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 270 BRIDGE BRIDGE, a structure, with one or more trans- verse apertures, for passing a river, canal, or valley, and formed of various materials, as tim- ber, stone, or iron. The construction of perfect bridges is a complex operation, and among an- cient nations, even of the highest civilization, did not always keep pace with the progress of the other arts. The type of the primitive bridges of earlier ages is to be found at the present day among rude and uncultivated na- tions, and consists simply of lintels of wood stretching from bank to bank, or, when the span renders this impracticable, resting on piers or posts fixed in the bed of the river. The in- evitable frequency of these in a rapid stream, and consequent contraction of the waterway, would result in a torrent injurious to navi- gation, and destructive to the piers themselves ; hence it would be found essential to the sta- bility of such structures that the openings should be sufficiently wide to allow every facil- ity for the passage of the water, and as this could only bo effected by arches or trusses, it is evident that these inventions were perfected before bridges of any magnitude became com- mon. One of the most extraordinary bridges of ancient times was that which, according to Herodotus, Queen Nitocris constructed over the Euphrates at Babylon, and the length of which is given by Diodorus Siculus as five fur- longs ; the construction of this bridge is sup- posed to have been of the kind just alluded to, viz., with lintels or architraves extended from pier to pier. The bridges of Darius upon the Bosporus, Xerxes upon the Hellespont, Csesar upon the Rhine, and Trajan upon the Danube, are celebrated in history, but were all con- structed for purposes of war. The first exam- ples of stone bridges that we can find are those constructed by the Romans. An exception may perhaps be made in regard to the Chinese, as we are not positively acquainted with the date of many of their structures ; but in Egypt and India, the birthplaces of so many of the arts and sciences, arched bridges were entirely unknown; neither do we meet with them in the ancient remains of Persia or Phoenicia ; and even in Greece, at the period when her archi- tecture was the finest in the world, and when Pericles had adorned Athens with splendid edi- fices, her people were unprovided with a bridge over the Cephissus, notwithstanding it crossed the most frequented thoroughfare to the city. The principal bridges of Rome were the fol- lowing: 1. The Pons Sublicius, the first built over the Tiber, and memorable from its defence by Horatius Codes against Porsena; it was twice rebuilt, and the ruins of the last structure are still visible. 2. The Pons Triumphalis, sometimes termed Pons Vaticanus, from its proximity to the Vatican ; it derived its former name from being the bridge over which those to whom the senate decreed a triumph passed on their way to the capitol. 3. The Pons Fabri- cius, named from its founder, L. Fabricius, cu- rator viarum, who erected it during the period of Catiline's conspiracy. 4. The Pons Cestius, built in the reign of Tiberius, and named from Cestius Gallus. 6. The Pons Janiculi, which led from the Campus Martius to the Janiculum. 6. The Pons ./Elius, erected in the reign of the emperor ^Elius Hadrianus ; it is said this bridge had originally a roof of bronze, supported by forty columns, but was despoiled during an in- cursion of the barbarians. Clement IX., who restored the bridge, placed on it ten colossal statues of angels, carved in white marble, whence is derived its present name, Ponte San Angelo. 7. The Pons Milvius, built in the time of Sulla, on the ancient Via Flaminia, at a short distance from the city ; on this bridge Cicero arrested the Allobrogian ambassadors who were the bearers of letters to Catiline, and here also occurred the celebrated victory of Constantino over Maxentius, when Constan- tino had the miraculous vision of the cross. 8. The Pons Senatorius or Palatinus, still remain- FIG. 1. Pons Senatoriiu. ing, though in ruins, near the Palatine hill. From the fall of the Roman empire, we have for several centuries no account of any bridges worthy of note, except those built by the Moors in Spain, one of the finest of which was the bridge of Cordova, over the Guadal- quivir, built by Hasbem or Issem, the son and successor of Abderrahman, the first of the Moorish kings of Spain. One of the most an- cient bridges of modern Europe is that over the Rhone at Avignon. It was built by a reli- gious society called the "Brethren' of the Bridge," which, according to Gautier, " was established upon the decline of the second and commencement of the third race of kings, when the state fell into anarchy, and there was little security for travellers, particularly in passing rivers, on which they were subject to the exactions and rapacities of banditti." This so- ciety was founded with a view to remedy these evils, by forming fraternities for the object of building bridges, and establishing ferries and caravansaries on the banks of the most fre- quently crossed rivers ; their first establishment was on the Durance, at Maupas, which name was afterward changed to Bonpas, in acknow- ledgment of their services. The bridge at Avignon was commenced in 1176, and com- pleted in 1188. The association soon after built the bridge of Lyons, composed of 20 arch- es, and that of Saint Esprit, over the Rhone, of 19 arches, besides many other structures of less note. One of the oldest bridges in Eng- land is that of Croyland in Lincolnshire; it is formed by three semicircles which succeed each other, and are based upon a central arch ; the ascent is so steep that only foot passen- gers can accomplish it. The bridge at Burton over the Trent, now partly removed, was the longest in England, -and was built in the 12th