Short Takes: The Bridge to Yaxchilan.
by Mark English, AIA | Short Takes
Most people don’t know that the longest bridge in the world, until 1377, was not in Rome, China or the Middle East. It was in the Central American Mayan city of Yaxchilan.
Yaxchilan Bridge reconstruction courtesy James O’Kon PE
Most people don’t know that the longest bridge in the world, until 1377, was not in Rome, China or the Middle East. It was in the Central American Mayan city of Yaxchilan.
The bridge over the Usumacinta river, would have been the longest bridge discovered in the ancient world, dating from its construction by the Maya civilization in the late 7th century. It was a suspension bridge with a more or less level deck.
James O’Kon, an engineer and author, describes the bridge in his new book “The Lost Secrets of Maya Technology”. In his book, O’Kon describes the bridge as necessary for the functioning of the ancient city, located in an oxbow of the river. The tropical river seasonally varies in height by as much as 40 feet, leaving the city isolated on an island for up to half the year.
Yaxchilan map courtesy Google
It has been speculated that the Maya solved this urban transportation problem by constructing a 100-meter long suspension bridge across the river in the late 7th century. The bridge which featured three spans extended from a platform on the grand plaza of Yaxchilan crossing the river to the northern shore. The 63 meter center span remained the longest in the world until the construction of the Italian Trezzo sull’Adda Bridge in 1377.
