The Eupalinos Tunnel or Eupalinian Aqueduct.

For civil engineering solutions in Cambridge New Zealand look no further. For civil engineering solutions in ancient Greece, we look to 6th Century B.C where a civil engineer designed a huge aqueduct on the mountain slopes of Panagia Spilani.

The Tunnel of Eupalinos (named for the man who designed it) bears testimony to the ingenuity and lateral thinking of the mind of an engineer. Designated as an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 2017. It was an admirable feat to build this tunnel at a time when technology was not as available or as advanced as it is today. What makes this structure even more fascinating is the sheer precision and skilfulness that went into creating this place. Construction of the tunnel took about ten years and had two teams of laborers simultaneously working on either end. It is 1350 metres long and 1.80 metres high and wide. 7000 cubic metres of rock had to be removed to build the tunnel. Constructed with rectangular stones with a roof triangular shaped, the water flowed through ceramic pipes that were fitted in the aqueduct below the tunnel. Used for about a thousand years before it was abandoned.

Will stormwater and wastewater systems designed by the top civil engineers in Cambridge, NZ achieve the same goal? Yes. Would Euplalinos be impressed by the advances made and how we at Nemean implement them? No doubt.