ABSTRACT
To judge from the literature on Roman engineering, there was a time when the history of bridge building was a prominent theme closely associated with a parallel and equally well-developed interest in Roman roads. Road bridges were built by the Roman Government. Their function was to meet the needs of military transport and the administration of an empire. Bridge building was an activity that typifies those three features of Roman engineering which exemplify its character and even anticipate modem times – arcuate construction, the use of concrete, and the concept of public works. Permanent all-wooden bridges were undoubtedly resorted to as well, even though their inability to endure has left us little evidence of their existence and even less as to how they were constructed. Some Roman bridges featured platforms, or aprons, which surrounded the feet of the piers and usually covered the whole of the riverbed in the vicinity of the bridge.
