Roman bridge Solesta

I live in the Centre of Italy on the Marchigiana Region, province of Macerata, in my village there are no constructions of stone, bricks used here since very ancient times, but in the same region some 80 km away, the city of Ascoli Piceno is located and in the nearby mountains is called travertine marble, travertine is a sedimentary rock limestone, used in Italy since the beginning of the first Millennium before Christ, for example much of the historic centre of Ascoli Piceno is built in travertine, like all columns in Saint Peter's square in the Vatican City and many churches, bridges and palaces to the length and width of all Italy.

The Roman Solesta bridge, located in the city of Ascoli Piceno, I chose this structure, because it is the oldest in the city, has a great archaeological and historical value and because I feel a great admiration for the old roads and bridges, the construction is from the period of the Roman Empire and began to build under the administration of the Emperor Gaio Giulio Cesare Ottaviano Augusto (30 - 23 BC), its initial use was to allow the passage of people and vehicles over the river Tronto , joining Ascoli Piceno with Porta Cappuccina sector, and today, after more than 2000 years is still standing and in use, the bridge has been restored several times, the most important restoration work carried out in the years 1929 and 1938.

As major structural elements can point out that it is a very solid bridge, a single arch, entirely built in stone, the architectural style is Roman, is a worthy example of Roman civilization, has a length of 62 m, 25 m high, a light of 22.2 meters and a width of 6.5 meters, the pillars were built on the rock on the banks of the River, these rocks are used to contain the thrust lines serving the function of buttresses and the point where starts the arc asem reflect a few Doric capitals, said arc has a radius of 10.7 meters and its application is the download tension towards the foundations of rock.

It is important to note, that the width of the bridge is unusual for the time, only few Roman bridges had one larger width, some examples are the bridge over the Danube, built in the time of the Emperor Trajan, of Alcantara on the river Tagus in Spain and the EUP NTE Augusto Narni to Terni Italy region.

This bridge is currently used for what it was designed, by what is preserved the relationship design use, the designer is unknown, but we are confident that the Roman architect did a good job.