in the department of Cuzco, as well as cantilevered bridges of stone such as the
one still in use in the city of Cuzco in the nineteenth century and illustrated by
the travel writer E. George Squier. These bridges had stone abutments and
cantilevered stone or wooden superstructures of logs that could span up to 15
meters (about 50 feet). Oroyas—still in use today—were composed of baskets
suspended from a rope cable (modern ones use steel cables) attached to either
bank along which people hauled themselves across the river. On wide rivers with
low banks, people were ferried across in boats or rafts, while on slow-moving
rivers with low embankments, such as the one that drains Lake Titicaca, people
crossed on a pontoon or floating bridge, made of bundles of reeds lashed
together and tied to ropes connected to either bank.
The suspension bridge of Queshuachaca near Quehue, south of Cuzco, is made
of braided grass rope and spans a 36-meter-wide (120-foot-wide) gorge over the
Apurimac River. It is rebuilt every year, using ancient bridge-building technology.
Adriana von Hagen.The most famed bridge of all, however, was the suspension bridge spanning
the gorge of the Apurimac River, west of Cuzco on the Chinchaysuyu road.
Located near the oracle and shrine of Marcahuasi, it achieved fame and literary