Which Leonardo da Vinci design used a screw mechanism to lift water between different canal levels?

Leonardo da Vinci’s water-lifting design used an Archimedes’ screw to move water between different canal levels.

An Archimedes’ screw is a helical surface inside a tube or around a central shaft. When the shaft turns, pockets of water are carried upward. Leonardo studied and drew this ancient machine as part of his broader investigations into hydraulics, water management, and mechanical power.

The device was not invented by Leonardo. It is traditionally associated with Archimedes of Syracuse, who lived in the third century BC, although the exact origins of the mechanism are debated. Leonardo’s contribution was to analyze, redraw, and adapt established hydraulic ideas for Renaissance engineering problems.

Leonardo’s notebooks contain many proposals for canals, locks, pumps, and methods of diverting rivers. His studies helped connect practical construction with mathematical observation. The screw should therefore be identified as a machine Leonardo explored and improved conceptually, rather than as an original invention created from nothing.