Roman Aqueducts An Engineering Brilliance essays

Roman Aqueducts An Engineering Brilliance essays Roman Aqueducts: An Engineering Brilliance Transportation of water is a very important obstacle the world has taken on. Water is a necessity to live; therefore control of water in and out of towns has been going on for thousands of years. Many different ways of moving water from one spot to another have been tried over the years. One example is the building of dams, not only to generate electricity, but also to create an abundance of water that can be transported to farmers to water their crops. The water from the dam is sent through underground conduits, aqueducts, to its final destination. Aqueducts were used by Greeks, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians and Egyptians for water transportation. These early civilizations provided the vision for the Roman Empire to perfect the use of the aqueduct. In 97 AD, Sextus Julius Frontinus, the city official in charge of the water supply, is recorded as saying: I ask you! Just compare this vast array of indispensable structures carrying so much water with the idle Pyramids or the world-famous but useless monuments of the Greeks." ( ) In 97 AD, 300 gallons of water per person a day flowed into Rome through nine aqueducts. The Romans had succeeded in their vision of an aqueduct system supplying Rome with water. Many people, including Frontinus, thought that the Roman aqueduct system was the greatest invention in the world because of what it brought to the people of Rome. In the early days of Rome, the water supply came from the River Tiber. The Tiber, however is a very muddy river, and Romes sewer system also contaminated it. By the 4th century the Roman population was growing rapidly and Rome urgently needed an alternate water supply. In 312 BC the Roman Senate ordered Adile Appius Claudius to find a new source of water for the city. Claudius undertook the mission and started construction of the first aqueduct into Rome (Carr). Aqua Appia was successfully comple...