The Influence of Ancient Aqueduct Ingenuity on the North Vancouver Plumber

The Magdeburg Water Bridge in Germany, with an overall length of 918 meters, is the longest aqueduct in the world. Widely known as an engineering marvel, the bridge was made to cross over the Elbe River, which had a lower elevation and posed a problem for two waterways crossing. Thanks to the principle of buoyancy, ships crossing the Magdeburg and the Elbe shouldn't have any more problems.

The aqueducts of today seem like a far cry from the aqueducts of days past. During the age of mighty ancient empires, aqueducts were an innovative means of bringing water to the thirsty populace. The simple mechanism brought about the birth of more modern plumbing systems, which are now the default concerns of a modern plumber in North Vancouver, for example.

Aqueducts were the pipes of the ancient world. They made it possible for cities to exist and thrive even if they were built far from sources of potable water. The following popular aqueducts of the ancient world reached out to water sources and sustained life in cities and towns throughout their useful existence in history.

Pont du Gard

This three-level aqueduct brought fresh water from a spring north of the city of Nemausus (now Nimes, France), with its design allowing the Gardon River below to flow unopposed. It was a part of a longer aqueduct system that spanned more than thirty miles, with most aqueducts under the cities. Built by the Romans, it's one of the most influential aqueducts in history.

Tambomachay

Earlier in history, the ancient Incas designed elaborate aqueducts mostly for ritual purposes. One such popular aqueduct is in Tambomachay, an archaeological site near the city of Cusco, Peru. It consisted of rocks arranged in a terrace, bringing in water from the highlands to the settlement below.

Cantalloc

The people of the Nazca Valley designed their aqueducts underground, and strangely. A network of 50 spiral-shaped wells and trenches, called puquios, act as the people's way in and out of the aqueduct that supplied them with water in a very dry place. This is one of a handful of ancient aqueducts still in use today.

Today, with complex piped delivery systems, people don't have to worry about where to get their water. But it's thanks to ancient ingenuity that every plumber in Port Moody and everywhere else in the world has learned the basics of bringing water to the masses.