"INVENTORS AND INNOVATORS: OUR HERITAGE AND OUR FUTURE"
TUNNEL OF EUPALINOS, A MASTERPIECE OF ANCIENT ENGINEERING
A PROJECT BY KARADOUKAS KONSTANTINOS
THE FIRST REFERENCE TO THE MONUMENT • “I have dwelt the longer on the affairs of the Samians, because three of the greatest works in all Greece were made by them. One is a tunnel, under a hill one hundred and fifty fathoms high (274.32 meters), carried entirely through the base of the hill; with a mouth at either end. The length of the cutting is seven furlongs (1407 metres)the height and width are each eight feet (2,4 metres). Along the whole course there is a second cutting, twenty cubits deep (13 metres) and three feet broad (0,9 metres), whereby water is brought, through pipes, from an abundant source, into the city. The architect of this tunnel was Eupalinos, son of Naustrophus, a Megarian.” Herodotus, Histories, III
HISTORY OF THE INVENTION • Built in the 6th century in the island of Samos, under the reign of tyrant Polycrates.
• It was used as an aqueduct, which supplied with fresh water the ancient capital of Samos.
• It protected the city from the problem of lack of water during the sieges.
• Its use stopped abruptly up to the 7th century AD.
Lined tunnel
DESCRIPTION OF THE TUNNEL • Dimensions of the tunnel: 1036m long, maximum depth is ~ 170 m below the peak of the Kastro mountain, it consists of a corridor having internal dimensions 1.80x1.80m and of a ditch 0.60m wide.
• The majority of the tunnel is unlined, while ~230m were lined with high quality faced stones.
• Two crews of workers, using only hammers and chisels, started digging simultaneously from both sides (north and south), and met with almost no deviation from a straight line.
Unlined tunnel
Corridor
Unlined tunnel
Lined tunnel
Ditch
HOW DID THE AQUEDUCT WORK?
HOW DID THE AQUEDUCT WORK? • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR8BIMxrorA&t=183s
SOURCES • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel_of_Eupalinos • http://www.eupalinos-tunnel.gr/ • http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/2/eh251.jsp?obj_id=818