Bridges

Civil engineering's most dramatic form — log across a stream to mile-long cable-stayed mega-structures, with a spectacular collapse or two along the way.

7 posts· 2900 BCE – 1591

• The Rialto Bridge, or how Venice bet on a single arch 1591
• Old London Bridge, the crossing that became a city 1209
• Anji Bridge: the flattest arch in the ancient world 605 CE
• Trajan's Bridge, or how to cross a river by moving it first 105 CE
• The Pont du Gard, or how Rome moved a river across a gorge 50 CE
• The Arkadiko bridge, or the oldest arch still standing 1300 BCE
• The bridge at Girsu, or the world's oldest crossing 2900 BCE