The masonry arch bridges of stone or brick are the most genuine of arch bridges, some lasting a thousand years. Because they are made of worked stone, there is a slight chance they might even stand without mortar, like the Pont du Gard aqueduct. Yet arch bridges using rough hewn stones like Changhong Bridge need mortar to stand. Arches with a core of reinforced concrete covered by facade stone for decoration are not to be included in this list, the load-bearing part of the arch should be cut stone or brick, or as follows, unreinforced concrete.
In a closed spandrel stone arch bridge the hollow space can be filled with rubble and loose material. It can also be filled with concrete, in which case the filling itself become able to bear load in addition to the load carried by the ring of voussoirs. If the voussoir stones are thin they can not take a lot of weight so instead it is the concrete filling that becomes the structural part of the arch. The next step is to remove the voussoir stones completely, or only use them as facade stones. An unreinforced concrete arch is technically a masonry arch that use only very small stones, that is the aggregate of the concrete, sand and gravel. Such an arch would not stand without mortar.
Some modern bridges are built masonry style with precast concrete blocks, like Gladesville Bridge that has a span of 305 metres (1000 ft). These types are not in this list because their blocks are most likely made of reinforced concrete, that may make the assembled arch to have more in common with a modern reinforced concrete arch than a stone masonry arch.
The Maidenhead Railway Bridge may have the two longest arches made of bricks, 39 metres (128 ft).
Building new masonry arch bridges today is a solely Chinese business. There are 18 stone arch bridges with spans exceeding 100m. There are probably several dozens of stone arches exceeding 40m in the Fujian province only. Almost all bridges were built after 1950.
This list contains the longest masonry arch spans ever built being at least 50 metres (164 ft).
| Photo | Rank and Reference |
Name | Location | Land |
Longest span in metres (feet) |
Arch type |
Completed |
Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pont de la Libération | Villeneuve-sur-Lot | France | 700196000000000000096 (315) | uc | 1919 | There are two very thin parallel arches with a common deck Linked Image | ||
| de:Syratalviadukt | Plauen | Germany | 700190000000000000090 (295) | uc | 1905 | The arch is made of unreinforced concrete. The sides are decorated with facade stone. The bridge has been repaired. | ||
| Longmen Bridge | Luoyang | China | 700190000000000000090 (295) | ws | 1961 | One main span... (Linked Image) | ||
| Solkan Bridge | Nova Gorica | Slovenia | 700185000000000000085 (278) | ws | 1906 | Destroyed. Rebuilt 1927. | ||
| Adolphe Bridge | Luxembourg City | Luxembourg | 700184000000000000084 (275) | ws | 1904 | Reinforced concrete deck. There are two parallel arches with a common deck. | ||
| Pont de Montanges (Pont-des-Pierres) | Valserine river | France | 700180000000000000080 (262) | ws | 1910 | Destroyed tramway bridge Linked Image | ||
| fr:Viaduc de la Roizonne | La Mure | France | 700179000000000000079 (260) | ws | 1928 | |||
| Trezzo sull'Adda Bridge | Lombardy | Italy | 700172000000000000072 (236) | ws | 1377 | Destroyed in 1416 | ||
| Steyrling Bridge | de:Pyhrn Railroad | Austria | 700170000000000000070 (230) | ws | 1904 | |||
| Union Arch Bridge | Maryland | USA | 700167000000000000067 (220) | ws | 1864 | Part of the Washington Aqueduct | ||
| de:Sonnborner Eisenbahnbrücke | Wuppertal | Germany | 700166000000000000066 (216) | ws | 1914 | Instead of the keystone there is a steel hinge | ||
| Gutach Bridge | Höllental Railroad | Germany | 700164000000000000064 (209) | ws | 1900 | |||
| König-Ludwig-Brücke and Obere Illerbrücken | Kempten (Allgäu) | Germany | 700164000000000000064 (209) | uc | 1851/1906 | Three bridges, one a wood truss Linked Image | ||
| Pont de la Balme | Savoie | France | 700164000000000000064 (209) | ws | 1946 | The span has two parallel arches | ||
| de:Luitpoldbrücke (München) | Munich | Germany | 700163000000000000063 (206) | ws | 1901 | BW | ||
| de:Max-Joseph-Brücke | Munich | Germany | 700163000000000000063 (206) | ws | 1902 | BW | ||
| Grosvenor Bridge | Chester | UK | 700161000000000000061 (200) | ws | 1832 | The span is probably 61 m | ||
| Lavaur Railroad Bridge | Agout River | France | 700161000000000000061 (200) | ws | 1884 | |||
| Wechselburg-Göhrer Bridge | Saxony | Germany | 700160000000000000060 (196) | ws | 1904 | |||
| Linked Image | Huanghugang Bridge | Hunan | China | 700160000000000000060 (196) | ws | 1959 | ||
| Longmen Bridge | Luoyang | China | 700160000000000000060 (196) | ws | 1961 | ...and two side spans. (Linked Image) | ||
| de:Wallstraßenbrücke | Ulm | Germany | 700157000000000000057 (187) | uc | 1905 | Destroyed. Piers and deck of reinforced concrete. | ||
| Ballochmyle Viaduct | Mauchline | UK | 700155000000000000055 (180) | ws | 1848 | Linked Image | ||
| Wiesen Viaduct | Landwasser River | Switzerland | 700155000000000000055 (180) | ws | 1909 | |||
| Pélussin Tramway Bridge | Loire | France | 700155000000000000055 (180) | ws | 1919 | Linked Image | ||
| Pont de Rabastens | Tarn | France | 700155000000000000055 (180) | ws | 1924 | Two spans, reinforced concrete deck Linked Image | ||
| Pont de Vieille-Brioude | Allier River | France | 700154000000000000054 (177) | ws | 1479 | Collapsed 1822, successor (1832) spans only 45 m (148 ft) | ||
| Linked Image | Yixiantian Bridge | Chengdu–Kunming Railway | China | 700154000000000000054 (177) | ws | 1966 | Deck system concrete | |
| Gignac Bridge | Hérault | France | 700150000000000000050 (164) | ws | 1810 | |||
| fr:Viaduc de Nogent-sur-Marne | Val-de-Marne | France | 700150000000000000050 (164) | ws | 1856 | Four spans, destroyed | ||
| Munderkingen Bridge | Baden-Württemberg | Germany | 700150000000000000050 (164) | uc | 1893 | Destroyed | ||
| fr:Viaduc des Eaux-salées | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | France | 700150000000000000050 (164) | ws | 1914 | |||
| Linked Image | Baisha Bridge | Zhejiang | China | 700150000000000000050 (164) | ws | 1960 | Two spans |
- This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.
Famous quotes containing the words list of, list, longest, masonry, arch, bridge and/or spans:
“Every morning I woke in dread, waiting for the day nurse to go on her rounds and announce from the list of names in her hand whether or not I was for shock treatment, the new and fashionable means of quieting people and of making them realize that orders are to be obeyed and floors are to be polished without anyone protesting and faces are to be made to be fixed into smiles and weeping is a crime.”
—Janet Frame (b. 1924)
“Modern tourist guides have helped raised tourist expectations. And they have provided the natives—from Kaiser Wilhelm down to the villagers of Chichacestenango—with a detailed and itemized list of what is expected of them and when. These are the up-to- date scripts for actors on the tourists’ stage.”
—Daniel J. Boorstin (b. 1914)
“Daisies in water are the longest lasting
flower you can give to someone.
Fact.
Buy daisies.
Not roses.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“I learn immediately from any speaker how much he has already lived, through the poverty or the splendor of his speech. Life lies behind us as the quarry from whence we get tiles and copestones for the masonry of today. This is the way to learn grammar. Colleges and books only copy the language which the field and the work-yard made.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Thir dread commander: he above the rest
In shape and gesture proudly eminent
Stood like a Towr; his form had yet not lost
All her Original brightness, nor appear’d
Less than Arch Angel ruind, and th’ excess
Of Glory obscur’d: As when the Sun new ris’n
Looks through the Horizontal misty Air
Shorn of his Beams, or from behind the Moon
In dim Eclips disastrous twilight sheds
On half the Nations, and with fear of change
Perplexes Monarchs.”
—John Milton (1608–1674)
“I was at work that morning. Someone came riding like mad
Over the bridge and up the road—Farmer Rouf’s little lad.
Bareback he rode; he had no hat; he hardly stopped to say,
“Morgan’s men are coming, Frau, they’re galloping on this way.”
—Constance Fenimore Woolson (1840–1894)
“This is my playes last scene, here heavens appoint
My pilgrimages last mile; and my race
Idly, yet quickly runne, hath this last pace,
My spans last inch, my minutes last point,
And gluttonous death, will instantly unjoynt
My body, and soule, and I shall sleepe a space,”
—John Donne (1572–1631)