Page - 167 - in The Power of Urban Water - Studies in premodern urbanism

10 SyracusanWaterNetworks inAntiquity 167 However, this first catchment had a certain number of disadvantages. First, it was at an altimetry too close to the river, anddespite theprojectmanagershaving installedgratingsor a barrier,whoseexistence is shownby theverticalgroovesbuilt into the inspectionshafts (Fig. 5, F1), thegallerymusthavebeentoooften floodedduring floodsandthuscarriedmaterials likely to block circulation and impair the quality of thewater. Second, it could not have provided a sufficient amount ofwater. Indeed, the Ciccio is a torrential type river, with an irregular flow. Therewas an attempt to increase the quantities ofwater carried by the aqueduct, by adding a supplementary catchment (Fig. 5, F6), but it seems that thiswasnot enough. TheBottiglieria catchment: anelaborate system Theancients then installedasecondcatchment, thatofBottiglieria, aperennialkarstic river, of much better quality and abundant flow. They exploited a height difference in the current and created a reservoir by installing an artificial dam that today has disappeared under layers of calcareous concretions, common in this riverwith the evocativenameof Calcinara, thatwhich carries lime (Fig.7). At aheight of 3.50/5mandawidthof 9m, this damcreateda reservoir of about 20m in length for the samewidth approximately as the dam, that is a surface of about Fig. 7:Syracuse, mapof the Bottiglieria catchment.