Roman aqueduct
Rome's first aqueduct was built in 312 BC, and supplied a water fountain at the city's cattle market. By the 3rd century AD, the city had eleven aqueducts, sustaining a population of over a million in a water-extravagant economy; most of the water supplied the city's many public baths. Cities and towns throughout the Roman Empire emulated this model, and funded aqueducts as objects of public interest and civic pride, "an expensive yet necessary luxury to which all could, and did, aspire".
Greater Winnipeg Water District aqueduct
Surveying along the route of the aqueduct began in 1913 and construction commenced on 1 March 1914. The first work to be undertaken was the building of a 110-mile railway, including siding and spurs, a telephone line, clearing and fencing of the right-of-way, and completion of the Falcon River diversion. Construction of the aqueduct began in May 1915 and was virtually completed by the end of 1918.