[1] It was a part of the hydraulic network intended to provide water for the Château de Marly and the Gardens of Versailles from the Seine river, using a huge pump called the Machine de Marly.

By pipes put on two paved inclines, the water was pumped up the 126 metres of the hill of Louveciennes.

The water flowed into the reservoir at the summit of the tour du Levant ("East tower") at the north-eastern end of the aqueduct.

[2] From there, a siphon ensured the supply of a reservoir called réservoir des Deux Portes and the nearby tanks of Marly and Louveciennes.

[2] During the Siege of Paris (1870-1871), the tour du Levant was used as an observation point by the future German emperor William I and the chancellor Bismarck.