tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6470543006314152962.post7409205636616431585..comments2024-03-11T16:49:27.614+00:00Comments on The Happy Pontist: French Bridges: 1. Pont Saint-Bénézet, AvignonThe Happy Pontisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15252272118786667592noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6470543006314152962.post-32079003284866541212014-10-27T15:10:34.522+00:002014-10-27T15:10:34.522+00:00It's interesting how think about the "why...It's interesting how think about the "whys" in historical buildings, as does the Happy Pontist here.<br />The savings in construction costs may have been a cause for building the arches in 4 sections. It shall be remembered that bridge building was some kind of "venture capital investment" in the middle ages, since the construction time took many years, for such large bridges often many decades.<br />On the other hand, the project started paying off after the bridge had opened to traffic and the users started to pay the bridge toll. Even after a successful completion of the bridge, it could have been easily damaged by flood, wars, and with built-up bridges such as the Ponte Vecchio in Florence or the Old London Bridge by fires. Of course, these may already have struck during construction.<br /><br />In the light of this, savings in the construction phase seem quite rational to me. As noted by the Happy Pontist, a structural engineer of today would prefer structural integrity, since we have a deeper understanding of these structures than was available when the Point Saint-Bénézet was built. But judged by the fact that some portions of the bridge survive until today, its builders weren't too wrong either.Imrenoreply@blogger.com