A lot of timber piles would be driven into the river bed by pulling up and letting go of a giant boulder onto the top of the pile. Once the timber piles were set, they could then build a wooden bridge deck on top.
It wasn’t a permanent bridge and the Romans would usually destroy their bridge after they no longer needed it.
It wasn’t a permanent bridge and the Romans would usually destroy their bridge after they no longer needed it.
Minor note: on campaigns in permanently hostile territory, yes, to deny the enemy a means of retaliation, but many wooden bridges served for hundreds of years in conquered territory after being constructed. Bridges were a great way of controlling and monitoring civilian traffic, after all!
even with modern technology it is hard for me to imagine how it’s done… How did the romans do bridges like that?
A lot of timber piles would be driven into the river bed by pulling up and letting go of a giant boulder onto the top of the pile. Once the timber piles were set, they could then build a wooden bridge deck on top.
It wasn’t a permanent bridge and the Romans would usually destroy their bridge after they no longer needed it.
Minor note: on campaigns in permanently hostile territory, yes, to deny the enemy a means of retaliation, but many wooden bridges served for hundreds of years in conquered territory after being constructed. Bridges were a great way of controlling and monitoring civilian traffic, after all!
Here’s an animation of how it was done (in at least one case) in medieval times: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJgD6gyi0Wk
I imagine Romans coulda done something similar for permanent stone bridges. The one in the illustration looks temporary.