Thursday, January 16

Take your Chromebook home everyday and be sure it is charged for the next day.

Aqueducts

Aqueducts are important because they move water from areas with an abundance of water to areas where it is scarce. They have been used for thousands of years to provide water for drinking, irrigation, and other purposes: 

• Improved public health: Aqueducts helped prevent the spread of water-borne diseases like cholera and typhoid fever by eliminating the need to store stagnant water. 

• Irrigation: Aqueducts have been used by agricultural societies for centuries to irrigate crops. 

• Drinking water: Aqueducts supply drinking water to cities and other populated areas. 

• Drought relief: Aqueducts can help provide water to areas that are prone to drought. 

• Plumbing: The invention of aqueducts led to the development of modern plumbing systems. 

Building an aqueduct was extremely difficult, requiring extensive planning, a large workforce, and advanced engineering skills to navigate challenging terrain, often involving digging tunnels through hills, constructing bridges across valleys, and maintaining a precise gradient for the water flow, making it a laborious and time-consuming project, particularly for ancient civilizations like the Romans who relied heavily on manual labor, including slave labor, for construction. 

Key factors contributing to the difficulty of building an aqueduct:

• Precise surveying:
  Accurately measuring the land to maintain a consistent, slight downward slope for the water flow was crucial. 

• Massive scale:
  Aqueducts could stretch for miles, requiring large-scale excavation and construction. 

• Varied terrain:
  Crossing valleys, hills, and other geographical obstacles often necessitated complex structures like arches and bridges. 

• Material handling:
  Transporting heavy stones and other building materials to the construction site could be challenging. 

• Labor intensive:
  Constructing aqueducts required a large workforce to perform tasks like digging, hauling stones, and shaping materials. 

• Maintaining a consistent gradient:
  Ensuring the water flowed smoothly without excessive speed or stagnation was critical.