The story is sent by email and the message is mobile responsive – i.e., can be read on any device
Subject: [Story] A 2000-year old water problem
Hello {!firstname_fix},
I thought you might enjoy this story about an amazing solution to a water problem.
As the Roman Empire expanded, sometime before 28 BC, the southern French city of Nîmes became a Roman colony.
Then known as Nemausus, the town had a ring of ramparts six kilometres (3.7 miles) long, reinforced by fourteen towers, and became capital of the Narbonne province. A key to the town’s location was a natural spring, for providing water to the inhabitants.
However, by the time of Emperor Augustus the population had grown to more than 60,000 and water was running short.
Halfway through the 1st century AD, the Romans decided to channel water to Nîmes from the springs of the Fontaine d’Eure near what is now the tourist market town of Uzès.
With astonishing engineering skill, even by today’s standards, they designed an aqueduct to take the water to Nîmes. Although the straight-line distance between the two is only about 20 km (12 miles) the aqueduct had to take a winding route of around 50 km (31 miles) to avoid a range of hills.
But there was still a problem. The aqueduct needed to cross the gorge of the Gardon river – a 360 m (1,181 ft) span.
Remember, this was almost 2,000 years ago but the Roman architects and hydraulic engineers built a bridge with three tiers of arches, standing 48.8 metres (160 ft) high, and descending just 2.5 centimetres (1 in). That’s a gradient of only 1 in 18,241.
In fact, in its entire length, the aqueduct descends by only 12.6 m (41 ft), which is 1 in 3,000. That’s an astonishing achievement by the Roman engineers, using simple technology.
The aqueduct carried an estimated 40,000 m3 of water a day to the fountains, baths and homes of the citizens in Nîmes.
The Pont du Gard (bridge of the Gard) contains an estimated 50,400 tonnes of limestone with some of the individual blocks weighing up to 6 tonnes. The blocks were precisely cut to fit perfectly together by friction alone, without mortar.
Luckily the bridge was built so well that it still stands, today, and is one of the top tourist attractions in France.
We can’t build you a 30-mile aqueduct, but we can help with all your plumbing and drainage needs.
If I can help you, or your friends, please call me anytime, at (987) 654 3210
Until next time,
Joe Blow
Owner
Blowback Plumbing
P.S. My grateful thanks, this month, to Louise Brochner, Andrew Hall and Helen Wright for kindly referring us to their friends and family.
Each email is fully personalized and appears to come from your email address, so any reader replies will come to you. In addition, the message will comply with regulations by including an unsubscribe link, and will show YOUR address, below.
103 Any Street
Your City 010101
Unsubscribe | Change Subscriber Options