Machine de Marly

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The Machine de Marly, also widely known as La Machine de Marly and The Machine of Marly, was a French engineering marvel completed in 1684. King Louis XIV needed a large water supply for his fountains at Versailles. The amount of water needed per day for these fountains was not much less than the amount of water used per day in the city of Paris.

The Machine de Marly consisted of fourteen gigantic water wheels, each roughly thirty-six feet wide, that moved 221 pumps to bring water 177 yards up a hillside from the Seine River. King Louis XIV had countless schemes and inventions that were supposed to bring water to his fountains. The Machine de Marly was, by far, his most extensive and costly plan. After three years of construction and a cost of approximately 4,000,000 livres, the massive contraption was completed. However, the machine suffered from frequent breakdowns, required a permanent staff of sixty to maintain and often required costly repairs.

Since the Machine de Marly constantly failed to operate properly, work began on an aqueduct to carry water to two reservoirs near Versailles not long after the machine's completion.