Fedor Posted March 12, 2009 Report Share Posted March 12, 2009 (edited) http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/...,612718,00.html "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. 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. Not Enough Oxygen 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 D Edited March 12, 2009 by Fedor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Neil Posted March 12, 2009 Report Share Posted March 12, 2009 This is one of the most interesting pieces of archaeological news I have seen for some time. When I was about 14 I visited Pont du Gard in southern france, and walked through the top channel, which carried the water. At one end there is a tunnel bored into the surrounding hillside, a continuity odf the aqueduct. I found this impressive enough, about 60 meters long. But - 66 miles?!!! Thats impressive, to give a typically British understatement! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klingan Posted March 12, 2009 Report Share Posted March 12, 2009 (edited) I have worked quite a deal with roman water technology and I look forward to reading a proper report on this find. The shape of the tunnel is very curious and not very roman like while the calculations on how much water it would supply the final destination with is reasonable. Edited March 12, 2009 by Klingan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludovicus Posted March 15, 2009 Report Share Posted March 15, 2009 (edited) This is one of the most interesting pieces of archaeological news I have seen for some time. When I was about 14 I visited Pont du Gard in southern france, and walked through the top channel, which carried the water. At one end there is a tunnel bored into the surrounding hillside, a continuity odf the aqueduct. I found this impressive enough, about 60 meters long. But - 66 miles?!!! Thats impressive, to give a typically British understatement! Fascinating news item! Thanks, Fedor. When we were in Nime, France, we saw the Roman-era water distribution works. This is where the flow from the Pont du Gard entered the city. If you had a more in depth view of the tank you could see intake holes for water mains at different levels of the pool. Obviously, some mains where considered more important (deeper in the pool) than others (higher in the pool). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Castellum.jpg Edited March 15, 2009 by Ludovicus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melvadius Posted March 17, 2009 Report Share Posted March 17, 2009 I have worked quite a deal with roman water technology and I look forward to reading a proper report on this find. The shape of the tunnel is very curious and not very roman like while the calculations on how much water it would supply the final destination with is reasonable. I would agree that the reported discovery is interesting, if only for extending the known length of the Gadara qanat system. The article doesn't make clear how extensive the use of qanat's were particularly historically in the more arid regions around the Mediterranean. As to the tunnel shape it does have some parallels with other tunnels (c/gf Trevor Hodges book Roman Aqueducts and Water Supply) although I did wonder if the 'unusual' shape is more due to the build up of calcium (or similar) deposits and possibly later recutting of the tunnels with possibly a lower water channel rather than an 'original' design feature. Like you I look forward to reading a more technically based if not fuller report in the future. Melvadius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klingan Posted March 18, 2009 Report Share Posted March 18, 2009 I would agree that the reported discovery is interesting, if only for extending the known length of the Gadara qanat system. The article doesn't make clear how extensive the use of qanat's were particularly historically in the more arid regions around the Mediterranean. As to the tunnel shape it does have some parallels with other tunnels (c/gf Trevor Hodges book Roman Aqueducts and Water Supply) although I did wonder if the 'unusual' shape is more due to the build up of calcium (or similar) deposits and possibly later recutting of the tunnels with possibly a lower water channel rather than an 'original' design feature. What page are you referring too (Out of curiosity)? I happen to have the book at home and can't find anything similar after a (very) quick look. From what I know would a channel with a sidewalk for inspections be normal, and the channel would gradually be filled with calcium (and other) deposits in a up side down triangular shape. Here it almost looks like it's filled from the top down, hence the curious shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Porcius Cato Posted March 18, 2009 Report Share Posted March 18, 2009 At around 70 km, the qanat near Kerman is pretty close in length, perhaps the second longest underground aqueduct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klingan Posted March 18, 2009 Report Share Posted March 18, 2009 At around 70 km, the qanat near Kerman is pretty close in length, perhaps the second longest underground aqueduct. I feel that the terminology of aqueducts must be clarified at this point. An aqueduct and a qanat differs at number of points. Qanats: - Use an aquifer as it's water source. - Always underground. - Needed regular vertical shafts at a an interval between 5 and 20 meters before the Romans improved the technology. Aqueducts (Roman type): - 80-90% of the aqueducts are underground (The 95.4 km long aqueduct supplying Eifel with water was fully underground) - The word Aqueduct only refers to the very famous conduit bridges in a strict sense of the word (As I'm sure that you all know). Frontinus simply use the word "aqua" today translated as aqueduct in most books (As it should be with our meaning of the word). - Aqueducts are normally supplied from an open water source such as a river, lake or swamp. - When running underground is a interval of vertical shafts at 35 meter recommended (Vitruvius) but we believe that he underestimates the real number. I would write more but I'm short on time. I look forward to seeing this topic grow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melvadius Posted March 18, 2009 Report Share Posted March 18, 2009 I would agree that the reported discovery is interesting, if only for extending the known length of the Gadara qanat system. The article doesn't make clear how extensive the use of qanat's were particularly historically in the more arid regions around the Mediterranean. As to the tunnel shape it does have some parallels with other tunnels (c/gf Trevor Hodges book Roman Aqueducts and Water Supply) although I did wonder if the 'unusual' shape is more due to the build up of calcium (or similar) deposits and possibly later recutting of the tunnels with possibly a lower water channel rather than an 'original' design feature. What page are you referring too (Out of curiosity)? I happen to have the book at home and can't find anything similar after a (very) quick look. From what I know would a channel with a sidewalk for inspections be normal, and the channel would gradually be filled with calcium (and other) deposits in a up side down triangular shape. Here it almost looks like it's filled from the top down, hence the curious shape. There is no one image from Hodge's book that conforms to the unusual umage of the Garad qanat. I was actually thinking about three of the images in combination echoing some of the features shown. Fig 8 on page 29 showing the Qanat at Samos where the water was actually carried in a pipeline in a trench at the side of the tunnel for the possibility of carrying the water in a lower section of the tunnel. Fig 58, page 107 showing the rock cut channel on the side of a cliff at Side in Turkey extrapolating it for the arching shape used in some rock cut tunnels. Fig 161, pg 231 The aqueduct tunnel at Cologne for graphically showing concretion in a tunnel. I rather suspect however that the 'double' tunnel may actually be down to a need to recut the tunnel - either because it was originally too high or possibly because of erosion in the bottom of the tunnel. I found an interesting website on aquaducts which includes some additional indformation on the Garada qanat, which you may already know about http://www.romanaqueducts.info/ Garada is included in the list of 50 aqueducts where there is a separate article but the images taken within the Garada qanat do not show the same 'double' tunnel as depicted in the article. http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/index.html From a quick skim of the other articles there does appear to be some variation in the internal dimensions of the qanat tunnels recorded here. Melvadius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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