Ponte di Tiberio (Rimini)

Ponte di Tiberio Pons Augustus Ponte d'Augusto
Coordinates	44°03′49″N 12°33′49″E / 44.063689°N 12.563656°E / 44.063689; 12.563656
Carries	Via Aemilia
Crosses	Marecchia (ancient Ariminus)
Locale	Rimini, Italy
Characteristics
Design	Arch bridge
Total length	62.6 m (between abutments)
Width	8.6 m
Longest span	10.6 m
No. of spans	5
History
Construction end	20 AD
Location

The Bridge of Tiberius (Italian: Ponte di Tiberio) or Bridge of Augustus (Latin: Pons Augustus) is a Roman bridge in Rimini, Italy. The bridge features five semicircular arches made of white Istrian stone with an average span length of ca. 8 m. Above the arches lied niches framed with pilasters carrying entablatures and pediments. They were framed on the arch bridge's walls. Modillions supported cornices were covered by a coping at the top. An inscription commemorating the construction of the bridges was located near the coping.^[1] Construction work started during Augustus' reign and was finished under his successor Tiberius in 20 AD; an inscription thus calls the structure as "given by both emperors".^[2] The bridge was the only crossing of the Marecchia not destroyed by the retreating German army during the Battle of Rimini as it was judged militarily pointless.^[3]

The bridge is still open to pedestrian traffic, and motor vehicles with the exception of heavy goods vehicles were allowed to cross until the COVID pandemic. In 2014 a project called "The Tiberio Project" aimed to re-organize the road system near the bridge and redevelop the entire area of San Giuliano a mare. The bridge was permanently pedestrianized on May 30, 2020.^[4]

See also

• List of Roman bridges
• Roman architecture
• Roman engineering

References

Further reading

• O’Connor, Colin (1993). Roman Bridges. Cambridge University Press. pp. 84f. (I117). ISBN 0-521-39326-4.

External links

Media related to Ponte d'Augusto (Rimini) at Wikimedia Commons

• Pons Augustus at Structurae
• Traianus – Technical investigation of Roman public works