# Post and lintel > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Post_and_lintel > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Post_and_lintel.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_and_lintel > Source revision: 1315965502 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Building system where horizontal elements are held up by vertical ones}} [[Image:Stonehenge Inside Facing NE April 2005.jpg|thumb|[Stonehenge](/source/Stonehenge), an example of [Neolithic architecture](/source/Neolithic_architecture) post and lintel construction.]] [[File:"Amazing pillars and beams in World Heritage Monument Airavatesvara Temple".JPG|thumb|300px|Post and lintel construction of the [Airavatesvara Temple](/source/Airavatesvara_Temple), India, a World Heritage Monument site]] [[File:20130810 dublin214.JPG|thumb|[Leinster House](/source/Leinster_House) in [Dublin](/source/Dublin) retains column-shaped [pilaster](/source/pilaster)s under a [pediment](/source/pediment) for aesthetic reasons.]] '''Post and lintel''' (also called '''prop and lintel''', a '''trabeated system''', or a '''trilithic system''') is a building system where strong horizontal elements are held up by strong vertical elements with large spaces between them. This is usually used to hold up a roof, creating a largely open space beneath, for whatever use the building is designed. The horizontal elements are called by a variety of names including [lintel](/source/lintel), header, [architrave](/source/architrave) or [beam](/source/Beam_(structure)), and the supporting vertical elements may be called posts, [column](/source/column)s, or pillars. The use of wider elements at the top of the post, called [capitals](/source/Capital_(architecture)), to help spread the load, is common to many [architectural](/source/architecture) traditions. ==Lintels== {{Further|Beam (structure)}} In architecture, a post-and-lintel or trabeated system refers to the use of horizontal stone beams or [lintel](/source/lintel)s which are borne by [column](/source/column)s or posts. The name is from the [Latin](/source/Latin_language) ''trabs'', ''[beam](/source/Beam_(structure))''; influenced by ''trabeatus'', clothed in the ''trabea'', a ritual garment. Post-and-lintel construction is one of four ancient structural methods of building, the others being the [corbel](/source/corbel), [arch-and-vault](/source/Arch_and_Vault), and [truss](/source/truss).L. Sprague De Camp, Ancient Engineers: Technology & Invention from the Earliest Times to the Renaissance (U.S.A.: Barnes and Noble, 1993 edition), 35. A noteworthy example of a trabeated system is in [Volubilis](/source/Volubilis), from the [Roman](/source/Ancient_Rome) era, where one side of the [Decumanus Maximus](/source/Decumanus_Maximus) is lined with trabeated elements, while the opposite side of the roadway is designed in arched style.[http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=14906 C. Michael Hogan, ''Volubilis'', Megalithic Portal, ed. A. Burnham (2007)] ==History of lintel systems== The trabeated system is a fundamental principle of [Neolithic architecture](/source/Neolithic_architecture), [ancient Indian architecture](/source/Indian_architecture), [ancient Greek architecture](/source/ancient_Greek_architecture) and [ancient Egyptian architecture](/source/ancient_Egyptian_architecture). Other trabeated styles are the [Persian](/source/Persian_architecture), Lycian, [Japanese](/source/Japanese_architecture), traditional [Chinese](/source/Chinese_architecture), and [ancient Chinese](/source/Ancient_Chinese_wooden_architecture) architecture, especially in northern China,Post and lintel is the main structural system in Northern China, the southern traditional timber buildings which use a column-and-tie structural system. "Structural Mechanism Of Southern Chinese Traditional Timber Frame Buildings" SCIENCE CHINA Technological Sciences.2011, Vol 54(7) http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112427956/structural-mechanism-of-southern-chinese-traditional-timber-frame-buildings/ and nearly all the [Indian](/source/Indian_architecture) styles.{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Trabeated|volume=27|page=115}} The traditions are represented in North and Central America by [Mayan architecture](/source/Mayan_architecture), and in South America by [Inca architecture](/source/Inca_architecture). In all or most of these traditions, certainly in Greece and India, the earliest versions developed using wood, which were later translated into stone for larger and grander buildings.Summerson, 13–14 [Timber framing](/source/Timber_framing), also using [trusses](/source/trusses), remains common for smaller buildings such as houses to the modern day. ==Span limitations== There are two main forces acting upon the post and lintel system: weight carrying [compression](/source/compression_(physical)) at the joint between lintel and post, and [tension](/source/tension_(mechanics)) induced by deformation of self-weight and the load above between the posts. The two posts are under compression from the weight of the lintel (or beam) above. The lintel will deform by sagging in the middle because the underside is under tension and the upper is under compression. The biggest disadvantage to lintel construction is the limited weight that can be held up, and the resulting small distances required between the posts. [Ancient Roman architecture](/source/Ancient_Roman_architecture)'s development of the [arch](/source/arch) allowed for much larger structures to be constructed. The [arcuated system](/source/arcuated_system) spreads larger loads more effectively, and replaced the post-and-lintel system in most larger buildings and structures, until the introduction of steel [girder](/source/girder) beams and [steel-reinforced concrete](/source/steel-reinforced_concrete) in the industrial era. As with the [Roman temple](/source/Roman_temple) [portico](/source/portico) front and its descendants in later [classical architecture](/source/classical_architecture), trabeated features were often retained in parts of buildings as an aesthetic choice. The [classical order](/source/classical_order)s of Greek origin were in particular retained in buildings designed to impress, even though they usually had little or no structural role.Summerson, 19–21 ===Lintel reinforcement=== The flexural strength of a stone lintel can be dramatically increased with the use of [Post-tensioned stone](/source/Post-tensioned_stone). ==See also== {{Commons category multi|Post and Beam|Lintels}} * [Architrave](/source/Architrave) – ''structural lintel or beam resting on columns-pillars'' * [Atalburu](/source/Atalburu) – ''Basque decorative lintel'' * [Dolmen](/source/Dolmen) – ''Neolithic megalithic tombs with structural stone lintels'' * [Dougong](/source/Dougong) – ''traditional Chinese structural element'' * [I-beam](/source/I-beam) – ''steel lintels and beams'' * [Marriage stone](/source/Marriage_stone) – ''decorative lintel'' * [Opus caementicium](/source/Opus_caementicium) * [Structural design](/source/Structural_design) * [Timber framing](/source/Timber_framing) – ''post and beam systems'' * [Stonehenge](/source/Stonehenge) ==Notes== {{Reflist}} ==References== * [Summerson, John](/source/John_Summerson), ''[The Classical Language of Architecture](/source/The_Classical_Language_of_Architecture)'', 1980 edition, [Thames and Hudson](/source/Thames_and_Hudson) ''World of Art'' series, {{ISBN|0500201773}} * {{cite book | last=Lyttleton | first=Margaret | chapter=Trabeated construction | publisher=Oxford University Press | date=2003 | doi=10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.t085978 | title = Grove Art Online}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Post And Lintel}} Category:Architectural elements Category:Ancient Roman architectural elements Category:Building Category:Building engineering Category:Doors Category:Windows Category:Timber framing Category:Structural system --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Post and lintel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_and_lintel) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_and_lintel?action=history)). 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