Ravning Bridge

Ravning Bridge Ravningbroen
A reconstructed span
Coordinates	55°40′30″N 9°21′0″E / 55.67500°N 9.35000°ECoordinates: 55°40′30″N 9°21′0″E / 55.67500°N 9.35000°E
Crosses	Vejle River Valley
Locale	Denmark
Characteristics
Material	Oak
Total length	760 m (2,493 ft)
Width	5.5 m (18 ft)
Height	min. 1.5 m (5 ft)
Number of spans	280

Ravning Bridge (Denmark)

Ravning Bridge was a 760 m long timber bridge crossing the Vejle River Valley, Denmark in the Viking age. It was located 10 km south of Jelling near the village of Ravning.

Construction

Oak post from the bridge at National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen

The bridge was built with oak timber. The spans were 2.4 m long and 5.5 m wide. The bridge had 280 piers with consisted of four vertical posts placed at a distance of 1.2 m, and two smaller slanted post at the ends. The vertical posts were square with sides of 30 x 30 cm and up to 6 m long. Over the vertical posts were placed 5.5 m long, 25–30 cm high and more than double as wide horizontal girders. The girders were connected by longitudinal beams on which the deck of the bridge was built.^[1]

The deck had an area of 3.800 square meters, and it is estimated that more than 300 ha of oak forest was felled to construct the bridge.^[1]

Discovery and dating

In 1953 big shaped oak timber was found near Ravning at the south side of the Vejle River Valley. An amataur archaeologist, K.V. Christriansen, heard about the findings, and measured the timber. Later more timber was found where ponds for fish farming were constructed, this time at the north side of the valley. K.V. Christriansen concluded that the timber probably was from a bridge and wrote an article about that in 1959. Later the mire in the river valley sank as the result of drainage and regulation of Vejle River, and the top of some of the bridge posts came over the ground surface. Now the National Museum of Denmark became involved. A piece of oak was dated by radiocarbon dating to year 980 with an uncertainty of 100 years, and it was decided to make an excavation which started in 1972.^[2]

The National Museum made dendrochronological analyses of samples of the timber from the bridge. The conclusion was that the timber was felled in the 980s, probably in the first half of the decade.^[3] The end date of the interval has been questioned by another dendrochronologist who concludes that the date cannot be stated more precisely than "after c. 980 and before c. 1010"^[4]

References

1. Jørgensen, Mogens Schou. "Den berømte bro" [The famous bridge]. Skalk (in Danish) 1998 (5): 5–11.
2. Thorkild, Ramskou. "Vikingebroen" [The viking bridge]. Skalk (in Danish) 1977 (1): 3–9.
3. Baittinger, Cladia. Præliminær dendrokronologisk undersøgelse II af træprøver fra Ravning Enge [Preliminary dendrochronological test II of tree samples from Ravning Enge] (PDF) (Report) (in Danish) 2009. Nationalmuseets Naturvidenskabelige Undersøgelser. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
4. Christensen, Kjeld. "The age of Ravning Bridge. One of Denmark's most reliable dendrochronological datings?" (PDF). KUML (Jysk Arkæologisk Selskab) 2003: 225–226. Retrieved August 1, 2014.

External links

• Project page at the National Museum of Denmark: The bridge over Ravning Enge
• Brochure from the Danish Agency for Culture: Ravning Enge (in English, German, and Danish)