THE ROMAN ROAD OF THE VEGARADA COL (LEON)

THE AUTHORS RECALL THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ROMAN ROAD NETWORK IN SPAIN. THE CROSSING OF MOUNTAINS IS OF PARTICULAR INTEREST, THE COMPLEX TOPOGRAPHY REQUIRING THE CONSTRUCTION OF NUMEROUS ENGINEERING STRUCTURES. DETAILS ARE GIVEN OF THOSE STRUCTURES AND THEIR ALIGNMENT. THE MULTITUDE OF MEDIEVAL STRUCTURES ALONG THE OLDER ROMAN NETWORK IS A PROOF OF ITS CONSTANT USE. THE ROMAN ROAD OF THE VEGARADA COL IS APPROXIMATELY 70 KM LONG WITH A LARGE NUMBER OF BRIDGE AND MEDIEVAL STRUCTURES ON ROMAN FOUNDATIONS. NEAR RIVERS THE ALIGNMENT FOLLOWS RIVER DEPOSITS; IN THE HIGHER SECTIONS, GORGES WERE AVOIDED FOR SAFETY REASONS. THE PAVEMENT CONSISTS OF BLOCKS MEASURING A MAXIMUM OF 0,4 OR 0,5 M METALLED WITH SMALLER STONES.