Roman tunnels
The Romans, who once controlled areas of Europe, North Africa and Asia Minor, adopted the construction techniques of other civilizations to build tunnels in their territories
A The Persians, who lived in present-day Iran, were one of the first civilizations to build tunnels that provided a reliable supply of water to human settlements in dry areas. In the early first millennium BCE, they introduced the qanat method of tunnel construction, which consisted of placing posts over a hill in a straight line, to ensure that the tunnel kept to its route, and then digging vertical shafts down into the ground at regular intervals. Underground, workers removed the earth from between the ends of the shafts, creating a tunnel. The excavated soil was taken up to the surface using the shafts, which also provided ventilation during the work. Once the tunnel was completed, it allowed water to flow from the top of a hillside down towards a canal, which supplied water for human use. Remarkably, some qanats built by the Persians 2,700 years ago are still in use today.
B They later passed on their knowledge to the Romans, who also used the qanat method to construct water-supply tunnels for agriculture. Roman qanat tunnels were constructed with vertical shafts dug at intervals of between 30 and 60 meters. The shafts were equipped with handholds and footholds to help those climbing in and out of them and were covered with a wooden or stone lid. To ensure that the shafts were vertical, Romans hung a plumb line from a rod placed across the top of each shaft and made sure that the weight at the end of it hung in the center of the shaft. Plumb lines were also used to measure the depth of the shaft and to determine the slope of the tunnel. The 5.6-kilometer-long Claudius tunnel, built in 41 CE to drain the Fucine Lake in central Italy, had shafts that were up to 122 meters deep, took 11 years to build and involved approximately 30,000 workers.
C By the 6th century BCE, a second method of tunnel construction appeared called the counter-excavation method, in which the tunnel was constructed from both ends. It was used to cut through high mountains when the qanat method was not a practical alternative. This method required greater planning and advanced knowledge of surveying, mathematics and geometry as both ends of a tunnel had to meet correctly at the center of the mountain. Errors in alignment were common, especially when the tunnels were long. In 152 CE, the Roman engineers building the Saldae aqueduct tunnel in modern-day Algeria experienced a serious problem. The two building teams missed each other in the mountain and a later construction of a lateral link between both corridors corrected the initial error.
D The Romans also built tunnels for the extraction of minerals. The miners would locate a mineral vein and then pursue it with shafts and tunnels underground. Traces of such tunnels used to mine gold can still be found at the Dolaucothi mines in Wales. When the sole purpose of a tunnel was mineral extraction, construction required less planning, as the tunnel route was determined by the mineral vein.
E Roman tunnel builders were also masters of constructing road tunnels through rock. Some of these tunnels were very long and required the excavation of large quantities of rock. The Furlo Pass tunnel, built in 76 CE by Emperor Vespasian to connect Rome to the Adriatic coast, is 38 meters long, 5.5 meters wide and 6 meters high. Most tunnels had inscriptions showing the names of patrons who ordered construction and sometimes the name of the architect.
Summary Completion
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The Persian Qanat Method
The Persians introduced a highly effective method for constructing water-supply tunnels. First, they placed 1 over a hill in a straight line to keep the tunnel on its correct route. Then, vertical 2 were dug into the ground at regular intervals. As the workers excavated the earth underground, these openings served a dual purpose: they allowed the soil to be taken to the surface, and also provided 3 during the work. Once finished, the water flowed from the hillside down towards a 4.
The Romans adopted this method, but added features like handholds and a wooden or stone 5 to cover the openings. To ensure verticality, the Romans hung a 6 from a rod across the top, ensuring the attached weight hung perfectly in the center.
TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
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TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
7 The counter-excavation method completely replaced the qanat method in the 6th century BCE.
8 Only experienced builders were employed to construct a tunnel using the counter-excavation method.
9 The information about a problem that occurred during the construction of the Saldae aqueduct system was found in an ancient book.
10 The mistake made by the builders of the Saldae aqueduct was that the two parts of the tunnel failed to meet.
Note Completion
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Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Other uses of Roman tunnels
- Mining tunnels: The Romans pursued underground mineral veins using shafts and tunnels. Traces of routes used to extract 11 can still be found at the Dolaucothi mines in Wales.
- Road tunnels: Roman builders were masters of rock excavation for roads. Often, the tunnels they constructed had inscriptions displaying the names of patrons and sometimes the 12.
- Water supply tunnels: While many tunnels were built for road networks or mining, the Romans also used the qanat method extensively to supply water for 13 and civil engineering projects like draining lakes.
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