Architectural Geology of Segovia, Spain, Part 3: The Segovia Aqueduct (ca. early 2nd Century AD)
Still on the eastern side of the Aqueduct, and in this case facing southwestward.
From this perspective, the structure appears much less massive than in the first two images of the series. Indeed, it seems open, airy, and almost fragile enough to be tipped over in a strong wind. This is largely due to the fact that the arches of the lower arcade are borne on very high and relatively narrow piers. "Delicacy" is not a word that usually springs to mind when one looks at Roman civil engineering, but it's almost applicable here.
Still, the big blocks of Late Carboniferous Guadarrama Granite have rested in their proper places, without the benefit of mortar, for nineteen centuries. And this section of the bridge, its tallest and heaviest, stands on Segovia's trickiest type of bedrock, Upper Cretaceous sandstone much softer than the gneiss and granite underlying the Aqueduct farther to the southeast. Obviously, the Romans laid their footings here most skillfully.
To see the other photos and descriptions in this series, visit my Architectural Geology of Segovia album.
Architectural Geology of Segovia, Spain, Part 3: The Segovia Aqueduct (ca. early 2nd Century AD)
Still on the eastern side of the Aqueduct, and in this case facing southwestward.
From this perspective, the structure appears much less massive than in the first two images of the series. Indeed, it seems open, airy, and almost fragile enough to be tipped over in a strong wind. This is largely due to the fact that the arches of the lower arcade are borne on very high and relatively narrow piers. "Delicacy" is not a word that usually springs to mind when one looks at Roman civil engineering, but it's almost applicable here.
Still, the big blocks of Late Carboniferous Guadarrama Granite have rested in their proper places, without the benefit of mortar, for nineteen centuries. And this section of the bridge, its tallest and heaviest, stands on Segovia's trickiest type of bedrock, Upper Cretaceous sandstone much softer than the gneiss and granite underlying the Aqueduct farther to the southeast. Obviously, the Romans laid their footings here most skillfully.
To see the other photos and descriptions in this series, visit my Architectural Geology of Segovia album.