Stone Arch Bridges
One of the important parts of a stone arch bridge is the spandrel walls. The spandrel is the part of the bridge that is built up over the arch to form a reasonable roadbed grade. Unlike the approach, the spandrel walls are located over the arch. Except for a very flat arch, something must be […]
Part of the historical appeal of stone arch bridges was the fact that they needed but little maintenance. After all, stone does not rot out or need painted. Stone bridges also are substantially heavier than iron or wooden bridges, which meant that, whereas in major floods wooden bridges would set sail downstream and iron bridges […]
A bridge to add to our lesser-known stone arch bridge list is found in Butler County, Kansas. In Plum Grove Township, about 3 ½ miles north of Potwin, there is a peculiar little stone arch bridge over the Whitewater River on NW 155th Street. Located about ½ mile west of the 115th–Buffalo Road intersection, this […]
Many of the old stone arch bridges around the world have names which, after a fashion, tell a tale of the history of the structure and, sometimes, the area around it. Others have obvious names that are not particularly informative, beyond, perhaps, what body of water the bridge is spanning. In Kansas, many of the […]
This list of lesser-known bridges in Kansas is composed of bridges that are not well documented for various reasons. Some of them are off-road while others, even though they are actually on the roadway, have largely escaped the public eye — an easy occurrence if they are not on the national bridge inventory or are […]
Stone arches have long been used for spanning gaps throughout the world. Their permanence has been testified to and evidenced by the surprising number of Roman and Medieval stone arch bridges still in use. But how do these bridges work? How do you span a gap with stone? The Slab Method The simple and most […]