Muel Dam

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Muel Dam is a Roman gravity dam in Muel, Zaragoza province, Aragon, Spain. It dates to the 1st century AD, built during the time of Emperor Augustus, to create a reservoir on the Huerva River for the nearby Roman colony of Caesaraugusta, today Zaragoza.

The dam is about 60 meters long and around 10 meters high, with the base estimated to be about 11.5 meters thick. It used a concrete core with layers of limestone blocks arranged in a stretcher and header pattern, and it was reinforced at the bottom with a jetty to protect the base from undermining. The construction materials came from a nearby quarry, and quarry marks show organized Roman activity. Some scholars think the work was done by soldiers from Legio IV Macedonica, while others suggest multiple teams; the exact authorship is still debated.

From the dam, water was diverted to Caesaraugusta, and remnants of a canal can be seen on the right bank of the Huerva. Some researchers believe the canal supplied drinking water, while others think it served irrigation; the precise purpose is still discussed.

The dam was abandoned around the 3rd century AD due to silt buildup as the area declined. The Huerva River was not dammed again until 1731, with the Mezalocha project. The reservoir gradually filled with sediment, preserving the lower part of the structure, and the surrounding area became the fertile Huerva valley near Zaragoza. Burials from the 14th to the 17th centuries have been found nearby.

In 1770, the church of Virgen de la Fuente was built over the reservoir, with frescoes by Francisco de Goya; the upper stones of the dam were repurposed for the church. Today, Muel has a park at the site, and the old dam forms a small pond. The dam was first described in 1957 by Manuel Pellicer, with an archaeological study published in 1964 by Guillermo Fatás. Excavations resumed from 2009 to 2012 as part of a local planning project, and in 2012 the site was designated as Cultural Heritage.