Design – Stone Arch Bridges

Capping Stone Walls

The stones atop of a stone wall are fairly easily dislodged, especially for mortarless builds. Here are some ideas to help keep everything in place.

Here are several ways to strengthen a stone arch bridge, ranging from distributing loads over the arch to relieving the bridge from load altogether.

Where a stone arch bridge must be founded on soft ground, there are several simple steps can be taken to prevent settling of the structure.

Mortarless stone retaining walls have to resist the perpetual thrust of the soil they are withholding. Here are several ways this can be done.

A key concern when maintaining a mortarless stone arch bridges is how stones can be worked loose by vibration. There are ways to prevent this.

The keystone, while generally no more important than any other arch stone, does require some special attention to fit properly.

Effective arch thickness is the measure of how much of an arch’s thickness is supporting weight. This means that even imperfect arches can be strong.

The last few years of stone arch bridge building in Butler County, Kansas, brought improvements in design which were unique even to the state.

Stone arch bridges must have substantial and properly designed abutments in order to resist the enormous thrust of the arch without yielding.

The beautiful Minos West Ford Bridge built by C. C. Jamison in southern Butler County, Kansas was considered a masterpiece even in its own time.