“With these grand structures, so numerous and indispensable, carrying so many waters, who indeed would compare the idle Pyramids or other useless, although renowned, works of the Greeks?” – Sextus Frontius in reference to Pliny.
“It must be admitted, this is the greatest wonder the world has ever seen” – Pliny, NH XXXVI, 24, 123
Ancient Rome is famously known for its intricate water management systems such as its baths, artificial pools, reservoirs, irrigation channels and other similar facilities. They were considered one of the marvels of the ancient world and earned Rome the name “Regina Aquarum” - Queen of the Waters. An analysis of the construction of the aqueducts reveals the impact they had on the Roman lifestyle in the city of Rome …show more content…
For example, the Aqua Marcia cost approximately 180,000,000 sesterces, or 3.30 million Canadian dollars per kilometer to build (civil eng book). The locations and design of the aqueducts was partly determined by political considerations and partly by technical ones, similar to contemporary engineering projects.
From a general engineering perspective the problem facing the Romans was simple. In order to get water from a remote location to Rome, they would have to pressurize the pipe at the water source to maintain the positive flow rate of water in direction of Rome. Unfortunately, while the Romans were aware of this principle, they did not possess the technical skills required to build pumps to pressurize water pipes. A geographic problem that the Roman engineers faced was that the sources for the aqueducts were more than 20 km east; across a plain, and in the hills, as can be seen in the satellite map in Figure 2. This would create a technical challenge, maintaining positive water pressure while negotiating the terrain. {Frontinus …show more content…
The introduction of the Piscinae before the intake duct (Figure 7) reduces the velocity of flow and increases the depth of the water, which, from Equation 1 we can see significantly reduces the sediment carrying capacity of the water, ensuring a cleaner water supply for Rome. Smaller Piscinae were scattered through the length of the aqueduct (Figure 8) to further purify the water. {Roman Aqueducts nad water supply hodge p101-102}. They were also used as a way to divert water from one aqueduct to multiple aqueducts or combine the waters of multiple aqueducts to a single channel (Figure 9) {Roman Aqueducts nad water supply hodge
“It must be admitted, this is the greatest wonder the world has ever seen” – Pliny, NH XXXVI, 24, 123
Ancient Rome is famously known for its intricate water management systems such as its baths, artificial pools, reservoirs, irrigation channels and other similar facilities. They were considered one of the marvels of the ancient world and earned Rome the name “Regina Aquarum” - Queen of the Waters. An analysis of the construction of the aqueducts reveals the impact they had on the Roman lifestyle in the city of Rome …show more content…
For example, the Aqua Marcia cost approximately 180,000,000 sesterces, or 3.30 million Canadian dollars per kilometer to build (civil eng book). The locations and design of the aqueducts was partly determined by political considerations and partly by technical ones, similar to contemporary engineering projects.
From a general engineering perspective the problem facing the Romans was simple. In order to get water from a remote location to Rome, they would have to pressurize the pipe at the water source to maintain the positive flow rate of water in direction of Rome. Unfortunately, while the Romans were aware of this principle, they did not possess the technical skills required to build pumps to pressurize water pipes. A geographic problem that the Roman engineers faced was that the sources for the aqueducts were more than 20 km east; across a plain, and in the hills, as can be seen in the satellite map in Figure 2. This would create a technical challenge, maintaining positive water pressure while negotiating the terrain. {Frontinus …show more content…
The introduction of the Piscinae before the intake duct (Figure 7) reduces the velocity of flow and increases the depth of the water, which, from Equation 1 we can see significantly reduces the sediment carrying capacity of the water, ensuring a cleaner water supply for Rome. Smaller Piscinae were scattered through the length of the aqueduct (Figure 8) to further purify the water. {Roman Aqueducts nad water supply hodge p101-102}. They were also used as a way to divert water from one aqueduct to multiple aqueducts or combine the waters of multiple aqueducts to a single channel (Figure 9) {Roman Aqueducts nad water supply hodge