The bridge has three tiers of arches, standing 160 feet high. The whole aqueduct descends in height by only 56 feet over its entire length, while the bridge descends by a mere 0.98 inches – a gradient of only 1 in 3,000 – which is indicative of the great precision that Roman engineers were able to achieve using only simple technology.
The aqueduct originally carried water from a source at the Fontaine d’Eure near Ucetia (Uzès) to a delivery tank or castellum divisorum in Nemausus (Nîmes), from where it was distributed to fountains, baths and private homes around the city. Although the straight-line distance between the two is only about 20 km, the aqueduct takes a winding route measuring around 50 km to avoid the Garrigue hills above Nîmes.
