Episode #084: Pyramids are Hard

This week we had a very special guest(our dad) on the show to regale us with stories about moving and lifting very heavy loads in massive construction projects, the associated headaches and difficulties and, sometimes, outright disasters that can occur when trying to lift object A and place it on point B. His decades of experience allows him to explain very well how complex such operations are, and how much engineering and technology is required to complete them. We compare some of the modern world's most powerful lifting machinery to what would have been required to complete some of the ancient megalithic structures still standing today, and even do some basic math to get the specs for a crane for building the Great Pyramid. Spoiler alert: it would have to have been way bigger than anything we have today.  Brothers of the Serpent Episode 084  Pink AuroraSteel Counterweight Boxes being lowered into the bridge towersBridge span being constructed on land 1400-ton completed bridge span being slowly rolled towards the barge 18-20 axle bridge span transports Bridge rolling onto the barge Ballast pump keeping barge level as bridge weight is added Two ballast pumps working Bridge span almost completely on the barge The next day, 90-ft wide barge carrying 300-ft bridge span to the channel Barge with bridge approaching the bridge towers Completed bridge in the down position for railroad crossing Completed bridge in the up position for channel trafficJapan Imperial Palace walls coming out of canal Parabolic curve of the Imperial walls Relative Size image of Imperial Palace wall corner ashlar blocks Crane sliding a concrete table out of the side of the building UPS docking bay doors, pre-poured, rigged for lifting Lifting a door--note the crane getting "light" on the back track A lifted door