Infrastructure of Rome
The Classical Romans used many different forms of engineering to create their complicated infrastructure, but we will cover the two most important parts of Roman infrastructure: their roads and aqueducts.
Aqueducts
The empire of Rome, especially the city itself, had a huge demand for water. The average Roman consumed over 200 gallons of water per day. Wealthy households had water supplied to their settlements unlike the many poor who could not afford this commodity. Even these people enjoyed the many luxuries of Rome's public baths, fountains, and public toilets equipped with sinks. The Tiber River was the city's main water source before any aqueducts were constructed. As the populationof Rome increased, however, the Romans taste for water became to much for the river to supply. The architects of Rome approached this problem by bringing in water from the surrounding areas via aqueduct. The idea of an aqueduct is very simple. You begin at higher ground and gradually decrease elevation until you reach the water's desired destination. Pipes and canals were constructed underground to transport water from places outside of the city. Lead pipes were used occasionally, but the high price of lead made this material highly impractical. The Roman's recent invention of concrete made the construction of these systems much easier. When the aqueducts had to cross gaps, the Romans employed two methods: arches and siphons. Arches were extremely straightforward, simply being a bridge with a canal on top to span the gap. When most think of aqueducts, they only think of the arch aspect. The picture featured above is of a classical Roman aqueduct arch. The siphon method was slightly more complicated but much more ingenious. It was, in simple terms, a water slide. When the aqueduct came to the gap, it dropped rapidly, causing the water to gain speed. It then sloped upward again, but the water had gained enough momentum to go uphill and cross the gap. The main disadvantage of the siphon system was it was not very cost effective. They really did need to be constructed of lead pipes to work well. Arches, for this reason, were used much more frequently than siphons were. Rome had a total of eleven aqueducts bringing water into the city. The longest of these was nearly 60 miles long. There was a great effort put into these complicated engineering projects to satisfy the Roman's taste for water.
Short Clip About Roman Aqeuducts
Roads
The classical Romans, in their constant interest of expansion, were always looking for ways to better facilitate the movement of important things: food, other traded goods, and soldiers. Roads were, quite clearly, the easiest way to facilitate this movement. The Romans had extensive series of roads throughout their empire. It is estimated that there were some 80,500 km of paved roads throughout the empire. When you add all of the dirt roads and paths, the total is closer to 400,000 km. In total there were three basic kinds of Roman roads: dirt, gravel, and fully paved. Dirt paths were often just for walking and cattle, with the gravel roads being quite similar, although the gravel could facilitate some heavier things, such as carriages. The paved roads were meant for the most movement. Some of the foundations of the paved roads are used in modern times to facilitate the construction of new roads. This shows how well the ancient Romans constructed these important structures. The paved roads were all constructed so they would require minimal amounts of repair and would provide a very smooth surface for travelling on. They were constructed somewhat like modern roads in the sense that they needed to create a foundation made of a few different layers before a smooth upper surface could be paved. Workers would dig down to bed rock or to very firm dirt. After this they would add large amounts of gravel to create a stable foundations. Sand would be added if it was available to even further stabilize the road. Coarser gravel would then be put over this layer, to bring the road close to the surface. The Roman invention of concrete would then be filled in, a coarse mix at first. This would be topped by finer layers of concrete. On top of these layers of concrete, large stones would be lain to create a smooth, rugged surface. The stones were crowned to facilitate drainage to the edges of the road. This road building method was ingenious. It greatly assisted the Roman expansion, and allowed for easier movement among their established empire.
A Short Note On Concrete
The Romans invented concrete. Their invention was used diligently throughout their infrastructure because of its durability, which competes with that of modern day concrete. Their concrete was simply made of volcanic ash, chunks of rocks, and hydrate lime. This simple concoction truly revolutionized Roman infrastructure.