Aqueduct. An aqueduct is a watercourse constructed to carry water from a source to a distribution point far away.
In modern engineering, the term aqueduct is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose. The term aqueduct also often refers specifically to a bridge carrying an artificial watercourse.
Aqueducts were used in ancient Greece, ancient Near East, and ancient Rome. The simplest aqueducts are small ditches cut into the earth.
Much larger channels may be used in modern aqueducts. Aqueducts sometimes run for some or all of their path through tunnels constructed underground.
Modern aqueducts may also use pipelines. Historically, agricultural societies have constructed aqueducts to irrigate crops and supply large cities with drinking water. The word aqueduct is derived from the Latin words and. Further information: History of water supply and sanitation Although particularly associated with the Romans, aqueducts were devised much earlier in Greece, the Near East, Nile Valley, and Indian subcontinent, where peoples such as the Egyptians and Harappans built sophisticated irrigation systems. Roman-style aqueducts were used as early as the 7th century BC, when the Assyrians built an 80 km long limestone aqueduct, which included a 10 m high section to cross a 300 m wide valley, to carry water to their capital city, Nineveh. Although pa