Why was the arch used in Roman architecture?
Possibly the oldest existing arch bridge is the Mycenaean Arkadiko bridge in Greece from about 1300 BC. The stone corbel arch bridge is still used by the local populace. Although true arches were already known by the Etruscans and ancient Greeks, the Romans were – as with the vault and the dome – the first to fully realize the potential of arches for bridge construction.A list of Roman bridges compiled by the engineer Colin O’Connor features 330 Roman stone bridges for traffic, 34 timber bridges and 54 aqueduct bridges, a substantial part still standing and even used to carry vehicles. Roman arch bridges were usually semicircular, although a few were segmental (such as Alconétar Bridge).The advantages of the segemental arch bridge were that it allowed great amounts of flood water to pass under it, which would prevent the bridge from being swept away during floods and the bridge itself could be more lightweight . Generally, Roman bridge featured wedge-shaped primary arch stones (voussoi
