Roman Aqueducts
One of the biggest achievements and most remembered legacies of the Roman Empire is the development of new ways in architecture, among them and probably one of most important, the aqueducts, a system which granted a permanent water supply for all roman’s. Maybe for people who has always lived with this comfort, thinks is no big deal, but in ancient times it was, because the Roman Empire was the only civilization with this kinds of technologies.
Romans developed two kinds of aqueducts, above ground and under ground aqueducts that were 230 miles of the all 260 constructed miles. These aqueducts where made of stone, bronze and sometimes wood. Aqueducts worked with the help of gravity, roman’s used cleverly to attract water to its final destination that occasionally where distribution tanks in the cities, opposite to contemporary aqueducts that works by pressing the water with the help of pumps and usually made of steel.
The most famous aqueducts of the Roman Empire where the ones above the ground, all of them had arches which helped them resist more weight. These constructions were magnificent, later aqueducts reached 27 meters covering huge distances, so people would feel impressed of power held by romans. Today aqueducts are not build above the ground, there’s no need of it, and the romans are not the only ones who enjoy this engineering marvel. It’s common for almost all the people in the world tough it happened thousands of years after the roman fall before people could enjoy again the aqueduct in the renaissance.
The main reason of the aqueduct was the need of a direct and permanent supply of water in huge quantities because they needed water to drink, clean, perform health care and fill the public baths. Roman aqueducts brought one thousand liters a day each. This in no different in contemporary times, society seeks fulfill this needs (except “baths” which is not a remarkable need), and often people use more of what they really need. A big difference would be that the government was the responsible of construction, administration and maintenance of the aqueduct system, right now in some countries the government does the same function, but there are companies who sell the service.The roman’s aqueducts are a vestige that has helped the people, it has evolved into modern and complex systems that grant more efficiency than its predecessors, but some roman aqueducts are still in use, in Segovia for example. Even if the goal was the same differences arise.
One of the biggest achievements and most remembered legacies of the Roman Empire is the development of new ways in architecture, among them and probably one of most important, the aqueducts, a system which granted a permanent water supply for all roman’s. Maybe for people who has always lived with this comfort, thinks is no big deal, but in ancient times it was, because the Roman Empire was the only civilization with this kinds of technologies.
Romans developed two kinds of aqueducts, above ground and under ground aqueducts that were 230 miles of the all 260 constructed miles. These aqueducts where made of stone, bronze and sometimes wood. Aqueducts worked with the help of gravity, roman’s used cleverly to attract water to its final destination that occasionally where distribution tanks in the cities, opposite to contemporary aqueducts that works by pressing the water with the help of pumps and usually made of steel.
The most famous aqueducts of the Roman Empire where the ones above the ground, all of them had arches which helped them resist more weight. These constructions were magnificent, later aqueducts reached 27 meters covering huge distances, so people would feel impressed of power held by romans. Today aqueducts are not build above the ground, there’s no need of it, and the romans are not the only ones who enjoy this engineering marvel. It’s common for almost all the people in the world tough it happened thousands of years after the roman fall before people could enjoy again the aqueduct in the renaissance.
The main reason of the aqueduct was the need of a direct and permanent supply of water in huge quantities because they needed water to drink, clean, perform health care and fill the public baths. Roman aqueducts brought one thousand liters a day each. This in no different in contemporary times, society seeks fulfill this needs (except “baths” which is not a remarkable need), and often people use more of what they really need. A big difference would be that the government was the responsible of construction, administration and maintenance of the aqueduct system, right now in some countries the government does the same function, but there are companies who sell the service.The roman’s aqueducts are a vestige that has helped the people, it has evolved into modern and complex systems that grant more efficiency than its predecessors, but some roman aqueducts are still in use, in Segovia for example. Even if the goal was the same differences arise.
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