A Well Kept Man

What trip to Provence wouldn't be complete without a stop at an engineering marvel? So to make sure our trip was complete, we took a morning to go check out this Roman aqueduct from the 1st century AD (although this is slightly disputed, it could have been built earlier). This aqueduct was built without mortar, which is fairly impressive considering it is still standing (although some of the largest stones weigh around 6 tons a piece, so it would take quite the effort to move this monumental structure). It is the second highest standing Roman structure remaining besides the Colosseum in Rome. It's largest arch is 22 m high (just over 72 feet), which means you could drive somewhere between five and six semi trucks stacked on top of each other through the arch (except they'd need pontoons or something to float them as trucks don't drive too well on water). The Pont du Gard was designed as a piece of a greater aqueduct to help ferry water some 50 km (31 miles give or take), with the Pont carrying the water about 275 m (~300 yards) of the way (about 5 million gallons of water made it over the Pont du Gard each day). The level of the river below it was fairly insignificant, but that is not always the case as it has seen several major floods that have tested its abilities (and thankfully survived). Parts of the aqueduct on either end have been pillaged over the years to help build other structures, but the central span still remains and now will stand unharmed (except for the occasional graphic artist) as it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.