List of longest masonry arch bridge spans

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 100 m (330 ft).^[1] There are probably several dozens of stone arches exceeding 40m in the Fujian province only.^[2] Almost all bridges were built after 1950.

This list contains the longest masonry arch spans ever built being at least 50 metres (164 ft).

Meaning of column "Arch type": ws = worked stone, uc = unreinforced concrete

Photo	Rank and Reference	Name	Location	Land	Longest span in metres (feet)	Arch type	Completed	Note
		Pont de la Libération	Villeneuve-sur-Lot	France	96 (315)	uc	1919	There are two very thin parallel arches with a common deck Linked Image
		de:Syratalviadukt	Plauen	Germany	90 (295)	uc	1905	The arch is made of unreinforced concrete.[3] The sides are decorated with facade stone. The bridge has been repaired.
		Longmen Bridge	Luoyang	China	90 (295)	ws	1961	One main span... (Linked Image)
	Bridge "List of longest masonry arch bridge spans" Check |url= value (help). brueckenweb.de (in German).	Solkan Bridge	Nova Gorica	Slovenia	85 (278)	ws	1906	Destroyed. Rebuilt 1927.
		Adolphe Bridge	Luxembourg City	Luxembourg	84 (275)	ws	1904	Reinforced concrete deck. There are two parallel arches with a common deck.
		Pont de Montanges (Pont-des-Pierres)	Valserine river	France	80 (262)	ws	1910	Destroyed tramway bridge Linked Image
		fr:Viaduc de la Roizonne	La Mure	France	79 (260)	ws	1928
		Trezzo sull'Adda Bridge	Lombardy	Italy	72 (236)	ws	1377	Destroyed in 1416
		Steyrling Bridge	de:Pyhrn Railroad	Austria	70 (230)	ws	1904
		Union Arch Bridge	Maryland	USA	67 (220)	ws	1864	Part of the Washington Aqueduct
		de:Sonnborner Eisenbahnbrücke	Wuppertal	Germany	66 (216)	ws	1914	Instead of the keystone there is a steel hinge
		Gutach Bridge	Höllental Railroad	Germany	64 (209)	ws	1900
		König-Ludwig-Brücke and Obere Illerbrücken	Kempten (Allgäu)	Germany	64 (209)	uc	1851/1906	Three bridges, one a wood truss Linked Image
		Pont de la Balme	Savoie	France	64 (209)	ws	1946	The span has two parallel arches
		de:Luitpoldbrücke (München)	Munich	Germany	63 (206)	ws	1901	"BW". brueckenweb.de (in German).
		de:Max-Joseph-Brücke	Munich	Germany	63 (206)	ws	1902	"BW". brueckenweb.de (in German).
		Grosvenor Bridge	Chester	UK	61 (200)	ws	1832	The span is probably 61 m
		Lavaur Railroad Bridge	Agout River	France	61 (200)	ws	1884
		Stone Arch Bridge	Minneapolis	US	60.2 (197.5)	ws	1883	Total length of 759.45 m with 23 spans.
		Wechselburg-Göhrer Bridge	Saxony	Germany	60 (196)	ws	1904
Linked Image		Huanghugang Bridge	Hunan	China	60 (196)	ws	1959
	[4]	Orkla Bridge	Dovre Line, Rennebu	Norway	60	ws	1921	Railway bridge
	[5]	Skodje Bridge	Skodje	Norway	59	ws	1922	First span is 57 or 59 m, second span is 40 m.
		Ballochmyle Viaduct	Mauchline	UK	55 (180)	ws	1848	Linked Image
		Wiesen Viaduct	Landwasser River	Switzerland	55 (180)	ws	1909
		Pélussin Tramway Bridge	Loire	France	55 (180)	ws	1919	Linked Image
		Pont de Rabastens	Tarn	France	55 (180)	ws	1924	Two spans, reinforced concrete deck Linked Image
		Pont de Vieille-Brioude	Allier River	France	54 (177)	ws	1479	Collapsed 1822, successor (1832) spans only 45 m (148 ft)
Linked Image		Yixiantian Bridge	Chengdu–Kunming Railway	China	54 (177)	ws	1966	Deck system concrete
	[6]	Jora bridge	Rauma Line, Dombås	Norway	54	ws	1918	Linked image Linked image (construction work)
		Gignac Bridge	Hérault	France	50 (164)	ws	1810
		fr:Viaduc de Nogent-sur-Marne	Val-de-Marne	France	50 (164)	ws	1856	Four spans, destroyed
		Munderkingen Bridge	Baden-Württemberg	Germany	50 (164)	uc	1893	Destroyed
		fr:Viaduc des Eaux-salées	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur	France	50 (164)	ws	1914
Linked Image		Baisha Bridge	Zhejiang	China	50 (164)	ws	1960	Two spans

See also

• List of longest arch bridge spans — longer spans are made with steel or steel and concrete

References

1. Hu, C-W; Hu; Liu; Zhou (2001). "The longest span stone arch bridge in the world". ARCH'01 (PDF). Paris: Presses des Ponts. p. 667. ISBN 9782859783471. Retrieved 2009-01-18.
2. Ou, Z.; Chen. Stone arch bridges in Fujian, China (PDF). p. 271. Retrieved 2009-01-25.
3. http://www.eccenet.org/News/tech/ARCHBRIDGES.doc
4. Statens Vegvesen: Steinhvelvbruer ("Masonry Arch Bridges"). Håndbok nr 230. Published 2002.
5. Statens Vegvesen: Steinhvelvbruer. Håndbok nr 230. Utgitt 2002.
6. Statens Vegvesen: Steinhvelvbruer. Håndbok nr 230. Utgitt 2002.