Steve Clayton Wrote:
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> The math I am performing, has to do with single
> and double incline plains, and the amount of
> square footage required of water (1 cubic foot of
> water = 62.43 lbs.) required to lift an average
> stone of 2,500lbs., on both the Pyramid face, as
> well as, the Causeway. The barges required in such
> an endeavor, need to be able to float, and
> displace enough water, to carry a specific load.
> Their widths are in line with a 13-15 feet
> Causeway Platforms. It's the Math that shapes
> everything.
>
> My illustrations are based on specifics. Ropes
> sizes to handle breakage, a time frame placing one
> stone every 1 minute, within 20 years, ect., ect.,
> ect. I do not leave anything up to chance. When
> completed, you should be able to use Sketchup and
> remove any item, measure it, and calculate it for
> realism. That's my idea, as to illustrating and
> explaining...How the Pyramids were built. An in
> depth study.
>
> Now that may bore the hell out of some
> individuals. Though I feel it is necessary, and
> therefore fixated, on getting it right. I am
> happy, when individuals point out the faults in
> my designs. They are in effect, helping to build a
> plausible presentation.
>
> Here, would you like to help me figure out the
> weight required to overcome the friction, of two
> equal loads, on two separate incline plains, ie.
> the Causeway. And, the space required in cubic
> feet of water, to overcome specific stone loads,
> and the size and minimum load breakage of the
> ropes required? Sound like fun? :)
>

I certainly won't be bored by the math and look forward to seeing it. But the size of the boat (in ft ^ 3) is merely the cubed root of the load divided by 64. I believe it was shaped like a grasshopper. The calculations are a little harder to model if the angles are different such as if they used G1a-c to lift stones on the causeway since the angle no longer cancels out and you have to use the sines or (sekeds) to compare the forces. This same applies to the cliff face that was apparently used. As a rule a great deal of the tweaking of any such system is done in practice rather than on paper or papyrus. No matter how careful your calculations or how fine your knowledge there are going to be peculiarities in the real world. Even slight differences in the angles or small temperature and humidity fluctuations can make large differences in terminal velocity or requisite loading. Even if you could get these "perfect" (with modern materials you almost could) operators will not operate them exactly according to spec. Some will prefer stable operation and some more robust. So it becomes necessary to have systems in place to control each aspect of the movements and most especially a pretty good braking system. Undershooting would cause large delays and overshooting can cause massive equipment damage and injury.

I believe you need to adjust your delivery rate somewhat. This is why I figure they mustta moved stones four or five at a time up the pyramid and in several trains to the base and causeway. Specifically they did not work 24/ 7 all year round. No construction ever occurred at night and pyramid building season was not over 8 months. Stones couldn't even be floated across the river beyond mid-February or so. I doubt they had much if any water off-season anyway. I also doubt they worked longer than 9 or 10 hour days. It was hard work tending all this equipment not to mention quarrying and it's far easier to just knock off after the men get tired. Getting time to rest makes them readier the next morning. The workers village was just simply tiny. They didn't have accommodations to house large numbers of spell men, injured, and sick workers. Very few men, women, and children built these so each had to function at near peak efficiency. This picture of leek eating stone draggers just never happened. It's obvious people wanted to work on the pyramid and if they were starving, beaten, or forced to working grueling hours in the desert heat most would be awol. It was an honor to work on these projects not a death sentence. But this means stones were needed much faster. They probably needed to move about 22 stones/ per hour up the pyramid but this was done in steps apparently so one stone might have needed to be lifted as many as 6 times. Then they also needed to first move these from the quarry to the base and there were always boats at the port that needed to be unloaded of casing stones and supplies. Calculating this "rate" gets tricky because it's really many different rates on different cycles. There were always stones in movement and it would astound onlookers that many just seemed to fly about like swallows under the riverbank and some a "bowshot (300') at a time". You could see much of the work from the east side near the "boat pit". This region was a beehive of activity.

"Ropes" are interesting. Ultimately they did nothing but transmit forces but, of course, building and operating them required a great deal of expertise and learning. I believe the largest diameter ancient rope known was about 4 1/2 inches but this would be insufficient for most of my designs. Building heavier ropes would have been easy enough. This would be sufficient for your proposals but you need more capacity to to move all the stones to get the job done in 30 years.