The geomorphological setting and reconstruction of a late Roman Bridge at Cuijk, The Netherlands

The remains of six late Roman wooden bridge foundations and re-used stone masonary were investigated and salvaged from the River Meuse at Cuijk (The Netherlands). The finds enabled the reconstruction of the pier foundations, but not the remainder of the structure, or its design. The consideration that a bridge is built to fit the landscape led to a programme of geomorphological research aimed at determining the landscape constraints which affected several design variables including the location and size of the structure. As a result the minimum and maximum length of the bridge was established at 150 m and 450 m respectively, which would have required at least eight and possibly up to twenty-four piers. Pier height was at least 4.6 m. The location for the bridge was chosen because the Meuse had been stable in this reach during Roman times. Channel stability was partly a function of the high clay content of the Meuse channel banks and a palaeochannel on the floodplain, which reduced lateral erosion. It is estimated that between two and eighteen well-preserved foundations remain hidden and preserved for posterity beneath c . 4 m of post-Roman alluvium.