Editing Arch (section)

=== Revival of the trabeated system ===
The 19th-century introduction of the [[wrought iron]] (and later [[steel]]) into construction changed the role of the arch. Due to the high [[tensile strength]] of new materials, relatively long lintels became possible, as was demonstrated  by the [[Tubular bridge|tubular]] [[Britannia Bridge]] ([[Robert Stephenson]], 1846-1850). A fervent proponent of the [[trabeated]] system, [[Alexander "Greek" Thomson]], whose preference for [[lintel]]s was originally based on aesthetic criteria, observed that the [[span (engineering)|spans]] of this bridge are longer than that of any arch ever built, thus "the simple, unsophisticated stone lintel contains in its structure all the scientific appliances [...] used in the great tubular bridge. [...] [[Stonehenge]] is more scientifically constructed than [[York Minster]]."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Stamp |first=Gavin |title="At Once Classic and Picturesque...": Alexander Thomson's Holmwood |journal=The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians |volume=57 |number=1 |date=March 1998 |doi=10.2307/991404 |jstor=991404 |pages=46–58}}</ref> Use of arches in bridge construction continued (the Britannia Bridge was rebuilt in 1972 as a [[truss arch bridge]]), yet the [[steel frame]]s and [[reinforced concrete frame]]s mostly replaced the arches as the load-bearing elements in buildings.
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File:Britanniabruecke Postkarte coloriert2.jpg|Original Britannia bridge (a colored postcard)
File:Pont Britannia - geograph.org.uk - 692277.jpg|Britannia bridge (2008)
</gallery>