San Francisco water . ds its own level(see Pliny, Hist. Nat. xxxi. 57, subit alti-tudinem exortus sui), and took full ad-vantage of it in the construction of loftyfountains and the supplying of the upperfloors of houses. That they built aqueductsacross valleys in preference to carryingpipes underground was due simply toeconomy. Pipes had to be made of leadwhich was weak, or of bronze which wasexpensive; and the Romans were not suffi-ciently expert in the casting of large pipeswhich would stand a very great pressure toemploy them for the whole course of a greataqueduct. Secondly, the water was
San Francisco water . ds its own level(see Pliny, Hist. Nat. xxxi. 57, subit alti-tudinem exortus sui), and took full ad-vantage of it in the construction of loftyfountains and the supplying of the upperfloors of houses. That they built aqueductsacross valleys in preference to carryingpipes underground was due simply toeconomy. Pipes had to be made of leadwhich was weak, or of bronze which wasexpensive; and the Romans were not suffi-ciently expert in the casting of large pipeswhich would stand a very great pressure toemploy them for the whole course of a greataqueduct. Secondly, the water was so ex-tremely hard that it was important that thechannels should be readily accessible for re-pair as well as for the detection of , the Roman aqueducts did not, infact, preserve a straight line regardless ofthe configuration of the country. A strikingexample is the aqueduct of Nemausus(Nimes), the springs of which are some tenmiles from the town, [Continued on page 14] SAN FRANCISCO WATER January, 192. itiit-tj t • •
Size: 2001px × 1248px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectwatersupply, bookyear
