Prof. Crisencio M. Paner, MSc.

An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports structure and weight above it. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.

A masonry arch 1. Keystone 2. Voussoir 3. Extrados 4. Impost 5. Intrados 6. Rise 7. Clear span 8. Abutment

Arches have many forms, but all fall into three basic categories: Circular, pointed, and parabolic.

Circular Arch

Pointed Arch

Parabolic Arch

Arches with a circular form, also referred to as rounded arch, were commonly employed by the builders of ancient history, heavy masonry arches. Ancient Roman builders relied heavily on the rounded arch to span large, open areas. Several rounded arches placed in-line, end-to-end, form an arcade, such as the Roman aqueduct.

Roman aqueduct near Nmes, France

Horseshoe arches (9th century) in the Mosque of Uqba, in Kairouan, Tunisia

Pointed arches were most often used by builders of Gothic-style architecture. The advantage to using a pointed arch, rather than a circular arch, is that the arch action in a pointed arch produces less thrust at the base. This innovation allowed for taller and more closely spaced openings, typical of Gothic architecture

Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels, Belgium, with its central, pointed arch window, typical of Gothic architecture.

Vaults are essentially "adjacent arches [that] are assembled side by side." If vaults intersect, complex forms are produced with the intersections. The forms, along with the "strongly expressed ribs at the vault intersections, were dominant architectural features of Gothic cathedrals."

Interior vaulted ceiling of Notre Dame de Paris, showing the ribs at the intersection of several arches.

The parabolic arch employs the principle that when weight is uniformly applied to an arch, the internal compression resulting from that weight will follow a parabolic profile. Of any arch type, the parabolic arch produces the most thrust at the base, but can span the largest areas. It is commonly used in bridge design, where long spans are needed.

Sand Bridge in Sweden: Example of a parabolic arch used to span a large area.

True arches, as opposed to corbel arches, were known by a number of civilizations in the Ancient Near East, the Levant, and Mexico, but their use was infrequent and mostly confined to underground structures such as drains where the problem of lateral thrust is greatly diminished.

Arch of the Near East Arch of Levant Mayan Corbel Arch

A rare exception is the bronze age arched city gate of Ashkelon (modern day Israel), dating to ca. 1850 B.C. An early example of a voussoir arch appears in the Greek Rhodes Footbridge. In 2010, a robot discovered a long arch-roofed passageway underneath the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl which stands in the ancient city of Teotihuacan north of Mexico City, dated to around 200 AD

City gate of Ashkelon

Greek Rhodes Footbridge. Arch-roofed passageway underneath the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl

The ancient Romans learned the arch from the Etruscans, refined it and were the first builders to tap its full potential for above ground buildings. Throughout the Roman empire, their engineers erected arch structures such as bridges, aqueducts, and gates.

They also introduced the triumphal arch as a military monument. Vaults began to be used for roofing large interior spaces such as halls and temples, a function which was also assumed by domed structures from the 1st century BC onwards.

Arch of Constantine, Rome

Arch of Triumph in Genoa, Italy

The arch is important because it is a marvelous way to structurally support the mass of a building roof, a railway line, or an aqueduct, like the ones the Romans built. Some of the arches built by Ancient Romans still stand today, and they offer a mute testament to the effectiveness of the arch in engineering. The arch is still in wide use today, and we even see big glue-lams (wood glued to laminate it to make large beams) in the shape of arches. The arch has a long history in structures man has built

BACKGROUND OF PROF. CRISENCIO M. PANER: Ph.D. in Biological Science (Candidate), UST M.S. in Microbiology, UST B.S. Biochemistry, UST Italian Government Scholar College Scholar Certificate in Education 10th Placer Licensure Exams for Teachers 20 years of experience as a teacher (College, High School, Elementary) Expert in Internet, Computer (Software, Hardware, and Repair) Researcher and Blogger Art Restorer/Conservator PLS. CHECKOUT ALSO THE FOLLOWING BLOGS OF MINE: http://allaboutweightmanagement.blogspot.com http://thepregnancyplanner.blogspot.com http://internet-moneymakingsecrets.blogspot.com http://cmpaner.blogspot.com http://letsecrets.blogspot.com (HOW TO PREPARE FOR LET) https://www.facebook.com/crisencio.paner