Why is it every time I watch a program on the pyramids, some archeologist with no understanding of engineering, architecture or construction want’s to say that we don’t have the ability to duplicate those types of structures today? Usually, they want to say that we couldnt move the stones with today’s technology. I call bullshit. I’ll explain why. The solid stone blocks used to build the great pyramid weigh an average of 2.5 tons. That’s about the mass of 25 refrigerators. Well guess what? The legal weight limit for trucks in the United States is 40 tons. The truck and trailer weight about 15 tons, so that leaves 25 tons of cargo Weight. That would be about 250 refrigerators if they would all fit in a Conex box. Most trucks can carry even more than that. At any rate, most 18 wheelers could legally carry about 10 of those blocks at a time on U.S. highways without any special permits. It would take about 230 thousand trips, but it could be done. How would they get the blocks on the trucks? I only include this question for the dim of wit. We wouldnt build a truck to haul 25 tons if we had no way of loading it. The 45 ft Conex boxes are built to hold 30 tons, and some of the newer dock cranes can move 4 of them at a time. If we had to, we could load 10 stones on a flat bed with a dock crane. There you go. The truck is loaded. How would we get the stones up there? Now that is the million dollar question, and the answer is, with 26 million dollars. This is where we start to run into some roadblocks. The average tower crane can lift around 20 tons. No problem with the weight, but they can only lift to a height of about 265 feet. This is a bit of a problem since the Great Pyramid is about 455 feet tall. Achieving greater height with conventional boom cranes isnt a problem, because the crane can be affixed to the structure as it rises. The problem is, once it goes above its maximum height, it can no longer reach the ground to pick up stones. Transferring from one crane to another would be one solution however dangerous, but we are already going big by recreating the Great Pyramid, so why not go BIG with our crane? The answer is the 26 million dollar Liebherr LR-13000. It is a mobile crane that can lift well over 900 tons to a height of about 800 feet. This is well over the height required. It was designed to be used in the construction of nuclear reactor buildings. Nuclear power, as we all know, is a very lucrative business, which brings us to our final roadblock. Return on investment. Who would anybody spend so much money on a novelty? Well, the short answer is; nobody, at least nobody with that kind of money. The rich didn’t become rich by pissing away their money on bullshit. If there’s not a casino inside, you can pretty much bet it’s not going to happen. Don’t get me wrong, people have tried to build small pyramids, and ultimately failed, but I seriously doubt that anyone with the resources to seriously take on such a project would waste their money is such a fashion. So, in conclusion, we are in no way inferior to the ancient Egyptians in terms of technology. In fact, I think it’s obvious that we are far ahead. It’s not that we couldn’t recreate the pyramids if we wanted to, the problem is, that we don’t really want to. The project would be absolutely fruitless. Thanks for listening. ;;) Pyramid Blocks pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/geometry/blockans1.html 18 Wheelers thetruckersreport/facts-about-trucks/ answers/Q/How_much_does_a_semi_truck_weigh_with_no_cargo Conex Containers conexcontainers/specs.htm Dock Cranes en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Container_crane Standard Tower Crane science.howstuffworks/transport/engines-equipment/tower-crane2.htm Mega Cranes enr.construction/products/equipment/2012/extras/0925/slideshow.asp?slide=11 https://youtube/watch?v=22O4EbTfEaQ
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 23:31:38 +0000
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