I’ve been looking through the Civitates Orbis Terrarum to get a sense of the way Medieval cities and their surroundings were organized, but there are some questions I haven’t been able to answer about the logistics of river trade.
Were the arches on any bridges large enough to permit river traffic to pass under them? If not, would a river boat simply ferry up- and downriver between bridges? (i.e., would goods commonly have to be loaded and unloaded multiple times along the same river?)
Is this bridge, for example, large enough to accommodate a barge? (Lincoln High Bridge, built 1160 CE) Where I’m from, they need to raise the bridges to let barges pass.
(Edited to narrow scope)
EDIT 2: Thanks to everyone who’s responded so far. I know there were some bridges clearly able to accommodate river traffic, but a river is only as navigable as the smallest bridge along its course. If there is any single bridge your boat can’t fit under, it’s an impassible barricade, no matter how many other bridges will let you pass. If they ran into a bridge like that, did they haul the barge over land? Or, per my original question, did a barge only travel as far as bridges would allow it, requiring goods to be transferred between multiple boats over the course of their transport?