Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Pont de Pierre (Aosta)

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Crosses
  
Buthier

Longest span
  
17.1 m

Width
  
5.9 m

Bridge type
  
Arch bridge

Number of spans
  
1

Design
  
Segmental arch bridge

No. of spans
  
1

Location
  
Aosta

Body of water
  
Buthier

Pont de Pierre (Aosta) httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

Carries
  
Connection Po Valley-Gaul

Locale
  
Aosta, Aosta Valley, Italy

Materials
  
Puddingstone, Roman concrete

Similar
  
Roman Bridge, Ponte di Quintodecimo, Bridge near Limyra, Nysa Bridge, Ponte de Rubiães

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.

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

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). 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. 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

Pont de Pierre (Aosta) Wikipedia