Page "Bridge" Paragraph 27

Although large Chinese bridges of wooden construction existed at the time of the Warring States, the oldest surviving stone bridge in China is the Zhaozhou Bridge, built from 595 to 605 AD during the Sui Dynasty.

This bridge is also historically significant as it is the world's oldest open-spandrel stone segmental arch bridge.

European segmental arch bridges date back to at least the Alconétar Bridge ( approximately 2nd century AD ), while the enormous Roman era Trajan's Bridge ( 105 AD ) featured open-spandrel segmental arches in wooden construction.