Mont Waterer 10/27
History of the Truss
Many types of support have been used throughout the history of engineering and
architecture, and a few construction methods are still used today. One of the most important
types of support to be invented is the truss. The origins of this specific type of framework date
back to the Roman empire, and it has been extremely influential in various cultures, buildings,
and bridges. The Romans were known for their magnificent structures, and the truss was
instrumental in their design and longevity. The roofs built in Rome were arguably the first place
that the modern idea of the truss was used. Made from wood, the ingenious design of the
triangular roof truss allowed builders to design roofs that spanned up to 50 meters. With the fall
of the Roman Empire, these wooden structures were almost all lost to fire or decay, but one
notable example of the roof truss remained standing until the eighteenth century. The pantheon
contained a large bronze roof truss that is the backbone of the pantheon’s massive roof. This
specific truss provides the foundation for what we know about the earliest supports made in
Rome, and it has allowed researchers to analyze the methods by which this great civilization
approached construction. This is a picture of
the backside of the Pantheon roof, which has
been restored since the fall of Rome. The full
extent of the huge bronze truss is not visible in
this picture, but it measured thirty-three
meters wide and nine meters tall. The
triangular shape of the support was common
in Rome at the time; however, the enormous
