Prof. Lorenzo Quilici in the Aqua Traiana
Posted on 09/17/2010 7:54:05 AM PDT by wildbill
The Romans knew precisely what angle to run water down a hill in order to get it to climb up the next hill. They also knew, or at least were aware of, the venturi effect......that was not re-discovered until the 18th century...........
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venturi_effect
What was the drop. If I remember correctly in order for a line to be self scouring, its been years, you need a drop of 1 inch in 5 feet.
I did not see any “down a hill and back up” designs in these Roman supply canals. The canals snaked back and forth along the hillsides very, very slowly always going downhill at a constant rate.
The high multi-arched “bridges” that we call aquaducts themselves are used to cross the valleys and rivers between the original water source (a lake or spring up above the town) and the final town’s discharge: a bath, fountain, or cistern/storage well.
I couldn’t measure it - but if the “canal” across the ground and tile pipes inside the aquedcts were kept clean, it wouoldn’t need to be much of a drop.
Quite fascinating!
IIRC, the “down a hill and back up” designs were primarily used around Rome to bring water into the city..........
Jimmy Hoffa?...............
They may be.
It would require a watertight, airtight construction completely surrounding the “pipeline” that would be very difficult.
Watertight under the canal? Sure, or at least good enouigh so leakage is low enough not to matter.
But airtight so a sufficient vacuum is created? That wasn’t what I saw on the ground. Then again, I was looking some 2000 years after they built it. About 1800 years after it was operating. 8<)
A 125 foot drop with no restrictions and a constant head pressure would give you a 4 bar, 61 psi pressure, at the end point That is around a 120 ft lift +/-, with sufficient flow you can do a lot with that.
Prof. Lorenzo Quilici in the Aqua Traiana
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“Does it not amaze anyone else that Rome had “city water” some 2K years ago, and yet there are HUGE swaths of the world today that don’t - major metropolitan areas that don’t have any mechanism to deliver fresh water to its citizens?”
Very insightful post.
“If Africa got quality government it could do a turnaround to being a world powerhouse in less than half a century. Just look at North America.”
With or without “quality government”, it is not likely Africa (the subsaharan part at any rate) would ever be a world powerhouse.
My first thought was...good thing it was a pig pasture above it...no mosque will be built on top.
My favorite comedy movie of all time.
Romani ite domum!
Land, coastline, natural resources. They just need stable government, two generations to create an educated enough workforce. Africa was extremely profitable when it was colonies.
Thanx for the post.Great find.The pics of the site are worth a look too.Amazing what the Romans were building back then.
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