The first closure notice for the Seven Arches followed a fresh seam beneath the fourth span. The road inspector lowered the permitted load and sent heavy carts to the longer east route while masons examined the repair.
In the weeks that followed, the city added a public load register and began posting the night watch’s closure marks beside it. The change made the rule easier to check, though carriers still paid a second toll when they could not use the crossing.
The inspection has not found a failed stone. It has also not restored the earlier limit. The masons’ test asks whether the repaired seam shifts under a load that matches the heaviest ordinary cart, not whether the arch can bear a single ceremonial weight.
The current arrangement trades time for caution: freight moves, but more slowly and at greater cost. Residents who use the upper bridge on foot have not faced the same restriction.
The next measure stone will not resolve the wider question of when an old span is safe. It will show whether this particular crossing has changed under a defined load, which is the evidence the city did not have at the start.
