Jun 3, 4:05 PM
Solothurn's Roman Bridge: An Open Secret Finally Confirmed
After centuries of assumption, divers have located the remains of a Roman bridge in the Aare, a discovery that owes more to chance than to systematic investigation.
Some historical truths seem so self-evident they hardly need proving. The existence of a Roman bridge at Solothurn, a strategic crossing on the Aare, was always one such case. Now, after centuries of well-founded belief, physical evidence has finally surfaced from the river's depths.
The confirmation comes from divers, who were surveying the riverbed ahead of construction for a new railway bridge. A few meters downstream from the modern Wengibrücke, they found what remained of wooden piles, some up to a meter in length with a diameter of around 20 centimetres. Subsequent analysis dated the timber to the 4th century, leaving little doubt as to their Roman origin.
Of course, the location was never really a mystery. The Romans founded Salodurum, a name that translates to "river narrows," precisely because it was an ideal crossing point. They later fortified the settlement with a Castrum, a standard military practice for securing a vital bridge on a major artery connecting Italy with the Rhine.
That anything was left to be found is what the cantonal archaeology department calls a "stroke of luck," with officials admitting they had hardly dared to hope for such a direct confirmation. The piles somehow survived the extensive dredging of the riverbed during the Jura water correction in 1969, apparently sheltered by the piers of the nearby Wengibrücke. They have remained preserved in the low-oxygen environment of the water ever since.
Yet, this is not a story of pure, sudden discovery. It turns out that some of these very remains were noted as early as 1990. For reasons of finance and personnel, however, the initial finding was not pursued at the time.
One might be forgiven for asking what took three decades in a country not known for its lack of resources. The re-discovery now closes a chapter, but the relics themselves will not be moved. Citing disproportionate costs, authorities will leave them on the riverbed, where they are considered safe from disturbance several meters below the surface. They will remain a submerged monument to Roman engineering and, perhaps, to a certain brand of modern Swiss pragmatism.
Written by Freya Stensrud freya.stensrud@alpineweekly.com
