Aqueduct (bridge)
Structure constructed to convey water
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Through Stream, Boat and Irrigation
Ancient bridges for water
Although particularly associated with the Romans, aqueducts were likely first used by the Minoans around 2000 BCE. The Minoans had developed what was then an extremely advanced irrigation system, including several aqueducts.
In the seventh century BCE, the Assyrians built an 80 km long limestone aqueduct, which included a 10 m high section to cross a 300 m wide valley, to carry water to their capital city, Nineveh.
Roman Empire
Bridges were a distinctive feature of Roman aqueducts, which were built in all parts of the Roman Empire, from Germany to Africa, and especially in the city of Rome, where they supplied water to public baths and for drinking. Roman aqueducts set a standard of engineering that was not surpassed for more than a thousand years.
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Modern aqueducts
Navigable aqueducts
Navigable aqueducts, also called water bridges, are water-filled bridges to allow vessels on a waterway to cross ravines or valleys. During the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century, navigable aqueducts were constructed as part of the boom in canal-building. A notable revolving aqueduct has been made on the Bridgewater Canal. This allowed vessels to cross at high and low levels while conserving water that would be lost in the operation of locks.
Notable aqueducts
Roman aqueducts
- The Pont du Gard in southern France
- Barbegal aqueduct, France
- Aqueduto de São Sebastião, in Coimbra, Portugal
- Eifel aqueduct, Germany
- Caesarea Maritima, Israel
- Patras, Greece
- Aqueduct of Segovia, Spain
- Acueducto de los Milagros, Mérida, Spain
- Tarragona, Spain
- Almuñécar, Spain (five aqueducts – four still in use)
- Valens Aqueduct, Istanbul, Turkey
- Aqua Augusta, Italy
- Aqua Claudia and the Anio Novus, as part of the Porta Maggiore, Rome, Italy
- Skopje Aqueduct, Skopje, North Macedonia
Other aqueducts
- France
- Aqueduct St-Clément, Montpellier, France – 17th century
- Roquefavour Aqueduct, France – built between 1842 and 1847
- Greece
- Kavala aqueduct, 16th-century Ottoman aqueduct in Kavala, Greece
- Malta
- Wignacourt Aqueduct, Malta; built in the 17th century to transport water from Dingli and Rabat to the new capital city Valletta; today, most of its arches still survive in the localities of Attard, Balzan, Birkirkara, Fleur-de-Lys and Santa Venera
- Montenegro
- Bar Aqueduct, Montenegro – 16th century
- Portugal
- Aqueduto da Amoreira, in Elvas, Portugal (built 1537–1620)
- Águas Livres Aqueduct, in Lisbon, Portugal (built 1731–1748)
- Aqueduto de Óbidos, in Óbidos, Portugal (built 1570)
- Aqueduto de Setúbal in Setúbal, Portugal (built 1696)
- Aqueduto dos Pegões in Tomar, Portugal (built 1593)
- Água de Prata Aqueduct, in Évora, Portugal (built 1531–1537)
- Santa Clara Aqueduct, in Vila do Conde, Portugal
- Russia
- Rostokino Aqueduct in Moscow (built 1780–1804)
- Spain
- Aqueduct of Teruel, Spain
Middle East
- Tabarja in Lebanon, aqueduct runs throughout the entire ancient town and is still actively used by the farmers of the area (built 1700–1750)
North America
- Greater Winnipeg Water District Aqueduct, Manitoba, Canada – built between 1915 and 1919
- High Bridge, part of the former Croton Aqueduct, built in 1848, is the oldest surviving bridge in New York City
Latin America
- Carioca Aqueduct in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (built 1744–1750)
- Surviving Spanish aqueducts in Mexico:
- Aqueduct of Querétaro, Mexico – built between 1726 and 1738, 1.3 kilometres (0.81 mi) long and featuring 74 arches
- Aqueduct of Zacatecas, Zacatecas.
- Aqueduct of Padre Tembleque, Zempoala, Hidalgo Mexico – built between 1553 and 1570
- Aqueduct of Morelia, Michoacán, built between 1735 and 1738
- Aqueduct of Los Remedios, Naucalpan, Mexico, 1765
- Aqueduct of Acámbaro, Guanajuato, built in 1528
- Chapultepec aqueduct, Mexico City
- Aqueduct of Guadalupe, Mexico City – present-day only partially preserved due Modern avenues works
- Del Carmen Arch, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas
- Aqueduct of Guadalupe, Chiapas
- Aqueduct of Bogotá, Colombia, built in 1955, notable by being the most modern aqueduct of Latin America in the 20th century.
India
- Mathur Aqueduct in Tamil Nadu state, India