Pont du Gard

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Pont du Gard
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• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vOU_359Z-50gmodere
  latedsearch

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Hello Mr. Workbook

• Location France!
• Roman Name Gaul (under control of Rome from 120
  BC)
• Modern Name Nîmes (what other piece of
  architecture have we studied from there?)
• Architectural type Functional, Aqueduct.
• Purpose Carried water from a spring near Uzes
  (50km away) to supply Nîmes with water
• Dates of Construction It is dated to the reign
  of Augustus
• Reasons for Dating
• 20-16BC (F.Sear and J.Campbell)
• 19BC when commissioned by Marcus Agrippa
  (R.Hannah)
• AD14 (M. Wheeler)
• Dimensions 1.45m x 1.22m across the gorge

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Workbooks

• When was it built? 20-16BC
• What is it built with? uncemented masonry
  quarried locally, which was very accessible and
  cheap
• Who probably constructed it? Slaves and Soldiers
  but was commissioned by Marcus Agrippa
• Number of arches top 35middle 11 bottom 6
• Height of structure 49m high
• Length (of top level) 275m wide
• The canal
• lined with waterproof cement. So that the
  water f____ smoothly does n___ leak.
• Located Nimes
• Covered with stone bosses for repairs

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Pont problems and Sensible solutions
Problems solutions
The weight of the bridge The weight of the structure is lessened as the depth of the arches decreases from bottom to top 6.36m, 4.56m, 3.06m The properties of the arch mean it is strong enough to cope with the weight of the structure the water it carries
The force of winds on the bridge The top row of arches is not so deep so that the force of the wind is minimized

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Pont problems and Sensible solutions
Problem Solution
The height of a bridge needed to cross the Gard Repeated arches in a row mean they can span any length eg. One length at the bottom (142m) and another at top of the gorge (275m)
The flow of water against the bridge The heavy deeper piers at the bottom can carry the weight above, and withstand the force of a river in flood The foundations of the 2 wider central arches wider are built in rock, not the actual river bed The pier heads in the bottom row are wedge shaped to cut the flood current and reduce turbulence
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More details

• The water was piped to the various areas of Nîmes
  eg. Private houses, public baths, public drinking
  fountains.
• This part of the aqueduct crosses the gorge of
  the river Gardon, (which is why it is called the
  Pont du Gard Bridge over the river Gardon).
• It is located 21km from Nîmes
• it is a utilitarian structure.

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construction

• The blocks weighed up to 6 tonnes
• Blocks were labelled before they were put
  together
• Local limestone was used from the river valley
• The cost of labour was reduced by using slaves
  soldiers
• No carved decoration
• Projecting stones were used for scaffolding
  were left to assist with repairs in future
• The aqueduct was a cheaper method of transporting
  water instead of using lead pipes.

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• The arch is designed so it is strong enough to
  cope with the weight of the structure and the
  water it carries
• The source of the water (Uzes) is higher than
  its destination (Nîmes) so gravity causes the
  water to flow downhill with reasonable pressure.
  The pont du gard has a slight drop of 11cm over
  275m

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Its Harmonious beautiful!

• The arch on the bottom tier is the same width as
  3 arches on the top tier
• The arches of the 2 bottom tiers are the same
  width