Re: Tarkalor's Bridge

From: donald_at_...
Date: Mon, 04 Feb 2008 21:14:01 GMT

In message <456187.7652.qm_at_...> Jane Williams writes:
>
>--- Joerg Baumgartner <joe_at_...> wrote:
>> Tarkalor brought trade to Whitewall. Is it just me,
>> or would that mean
>> two-way travel across the bridge, i.e. two wagons
>> wide?
>
>Your logic is impeccable, but sadly removes the
>dramatic possibilities of a bridge narrow enough to be
>held by a single hero (or group of PCs).
>
>
>> The bridge spans a rather long gap.
>
>True. And shortening it would make it too easy for the
>gap to be bridged by other means.
>
>> If it is a single arch rather than a
>> viaduct with lots of columns downward, ...
>
>If. Is it? I believe we drew it as a viaduct. My
>engineering days were a long time ago, but it seems to
>me that that's a long way for a single span. I can see
>four possibilites rather than two:
>1) Arch - stone built, keystone in the middle, steep
>up and down.
>2) Viaduct (what are the central pillars resting on,
>and how tall are they?)
>3) Suspension bridge. There's a nice White Cliff to
>attack to at the city side, what do we have at the
>other? Towers?

Seems to rely on too modern a technology.

>4) A really long, strong, single-piece slab - stone,
>wood, whatever. It couldn't be done in RL, but Mostali
>magic - maybe.

Have to be stone, anything else would eventually perish.

A fifth alternative

Given that viaduct is a series of arches with a level platform between the tops. There is nothing to stop a single arch being built with the top on a level with the sides of the chasm and stones being used to fill the gap. Tacky ASCII drawing follows:

__________           __          __________ 
          �********_/  \_********�
          �******_/      \_******�
          �****_/          \_****�
          �**_/              \_**�
          �_/                  \_�

>> Backing up a heavily loaded wagon is hard. A trade
>> route ought not make that a normal event.
>
>I agree. If we were to go with the arch option, would
>a passing place (and control point) at the top of the
>arch make sense?

Alternatively there could be a traffic control system with a guard at each end and a signalman in the middle. There could also be traditional times when priority is given to traffic in particular directions.

Thinking about it a mid passing point isn't going to work unless only a few wagons are using it. If you have six wagons going into the city and eight coming out you need a passing point long enough to take the six wagons while the eight go past.

I'm not too bothered about making the bridge two and a bit wagons width. It only gives a frontage of eight to ten men so a party with a few followers could hold it. Not that holding the bridge that way makes sense - Lunar missile troops will shoot them down pretty quickly in such an exposed place.

-- 
Donald Oddy
http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/