Inca Roads and Bridges

Incan roads connected the vast empire: The Incas never invented the wheel. But in less than a hundred years, they built over 14,000 miles of road, much of which was paved. Some sections of road were over 15 feet wide. Some sections were so steep that the Incas built stone walls along the edge to prevent people from falling off cliffs.

Bridges: The Andes are sharp ragged mountains full of deep gorges.

1. Suspension Bridges: The Incas built suspension bridges over the gorges using huge cables made of woven reed. If a bridge broke, local workers rushed to fix it, so that travel could continue unimpeded. The Incas built hundreds of bridges. Every other year, bridges were replaced.
   

2. Pontoon Bridges: The Incas made pontoon bridges from reed boats to cross creeks and some rivers.
   

3. Pulley Baskets: In places, they constructed pulley baskets - to use these, travelers would climb inside a basket which was then pulled to the other side of an especially deep gorge or to cross a river.
   
   

Who could use the roads? Common people could not use the roads. The roads belonged to the government. No one could travel the roads without special permission. The army used the roads to move quickly and easily to any point in the Incan Empire. The army could quickly stop rebellions or protect people from intruders. The army could bring supplies to victims of natural disasters. Young men ran along the roads carrying messages back to the capital. Llama trains collected food from the farms and moved it to the city and to storerooms along the road.

Storehouses: Storehouses stored food, clothing, and weapons for the military. Some of the storehouses were so huge that they could hold enough supplies and food for 25,000 men at a time. There were many storehouses along the roads.

Inns/Rest Houses: Rest houses were built every few miles. Travelers could spend the night, or cook a meal, or feed their llamas.

Road Signs: There were road signs every few miles.

Workers: As the Empire expanded, roads were quickly built to keep the Empire connected. First the engineers would go in and make sure the roads were properly laid out. Then the workers arrived. Building roads was one way farmers and common people could pay their "service tax" or labor tax.

The roads were very well built. Many of the Incan roads are still in use today.

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