Roman aqueduct (Brey)
The Roman aqueduct near Brey ( Rhineland-Palatinate ) is an ancient aqueduct tunnel rediscovered in the middle of the 20th century, which was probably used to supply water to a villa rustica built in the Rhine Valley .
The remains of the Roman aqueduct near Brey have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Upper Middle Rhine Valley since 2002 .
history
The remains of the Roman aqueduct were accidentally discovered near Brey by citizens who were looking for protection from bombing during World War II . The citizens came across manholes of a Roman aqueduct. The first investigations were carried out in 1963 and a short stretch was made accessible.
As part of archaeological investigations from 2003 by the State Office for Archaeological Monument Preservation Koblenz , the course of the aqueduct was able to be verified over a length of over 500 m. The visitor's terrace, which has now been created by the local community of Brey, allows you to get an impression of the construction and function of this water pipe.
To this day, neither the source area at which the aqueduct begins nor where it ends is known. In the outskirts of Brey there is evidence of a Roman estate (Villa rustica), the remains of which are built over, which is why a detailed investigation is not possible. It must be assumed that this must have been a significant investment. The dimensions of the water pipe and the associated manufacturing costs do not allow any other conclusion. With the water, other facilities, such. B. a station on the Roman road along the Rhine were supplied. Brey is halfway between the Roman forts in Koblenz ( Confluentes ) and Boppard ( Boppard Fort ). It is obvious that a supply station was built here, but there is no evidence of this.
Construction
The Brey aqueduct tunnel was built using the Qanat construction method (= light shaft). The method of construction was not invented by the Romans, but was practiced centuries before the Romans in Persia, from where the technology spread to southern Arabia, North Africa and Etruscan Italy.
While in normal tunnel construction, tunnels are driven into the mountain from the source location and the supply location in order to meet and unite to form a tunnel, the Qanat construction method is different. Even if the goal, i.e. the construction of a tunnel, is the same, vertical shafts are dug into the earth at a defined level on a previously defined line between the source and destination. Once the level has been reached, a tunnel can be driven from these points to the next shaft. While in normal tunnel construction only one tube can be driven from the source and destination, the Qanat method has the advantage that the tunnel tube can be driven from each shaft. The work could be divided into "construction lots". One advantage is that you can hardly miss the direction over the short distances between the manholes, as these are usually laid out at intervals of 6 to 12 m.
According to current knowledge, three people worked on each shaft. One drove the tunnel from the mountain to the valley side, the second moved the spoil to the shaft and filled a basket there, which was pulled up by the third man. Oil lamps were probably used as lighting. After completion of the tunnel, a channel for the drinking water was embedded in the tunnel floor, which was set with stones without mortar and covered with slates.
particularities
The Roman aqueduct of Brey is an archaeological jewel that is of national importance. While the archaeological investigation has so far been carried out over a length of around 500 meters, the actual length is likely to be 2 to 2.5 km. The aqueduct, together with similar systems in Saarbrücken ( Halberg Tunnel ) and Düren ( Drover Berg Tunnel), is the largest ancient tunnel north of the Alps . There are other Qanat buildings in the Trier area, for example the Qanat by Mehring or that of Pölich , as well as in Blankenheim in the Eifel. The aqueduct tunnel differs from similar buildings of this time in its significantly larger cross-section, which is 1.2 m wide and 1.7 to 2.2 m high on average. The shafts explored so far have a diameter of 1.5 to 2 m and go up to 4.5 m deep into the rock. Based on these dimensions for the entire length of the tunnel, more than 4,000 cubic meters are likely to have been cut out of the rock.
An exact date remains unclear, since corresponding finds such as Roman coins, wood or burned bricks, which allow a chronological classification, were not made. It is likely that the line was built at the same time as the villa rustica in the 2nd or 3rd century.
The Breyer water pipeline has a gradient of around 3.5% over the previously explored length. It is astonishing that it still carries water after almost two millennia. Estimates / measurements carried out in the 1960s resulted in a flow rate of two liters per second in the 0.24 m wide and 0.16 m high water channel. This corresponds to an amount of water of 7200 liters an hour or around 100,000 liters a day, an amount that is certainly sufficient to supply a large property.
It could not be determined even by adding paint where the water was flowing. It also remains unclear why the water pipe was filled in along its entire length, except for a small covered channel. One argument for this would be to protect the actual water pipe (covered channel) from contamination of the entire system. However, this is clearly indicated by the fact that the backfilling of the entire system meant that the necessary maintenance and repairs were not possible.
literature
- Hans-Helmut Wegner: Brey MYK, water pipe. In: H. Cüppers (Ed.): The Romans in Rhineland-Palatinate. Theiss, Stuttgart 1990 (licensed edition Nikol, Hamburg 2005), p. 348f., ISBN 3-933203-60-0 .
Web links
- The Roman aqueduct near Brey in: regionalgeschichte.net
Coordinates: 50 ° 16 ′ 0 ″ N , 7 ° 36 ′ 53.6 ″ E