What was aqueducts used for

There are dozens of known examples found in Europe, Africa and Asia. In France, a first century A. In Spain, the Aqueduct of Segovia reaches nearly feet tall on its highest bridge and dates to around the second century A. It provided water to the city from a river roughly 10 miles away. In Syria and Jordan, builders of the Roman empire spent more than a century constructing a monumental system of channels, tunnels and bridges called the Gadara Aqueduct.

Just one section was miles long. It carried water from a now-dry swamp to the booming league of 10 ancient cities called the Decapolis, creating an oasis in the desert. In Tunisia, the second century A. Zaghouan Aqueduct supplied the ancient city of Carthage with water from more than 80 miles away, making it among the longest Roman aqueducts.

In Turkey, the eastern Roman empire capital of Constantinople was supplied with water from the Aqueduct of Valens, which was constructed in the fourth century A. The city used it for centuries, and ruling governments maintained the aqueduct long after the Roman empire collapsed. They wielded unilateral control of their nation and could utilize slave labor to marshal grand projects. In fact, that was part of the point. Once it reached a city, the water flowed into a main tank called a castellum.

Smaller pipes took the water to the secondary castella, and from those the water flowed through lead pipes to public fountains and baths, and even to some private homes. The empire stretched across an immense part of the world, and wherever the Romans went they built aqueducts — in as many as cities around the empire.

Their arched bridges are among the best preserved relics of that empire, in part because many aqueducts kept working for centuries, long after the Romans had retreated.

With a specialty in science and social studies, our team of talented writers, award-winning designers and illustrators, and subject-experts from leading institutions is committed to a single mission: to get children excited about reading and learning. Secure Server - We value your privacy. Human civilization heavily impacts the environment and the rich natural resources we depend on.

All communities face the challenge of managing resources responsibly, not only for themselves, but for the sake of the world around them. Learn more about how individuals and communities can manage their resources to support themselves and the world around them. Others say that Aeneas and some of his followers escaped the fall of Troy and established the town. Regardless of which of the many myths one prefers, no one can doubt the impact of ancient Rome on western civilization.

A people known for their military, political, and social institutions, the ancient Romans conquered vast amounts of land in Europe and northern Africa, built roads and aqueducts, and spread Latin, their language, far and wide. Use these classroom resources to teach middle schoolers about the empire of ancient Rome.

The ideas and culture of ancient Rome influence the art, architecture, science, technology, literature, language, and law of today. During his reign, Augustus restored peace and prosperity to the Roman state and changed nearly every aspect of Roman life. Julius Caesar was a Roman general and politician who named himself dictator of the Roman Empire, a rule that lasted less than one year before he was famously assassinated by political rivals in 44 B.

Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students. Skip to content. Robert Harding Picture Library. Twitter Facebook Pinterest Google Classroom. Encyclopedic Entry Vocabulary. But there are many areas of the world, such as the western United States, where much less rainfall occurs and it may only occur during certain times of the year. Large cities and communities in the dry areas need lots of water, and nature doesn't always supply it to them.

Some parts of the western U. So, some states have developed ways of moving water from the place of ample supply to the thirsty areas. Engineers have built aqueducts, or canals, to move water, sometimes many hundreds of miles. Actually, aqueducts aren't a high-tech modern invention—the ancient Romans had aqueducts to bring water from the mountains above Rome, Italy to the city.

Can you see something about the aqueduct picture above that causes some water to be lost in transit? In all environments, but especially In places where the climate is hot and dry, a certain portion of the water flowing in the aqueduct is bound to evaporate.

It would be more efficient to cover the aqueduct to stop loss by evaporation , but the cost of covering it must be weighed against the value of the evaporated water. The aqueduct was used to supply water to the town on Nimes, which is about 30 miles from the Mediterranean Sea.

The total length of the aqueduct was about 31 miles, though, considering its winding journey. There is even a Roman aqueduct that is still functioning and bringing water to some of Rome's fountains. The Acqua Vergine, built in 19 B. Aqueducts were not the Roman's choice for water-delivery systems, as they would use buried pipes when possible much easier to bury a pipe than build an above-ground system.

Yet, that was enough to move water over 30 miles.