Lake of Homs
Lake of Homs | |||||||
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Satellite image of the lake | |||||||
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Coordinates | 34 ° 39 '45 " N , 36 ° 37' 4" E | ||||||
Data on the structure | |||||||
Lock type: | Gravity dam | ||||||
Construction time: | 284 ad | ||||||
Height of the barrier structure : | 7 m | ||||||
Crown length: | 2000 m | ||||||
Base width: | 20 m | ||||||
Data on the reservoir | |||||||
Storage space | 90 million m³ | ||||||
Particularities: |
Largest Roman reservoir in the Middle East |
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All values refer to the ancient structure. |
The Lake of Homs is a Roman dam near the Syrian city of Homs , which is still in use.
The two kilometer long and seven meter high gravity dam consists of a Roman concrete core with a basalt stone cladding . The slightly pointed curvature of the dam is explained by the efforts of the builder to use the course of a natural basalt elevation in the terrain; the similarity to an arch dam is therefore of a purely superficial nature, functionally the dam works according to the weight principle.
Contrary to an older assumption, which brings the building in connection with the Egyptian New Kingdom , the lake was not created for irrigation purposes until 284 AD by the Roman Emperor Diocletian (284–305). With a storage capacity of 90 million m³, it is considered to be the largest reservoir built by the Romans in the Middle East and, at the time of its completion, could even have been the largest reservoir ever built.
Since the dam was raised in 1938, the storage capacity of the artificial lake has increased to 200 million m³. Despite its long operating time, the reservoir is noticeably silted up.
See also
literature
- A. Trevor Hodge: Roman Aqueducts & Water Supply. Duckworth, London 1992, ISBN 0-7156-2194-7 , p. 91.
- A. Trevor Hodge: Reservoirs and Dams. In: Örjan Wikander (Ed.): Handbook of Ancient Water Technology. (Technology and Change in History, Volume 2) Brill, Leiden 2000, ISBN 90-04-11123-9 , p. 338.
- Niklaus Schnitter: Roman dams. In: Ancient World . Volume 8, No. 2, 1978, pp. 25-32.
- Norman Smith: A History of Dams. Peter Davies, London 1971, ISBN 432-151090-0 .