The Pont du Gard is a beautiful bridge,
That crosses the river from ridge to ridge,
Romans built it two thousand odd years ago,
Architects, engineers, all wanting to show,
Their dedication and their undoubted skill,
At bridging the river from hill to hill.
Lord knows just how long it took to construct,
This beautiful, elegant aqueduct.
It stands at fifty meters high,
And is on 3 levels, from earth to sky,
The longest stretch metrically is 275,
Astonishing such a structure still survives.
This is such an astonishing edifice,
A technical, artistic masterpiece,
Constructed by Agrippa and his fabulous team,
It carried water from Uzes to the city of Nimes.
It drops only 17 metres along the way,
And delivered 44 million gallons of water per day.
No mortar was used, it is just stone on stone,
Held together by huge iron clamps alone.
Some stones weigh upward of 6 metric tons,
And took 3 years and 1,000 workmen before it was done.
The bridge was constructed slowly, inch by inch,
By a human powered treadmill to drive the winch,
A complex scaffold was attached to each pier,
To make the construction less severe.
This beautiful bridge which is such a delight,
Is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.