Were the arches on medieval bridges large enough to permit river traffic?
Upvote:2
The old London Bridge (1209-1831) not only had arches wide enough for river traffic, it had a lifting drawbridge in the middle to allow tall ships to pass through it. It’s true, however, that the current through the arches was very rapid because of the obstruction to the river from the bridge’s structure.
Upvote:26
Why would you think that medieval people would build such impractical bridges?
After all, there are surviving medieval bridges, which are perfectly capable to allow river traffic.
Stone Bridge in Regensburg, Germany from the 12th century
Edit: the OP is interested in non-navigable bridges.
There is consensus in the comments, that in terms of economy a ferry offers the benefit of not hindering river traffic while allowing for road traffic across the river. A non-navigable bridge would only allow road traffic across the river, while all goods transported on the river would need to be loaded between barges up- and down-river.
As river traffic was more economical in the past, a ferry would be the preferred solution.
So, what about non-navigable brides?
Wikipedia offers several examples of bridges, which are quite narrow (in terms of span-width).
The Anping bridge in China from the mid 12th century
The Arkadiko bridge, although I am not sure whether it spans a navigable water way.
An example of a non-navigable bridge
The Tarr Steps from somewhere between the Bronze Age and 1400 AD, yet I am not sure whether it spans a navigable water way.
Yet another topic addressing the question: un-loading and re-loading the cargo.
In medieval law there was a thing named Staple right, which forced a merchant to offer his goods in a place (city) that had the Staple right.
So a trader would have to unload the cargo, and offer it on the local market for a prescribed period. Afterwards the cargo can be loaded again on a river barge.
In such a scenario, there would be an actual incentive to build a bridge with a quite narror span, as it would prevent anybody from simply passing the city.
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