Engineering and
Construction
The Romans were excellent engineers and builders. Many of the buildings and
engineering projects they designed are still around today and some are still being
used. Here are some of the projects that the Romans excelled in:
Roads
Roman Roads were important to the economy and the military of the Romans.
They allowed for easier commerce between towns and cities and also allowed
the Roman Legions to move quickly around the expanding empire.
The roads were designed to last despite the environment. They were built using
many layers of masonry including concrete. These durable roads are still used
today. They were also built with a hump making water flow to the edges. This
kept the roads from flooding and allowed them to be used in rainy weather.
The Colosseum
The Colosseum in Rome is a great example of Roman engineering and
construction. The Colosseum was a large outdoor stadium that could seat around
50,000 people for various forms of entertainment such as gladiator games, mock
battles, and dramas. The huge Colosseum is free standing and built with multiple
arches to give it strength. Much of it still stands today, although earthquakes
have knocked portions of it down. It is 615 feet long and 510 feet wide and took
around 131,000 cubic yards of stone to make.
Roman Aqueducts
Aqueducts were long channels that the
Romans built to carry water into the cities.
Many of the Roman aqueducts were below
ground. The water that was carried into the
cities was used for drinking water, baths,
and sewers. It was generally carried to a
public fountain where people could then
use buckets to get their water. Roman
plumbing became so advanced that many
of the large wealthy houses had running water.
Bridges
The Romans built long durable bridges. Many of their bridges still stand today.
They used stone and concrete to build their bridges and used the arch as the
basic architectural feature to make them strong. The largest Roman bridge ever
built was the Trajan bridge over the river Danube. It was over 3700 feet long and
62 feet high.
The Trajan Bridge
Architecture
Roman engineering had a large influence on Roman architecture. Arches were
used a lot due to their strength. The Romans also used domes as they enabled
them to build large ceilings with wide open spaces.
Fun Facts about Roman Engineering
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The Romans built over 400,000 km of roads including 29 highways that
lead to the city of Rome.
The Latin word for road is via. The plural of via is viae. Roman roads
generally had the name via in them, like the Via Appia or the Via Flaminia.
All the aqueducts in the city of Rome together totaled around 500 miles in
length.
The Romans were among the first civilizations to harness water power.
It is estimated that the Romans built over 900 bridges in their empire.
Source from:
http://www.ducksters.com/history/ancient_roman_engineering.php