Posted on 04/19/2009 4:27:23 AM PDT by Fred Nerks
The Ancient World's Longest Underground Aqueduct
Roman engineers chipped an aqueduct through more than 100 kilometers of stone to connect water to cities in the ancient province of Syria. The monumental effort took more than a century, says the German researcher who discovered it.
When the Romans weren't busy conquering their enemies, they loved to waste massive quantities of water, which gurgled and bubbled throughout their cities. The engineers of the empire invented standardized lead pipes, aqueducts as high as fortresses, and water mains with 15 bars (217 pounds per square inch) of pressure.
PHOTO GALLERY: ROME'S LONGEST PIPE
In the capital alone there were thousands of fountains, drinking troughs and thermal baths. Rich senators refreshed themselves in private pools and decorated their gardens with cooling grottos. The result was a record daily consumption of over 500 liters of water per capita (Germans today use around 125 liters).
However, when the Roman legions marched into the barren region of Palestine, shortly before the birth of Christ, they had to forgo the usual splashing about, at least temporarily. It was simply too dry.
But that didn't stop the empire's clever engineers. They soon figured out a way to put things right. In the former Roman province of Syria (located in modern day Jordan), researchers are currently studying a sensational canal system. It extends mostly underground over a distance of 106 kilometers (66 miles).
The tunnel was discovered by Mathias Döring, a hydromechanics professor in Darmstadt, Germany. Treading on moss-covered steps, he squeezes his way into dark caverns plastered with waterproof mortar. Greek letters are emblazoned on the walls, and bats dart through the air. "Sometimes we have to stop working -- there isn't enough oxygen," says the project director.
(Excerpt) Read more at spiegel.de ...
How the aqueduct worked.
Mathias Döring. Using theodolites, GPS readers and ample safety equipment, the team charts the depths of the tunnel.
amazing
I wonder how long before Muslims claim it is an Islamic holy site.
The monumental effort took more than a century, I guess that’s how long it will take America to erect a wall at the Mexican border?
Back when Jimmy Carter first started talking about a Palestinian homeland, someone suggested digging a moat along the Mexican border and using the dirt from that to construct a Palestinian homeland.
They won’t claim it.
They will destroy it, as they do now in Iran and Saudi Arabia (Wahabis and Iranian Shia fundamentalists) with any artifact, monument or shrine that predates Islam and/or conflicts with lifting up their own sect of Islam.
That's a fair distance to tunnel.
That's what I call a people with faith in their future.
Border? We don't need no steenkin' border!
MexAmeriCanada baby!
(sarcasm)
Well they sure love to tunnel into Israel! ;^)
There are hundreds of thousands of miles of similar (but less precisely built) tunnels throughout Iran. So far there’ve been no sightings of Moslems destroying those tunnels simply because they pre-date Mohammad. In fact, they jealously guard them since that’s how they get water.
I believe that you are writing about Qanats Which are also an amazing feat of engineering in the Indo-Aryan desert areas. According to the Wikipedia article, the oldest of these in Iran may date from around the time of Cyrus the Great (700 BCE).
However, in defense of this article, I don't think these qanats were built by invading forces with century+ mindsets. This aqueduct project is amazing.
So, yes, the Persians were as devoted to having water as were the Romans.
Speaking of century long ambitions, they've been building the New York City subway for MORE THAN A CENTURY and will never be done!
“What have the @#!??!&*@! Romans ever given us?”
“The aqueduct?”
— Monty Python’s “The Life of Brian”
Good idea.
I find it amazing that you would be carping about a wall on a thread about tunnels. The thread describes in detail how ancient engineers were able to go for hundreds of kilometers under ground.
The thrust of the piece undermines your demand for a wall. The wall won’t stop anything. A dedicated tunneling effort will render it worthless
i wonder what tools they used? i dont think they had steel, did they?
But aside from all that, what have the Romans ever done for us?
Why is it dry now?
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