Aqueduct

Aqueduct, strictly speaking, any channel by which water is conveyed from one place to another; the term is usually limited however to signify those structures which convey water to large cities, generally from some distant place. Aqueducts were largely in use among the Romans, no fewer than 20, indeed, supplying Rome itself. The remains of the Roman aqueducts prove that in this particular form of work the Romans had no equal, and some of their magnificent structures are still in use to-day, while all over the Continent traces are to be found of such works. Amongst the more celebrated of the aqueducts of antiquity (apart from those which supplied Rome itself) are those at Nimes (the Pont du Gard, 180 ft. high), Segovia, Taragona, and Lyons. Of modern aqueducts the Croton aqueduct, which supplies New York with water, is about 40 miles long, while Glasgow is supplied from Loch Katrine by a channel 35 miles in length. In 1886 works were commenced for an aqueduct to bring water from Lake Thirlmere to Manchester, a distance of 100 miles, a scheme which was eventually completed. Liverpool is supplied from Lake Vyrnwy in Wales.