October 16, 2017
This morning we walked to the bus station. We got a bus from Avignon to the town of Pont du Gard it took 30 minutes.
At Pont de Gard we visited the UNESCO World Heritage site which was a massive Roman aqueduct.
The aqueduct facts are:
Total length: 275m originally it was 360m
Width: 6.5m and the aqueduct section is 1.2m wide.
Height: 49 m
Arches: there is 35 upper, originally there as 47 arches
Mid: in the middle section there was 11 arches
Lower: in the lower section there was 6 arches
It was built by the Romans around 50 AD. The main section was built in 5 years. The whole system from the springs to the city of Nimes took a total of 15 years.
It carries water from the Source de Eure in Uzes to the city of Nimes until the 5th Century.
There was large stone blocks coming out of the wall these held the scaffolding as they added more layers to the top.
During the Middle Ages part of the stones were removed so to build houses and walls.
We did a tour and we went up the steps to the top layer. We walked along the part the water would have flowed. Dad had to duck down in some spots as he was too tall.
Over the time the calcium in the water started attaching to the sides of the aqueduct. In this photo you can see the coloured red tiles and the inside a grey colour which is the calcium.
Every 10 years they would stop and put a gate down and they would go into the duct and chip away all calcium deposits.
They stopped using the acquaduct in the 5th Century.
In the 18th Century they added a bridge to the lower section so people could cross on foot, horses or on carts. We walked across this section.
The sections of the large stone blocks were joined together like this photo shows.
By Finn and Mum
