglia.