Fantastic Engineering Roman! Pont du Gard Water Delivery Bridge That Survived For More Than 2,000 Years

More than 2,000 years ago, the Romans were able to build a water-delivery bridge that still stands today; that building was the Pont du Gard, one of the most remarkable works of engineering of the ancient world.

The bridge was built around the 1st century AD as part of a 50 + kilometer water delivery system, conveying water from Uzès to Nèmes for use in Roman bathhouses, public places and houses.

What makes the Pont du Gard amazing is not only its size, almost 49 meters high and three layers of structure, but its design accuracy. Over the course of more than 50 kilometers of water, it has a difference of only 17 meters, or an average of only about 34 centimeters per kilometer. It all happened in an era when modern instrumentation was not yet available.

The bridge was built of more than 50,000 tons of limestone, cutting the rock into a lock so that it barely needed mortar, so it could resist more than 2,000 years of time.

In 1985, UNESCO listed the Pont du Gard as a World Heritage Site, and today it remains one of the symbols of the genius of the Roman kingdom; that proves that "good engineering" can actually transcend time.