The Kharaba Bridge is a
Roman bridge
The ancient Romans were the first civilization to build large, permanent bridges. Early Roman bridges used techniques introduced by Etruscan immigrants, but the Romans improved those skills, developing and enhancing methods such as arches and k ...
in the village of
Kharaba
Kharaba () also spelled ''Kharraba'' or ''Kherba'', is a village in southeastern Syria, administratively part of the as-Suwayda District of the as-Suwayda Governorate, located southwest of as-Suwayda city and northeast of Daraa. In the 2004 census, ...
in the fertile
Hauran
The Hauran (; also spelled ''Hawran'' or ''Houran'') is a region that spans parts of southern Syria and northern Jordan. It is bound in the north by the Ghouta oasis, to the northeast by the al-Safa field, to the east and south by the Harrat ...
region of
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
, close to the city of
Bosra
Bosra (), formerly Bostra () and officially called Busra al-Sham (), is a town in southern Syria, administratively belonging to the Daraa District of the Daraa Governorate and geographically part of the Hauran region.
Bosra is an ancient cit ...
(
ancient
Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...
Bostra
Bosra (), formerly Bostra () and officially called Busra al-Sham (), is a town in southern Syria, administratively belonging to the Daraa District of the Daraa Governorate and geographically part of the Hauran region.
Bosra is an ancient cit ...
).
The bridge crosses the
Wadi Zeidi, a tributary of the
Yarmuk, 3.5 km northwest of Bosra.
It has three semi-circular
arch
An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...
es, each 3.8 m clear, that rest on 2.4 m wide piers with a height of 2.5 m to the
springing level.
The bridge width is 4.52 m. At the eastern side exists a small squarish floodway which is supported by a
column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...
with
capital
Capital and its variations may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital
** List of national capitals
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter
Econom ...
.
The
vaults and the covering are predominantly built with black greenish
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
ashlar
Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones.
Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...
; overall, the ancient structure is still in a fairly good condition.
There are at least two more Roman bridges crossing the Wadi Zeidi: the
Gemarrin Bridge and one at At-Tayyibeh.
See also
*
List of Roman bridges
This is a list of Roman bridges. The Roman Empire, Romans were the world's first major bridge builders. The following constitutes an attempt to list all known surviving remains of Roman bridges.
A Roman bridge in the sense of this article in ...
*
Roman architecture
Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical ancient Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often con ...
*
Roman engineering
The ancient Romans were famous for their advanced engineering accomplishments. Technology for bringing running water into cities was developed in the east, but transformed by the Romans into a technology inconceivable in Greece. The architecture ...
References
Sources
*
*
{{Roman bridges
Roman bridges in Syria
Deck arch bridges
Stone bridges in Syria
Buildings and structures in Daraa Governorate