Makestos Bridge

Macestus Bridge
Elevation and plan of the Macestus Bridge
Coordinates	39°51′55″N 28°09′53″E / 39.865278°N 28.164722°E / 39.865278; 28.164722Coordinates: 39°51′55″N 28°09′53″E / 39.865278°N 28.164722°E / 39.865278; 28.164722
Carries	Hadrianu Therai-Miletopolis road
Crosses	Simav River (classical Macestus)
Locale	Mysia
Characteristics
Design	Half-open spandrel segmental arch bridge
Material	Stone and brick
Total length	234 m (without ramps)
Width	6.35 m
Longest span	14.20 m
No. of spans	13
History
Construction end	Possibly 4th century AD
Closed	c. 1870s
Macestus Bridge Location in Turkey

The Macestus Bridge or Bridge of Sultançayır was a Roman segmental arched bridge across the Macestus River (Turkish: Simav or Susurluk Çayı) at Balıkesir, in the northwestern part of modern-day Turkey. Its flattened arches, slender piers and the hollow chamber system documented the progress made in late antique bridge building. A first cursory investigation of the 234 m long structure was conducted in the early 20th century, but since then its existence has been largely neglected by scholars. Current photos from 2009 show that the bridge has collapsed in the meantime.

The bridge is located at Sultançayır, in the heart of the ancient region of Mysia, where it carried the road connecting Hadrianu Therai (Balıkesir) with Miletopolis across the Macestus. During an exploration tour in 1902, the German archaeologist Theodor Wiegand found the ancient structure still in an excellent state of preservation; only the fourth pier from the eastern bank had been blown up some thirty years before in what was a crude and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to render the river navigable for larger vessels. Another brief account was given by his English colleague Frederick William Hasluck, who also visited Mysia at the time.

The Macestus Bridge has a width of 6.35 m and a length of 234 m, excluding the ramps at both ends. The distance between the centreline of the piers measures 17.80 m for each of its 13 arches, the clear span being 14.20 m and the pier width, accordingly, 3.60 m. The slender piers are protected upstream by triangular cutwaters and, owing to a favourable thickness against span ratio of almost 1 to 4, allowed the waterflow to pass the bridge relatively unrestricted. The rise from the springing line to the keystone is only 4.30 m (see drawing), giving the arcade a span-to-rise ratio of 3.3 to 1. The bridge is thus one of more than a dozen ancient segmental arch bridges known today.