Pont sur la Laye

The Pont sur la Laye or Pont roman de Mane is an old stone arch bridge across the stream Laye in the French Provence close to the town Mane [1]. The 40-metre-long and 3.2-metre-wide bridge features three segmental arches with a span to rise ratio of up to c. 3:1 [1]. The bridge was built of local limestone whose shape varies according to its function: the arches consist of voussoirs, the spandrel walls of irregular stonework [1]. The main pier is protected both upstream and downstream by large triangular cutwaters out of rectangular blocks of stone [1]. The paved roadway rises sharply from the left bank to the main arch, and then drops in a gentler gradient to the higher bank on the other side [1].