Pont des Marchands
About
The Via Domitia crossed the river here on a bridge of six or seven stone arches, carrying Roman traffic straight through the middle of Narbo Martius. Only one arch is still visible today, above a later canal, but it has never stopped being a working bridge — later builders simply buried the rest under dozens of buildings of shops and houses, one of only two inhabited bridges still standing in France. In 117 CE it carried the entire commercial life of the Via Domitia across the water.
What happened here
Piers are set on cofferdams — a ring of driven piles, pumped dry, filled with concrete that sets under water. They are built with a cutwater pointing upstream to split the current and the ice. The span above may be stone arches or timber on stone, and timber is not a poor relation: it is cheaper, faster, and replaceable. Roads approach on an embankment so the crossing stays level. Tolls are common, shrines at either end are usual, and the inscription names whoever paid. Floods are the enemy; a bridge is inspected after every big one, and the scour around the piers is packed with rubble. A bridge fixes a town's position for a thousand years, which is why so many are still standing.
Sources
Nearby
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Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →