So, for my althist, I was thinking about Rome building a bridge over the Bosphorus after (fictional) Emperor Maximian transfers the capital to Romanova (New Rome, ATL Constantinople).
The bridge would be a grandiose work of engineering. It would be made of Roman concrete, in the typical arch design of the Roman bridges. It would also be taller in the middle to allow trading and military vessels to easily go through.
The bridge would be built after the conquest of Persia, by using the plunder to fund it, with the intent of facilitating the movement of troops between Europe and Asia. It would also have watchtowers and a suspension mechanism (think the Aztec bridges that connected Tenochtitlan to the mainland) to allow Roman troops to go through, but not enemies coming from the East.
Basically, because I plan for regular contact with China through the sea, I wanted the Roman Empire to have something that could be their version of the Great Wall. A work of engineering so great it would be viewed with awe even by the Chinese.
My problem is that I don't know if it is possible with pre-476 CE technology, or even technology that didn't exist at the time but could be realistically developed in the period. I know that the Romans could build monumental bridges. Additionally, in my research on the Bosphorus Strait (and the Dardaneles, the bridge could go over either), I'm struggling to find info on things like depth or topographical maps of the sea floor.
The bridge would be a grandiose work of engineering. It would be made of Roman concrete, in the typical arch design of the Roman bridges. It would also be taller in the middle to allow trading and military vessels to easily go through.
The bridge would be built after the conquest of Persia, by using the plunder to fund it, with the intent of facilitating the movement of troops between Europe and Asia. It would also have watchtowers and a suspension mechanism (think the Aztec bridges that connected Tenochtitlan to the mainland) to allow Roman troops to go through, but not enemies coming from the East.
Basically, because I plan for regular contact with China through the sea, I wanted the Roman Empire to have something that could be their version of the Great Wall. A work of engineering so great it would be viewed with awe even by the Chinese.
My problem is that I don't know if it is possible with pre-476 CE technology, or even technology that didn't exist at the time but could be realistically developed in the period. I know that the Romans could build monumental bridges. Additionally, in my research on the Bosphorus Strait (and the Dardaneles, the bridge could go over either), I'm struggling to find info on things like depth or topographical maps of the sea floor.