The Maya Bridge at Yaxchilan was a

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

believed to have been built by the

Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...

across the

Usumacinta River The Usumacinta River (; named after the howler monkey) is a river in southeastern Mexico and northwestern Guatemala. It is formed by the junction of the Pasión River, which arises in the Sierra de Santa Cruz (in Guatemala) and the Salinas ...

Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. If so, it would have been the longest bridge discovered in the ancient world, dating from its construction by the

Maya civilization The Maya civilization () was a Mesoamerican civilization that existed from antiquity to the early modern period. It is known by its ancient temples and glyphs (script). The Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writin ...

in the late 7th century at

Yaxchilan Yaxchilan () is an ancient Maya city located on the bank of the Usumacinta River in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. In the Late Classic Period Yaxchilan was one of the most powerful Maya states along the course of the Usumacinta River, with Pied ...

. It was a

with a more or less level deck. Now an archaeological site, Yaxchilan had long been known to include an unusual raised terrace beside the river and pier in the river; these structures were long theorized to be the remains of a bridge. page 134 The Maya City-State of Yaxchilan, founded in the 4th century, became one of the most powerful Mayan kingdoms during the

Maya Classic Period Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of prehispanic Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian (first human habitation until 3500 BCE); the Archaic (before 2600 BCE), the Preclassic or Formative (2500 BCE –&nbs ...

. During the height of its power the kings of Yaxchilan built temples,

pyramids A pyramid () is a Nonbuilding structure, structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a Pyramid (geometry), pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid ca ...

, and palaces clustered along the grand plaza extending along the shores of the

. This broad river, now separating

from

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

, formed a large U-shaped bend (or "

oxbow __NOTOC__ An oxbow is a U-shaped metal pole (or larger wooden frame) that fits the underside and the sides of the neck of an ox or wikt:bullock, bullock. A bow pin holds it in place. The term "oxbow" is widely used to refer to a U-shaped meand ...

") that encompassed the city of Yaxchilan. This natural barrier protected the city from outside invasion but flooded heavily during the six-month rainy season, during which Yaxchilan became an island. An all-weather passage across the dangerous river was needed to gain access to the farmlands north of the city. To survive and operate efficiently as the seat of power, Yaxchilan required a dependable passageway to provide an uninterrupted flow of traffic across the river on a year-round basis. It was speculated that the Maya solved this problem by constructing a -long suspension bridge across the river in the late 7th century. The three-span bridge extended from a platform on the grand plaza of Yaxchilan crossing the river to the northern shore. The center span would have been the longest in the world until the construction of the Italian

Trezzo sull'Adda Bridge The Trezzo sull'Adda Bridge or Trezzo Bridge was a medieval bridge at Trezzo sull'Adda in Lombardy, Italy, spanning the Adda river. Completed in 1377, the single-arch bridge held the record for the largest span for over four hundred years, until ...

in 1377. This would have required two piers in the river; a computer model is available illustrating this theory. The ruins of the structure were investigated and reconstruction was created using computer simulation,

remote sensing Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an physical object, object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring inform ...

, and archaeoengineering techniques by Engineer James A O'Kon PE. The results were presented to the archaeological and engineering world in the pages of ''National Geographic'' magazine in 1995.

References

* ''National Geographic'' magazine, October 1995. * " Civil Engineering" Magazine, April 1995 * "Winds of Change" Magazine, Autumn 1997 * "Tech Topics" Georgia Tech Alumni Publication, Winter 1997 * "Famous Engineering Landmarks of the World" Berlow, Lawrence H. Phoenix, Arizona, ORYX Press 2000 * "Life in the Ancient Maya World" Fisher, Lynn, Oxford England, Oxford University press, 2005 * "Ancient Maya" by Anita Ganeri * " The Lost Secrets of Maya Technology" O'Kon, James, New York. Career Press, 2012

External links

Panoramio.com: computer rendering of the bridge - panoramio site no longer existsExplorandomexico.com: more information about Yaxchilan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maya Bridge At Yaxchilan Buildings and structures in Mesoamerica Buildings and structures in Chiapas Archaeological sites in Guatemala Suspension bridges in Mexico Maya architecture Bridges in Guatemala Yaxchilan