D'Ael Bridge

D'Ael Bridge
Pont d'Aël
Aymavilles, Aosta Valley, Italy
216 feet high / 66 meters high
47 foot span / 14 meter span
-003

Completed in the year 3 BC, the Pont d'Aël is the very first truly high level bridge in history with a narrow water aqueduct path crossing 66 meters above the surface of the Grand Eyvia River. Formerly part of a 6 kilometer aqueduct in Aosta, Italy, the 2000+ year old stone arch is 60 meters long with a main span of just 14.25 meters. The water conduit was 1.90 meters high and 1 meter wide and crossed the bridge for a distance of 50 meters.

The upper reaches of the aqueduct are 2.9 kilometers from the Pont d'Aël allowing water to descend partly along open channels as well as through tunnels before reaching the bridge.

There is excellent information and diagrams from extensive research made at the bridge site from Mathias Döring that can be found in his paper. The D'Ael Bridge was built by Gaius Avillius Caimus of Padua. The bridge can be accessed as part of a trail.

D'Ael Bridge Elevation

D'Ael Bridge satellite image.

D'Ael Bridge location map.