Today it's all about that bass... Sorry all about the that bridge!
The "Pont du Gard" (those damned French, it's unpronounceable!) is an ancient bridge in France that was part of an aqueduct which provided water to the gallo-roman city of Nemausus (current Nîmes).
In the 1st century AD, Nemausus was an important coastal city of 20,000 inhabitants. This impressive (by this time) number of habitants and the opulence of the Roman lifestyle required huge amount of water to fill the fountains, the baths and villas.
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| Aqueduc of Nemausus |
Consequently Romans started to build a 50km (why are they using meters? It's 30 miles!) long aqueduct. However the source was only 15m (50ft) higher than Nemausus! Therefore Roman engineers proved a great accuracy by doing this feat of sustaining a steady flow of water all along the aqueduc with a small gradient (average gradient of 1m high for 3km long).
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| Representation of the main points of the aqueduct, their altitudes and the inclination |
The second big problem met during the construction of the aqueduct was the crossing of the Gardon river and its valley. To achieve this crossing Romans built the highest of all aqueducts bridge! It is 275m long (900ft) for 49m high (160ft). As you can see below, the Pont du Gard is an arch bridge of three tiers of arches, the water flowed on the top of it. To span the river, they built arches with a maximal span of 24m (82ft) and maximal height of 22m (72ft) only with simple materials (stone, wood...), equipment and mathematics.
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| Pont du Gard in 2014 |
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| Reconstitution of an antic roman treadwheel crane |
This Bridge also shows that the Roman art and architecture was very developed and refined. Their culture was all about the excessiveness: tall bridge, tall statues, tall tale, tall tall...
The technical prowess they achieved by building this high bridge with equipments from their time is absolutely impressive and demonstrates the ingenuity and the accuracy displayed by Romans.
I introduced you to this marvelous bridge, to show you that Roman are not only good at conquests and destruction but also at construction. Romans didn't conquer territories just for their glory. They brought this glory into the conquered nations and shared knowledge with them. I think this is why Rome succeed to keep a waste Empire for a long time. The relationship they had with most of their provinciae was interdependent, instead of a one way relationship based on domination.
Citations:
images from
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_du_Gard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treadwheel_crane
homemade sketch
informations took from the vidéo "Le Pont du Gard et Arènes de Nîmes" of C'est pas sorcier
Hi Rémi!
RépondreSupprimerFortunately I'v already seen the Gardon's Bridge some years ago. I remember guys diving into the water from the first level of the bridge. That seemed dangerous! Anyway, I enjoyed your post, it send me back to my childhood when I saw it for the first time. One of the good points about your article is that you show how far the roman civilization was evolved at this time. To explain how the bridge has been built is also a good side of your post, it's interesting and the treadwheels are very impressive! However, it could have been good to explain a little bit more how the irrigation system worked by the romans. I think it would be an interesting subject in connection with the Gardon's Bridge. Aside from this point, I found everything good and well honed. Keep writing like this!
#11
Hello bridge lover!
RépondreSupprimerLike Gandhi I've already seen the "Pont du Gard" when I was young, and your article answered numerous questions that I had for years! Your post is actually very interesting, both by its construction and content. I've learned some technical aspects of the building of this monument, and I thank you for underlining your words with a schema. The size of the bridge surprised me and I've smiled while reading how the Roman did build it, so in my opinion you were able to mix knowledge and funny facts!
# correction: there is a "the" in excess in your first sentence! =)
#7
Ce commentaire a été supprimé par l'auteur.
RépondreSupprimerThank you all for your comments. I'm happy you enjoyed it!
RépondreSupprimerExcuse me if it wasn't that clear in my post, but I explained the irrigation system in it. Not in all its complexity, it's true, but I think I gave the main points:
The water was drained all along the aqueduct by its inclination (and gravity of course). At the end, water arrived at the city and was driven in different directions by a canalization system. But this isn't part of the aqueduct anymore.
If you wanted more details here are they: stones covered the aqueducts to protect the precious water in it from animals, rain etc. The walls were also covered from the inside with a sort of paste to make it waterproof and ease the circulation of water. You can still see it inside the remains of the aqueduct at the top of the Pont du Gard, but you can only access this part of the bridge by sunny weather and in some specific parts of the year.
I hope I answered all your questions and was more clear this time.
Don't hesitate if not!
#10