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The need for water Table of contents |
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 People
in a
village or town with almost no water or in summer the
non-existence of cool, fresh drinking water had to obtain it somewhere else. They often
went to a river
or a spring to retrieve the necessary water (in developping
countries they do so even now). Some
had to travel a long way with their precious cargo.
An aqueduct brought relief. Drinkable water, but also
water for irrigation and sanitary purposes was
from then always at hand. |
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Height + size |
 Water can not flow
uphill, so an aqueduct
had to be built under a precise angle, otherwise the water would flow back
to the source. That is why most of the aqueducts were raised
above the landscape, sometimes
more than 17 m
high. One
of the best preserved is the Pont du Gard in France (Nīmes), look
for more information at France. The
length of this aqueduct: 275 m and its hight: 50 m (its length used to be more than 50 km!).
There was another reason to build them that high; to keep thiefs and saboteurs (poison) away from the water. And .. (dust) contamination was less likely to happen up there. |
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Transportation |
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In the Netherlands there are several (modern) aqueducts, i.e.: |
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