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Wings World Quest Flag Report

 Building a 24-ton Step Pyramid in the Mojave Desert

 

Submitted by:

 Dr. Maureen Clemmons

 

Summary

 

The goal of the expedition was to continue our experiments of using wind and materials available to the ancient Egyptians to build a 24-ton step pyramid. To date, we have demonstrated that using the wind, we can easily transport 2-ton stones on log rollers on horizontal ground. We also demonstrated that by using spherical river rocks, we could position stones tightly into position by using these river rocks as natural ball bearings. Our research is a cumbersome process where we evaluate every step of the procedure. For this next series of experiments, we were interested in designing the most efficient ramp, getting a kite to pull a 2-ton stone up a 45-degree wooden ramp, and ascertain the efficacy of bronze rollers vs. log rollers. For this stage of our research project we were honored with the Wings World Quest Expedition flag, and the generous sponsorship of Mumms Champagne. This year we experienced strange weather in California, as every weekend we planned to be in the field it was either raining … or threatening to rain. This year the unseasonable weather has been the greatest impediment to our research.

 

***NOTE: Field research is tedious, boring, inconvenient, and dirty. Adding Mumms Champagne made it much more bearable. I’ve always been impressed with the French love of the pursuit of science, and the magnificent contribution France has made to every aspect of science. I personally found my Yankee ingenuity, combined with French curiosity and champagne, motivated by WWQ support, made a perfect recipe for research under very arduous conditions.

 

 

 

Prelude to June/July 2006 Wings World Quest Expedition

 

In 1997, I developed a theory that the ancient Egyptians, being sailors, could have harnessed the wind to build their monuments. With a team of colleagues, we first tested this theory by erecting a 3.5-ton obelisk using wind as the motive force. For this feasibility study, we used modern materials, on the premise that if this experiment would not work with modern materials, it would not work with ancient materials. Using a nylon kite, nylon rope, metal plates, steel pulleys, marine rope brake and wooden scaffolding, we erected our 3.5-ton obelisk in 25-seonds of airtime.

Through a process of reverse engineering, we replaced our modern material with material that would have been available to ancient Egyptians. Using log rollers, bronze pulleys with wooden blocks, hemp rope, marble rope brake, and a silk kite (we used silk for a natural fiber as we have lost the way to weave linen as finely as the ancient Egyptians), myself and colleagues Dr. Mory Gharib, Dr. Daniel Correa, Mark Cripe, Emilio Graff and Troy Chaput, erected a 16-ton obelisk in 57 minutes by harnessing the wind. We did this with not one person pushing or pulling, and not one person flying the kite.

 

 

The next challenge was to build a pyramid by harnessing the wind. Initially, we built a 6-ton pyramid comprising two foundation stones and one capstone. Using a nylon kite, a series of pulleys and scaffolding, the wind pulled a 2-ton stone along log rollers, up a ramp, and into position. Although this was successful, we realized our new goal was to build a pyramid without the use of pulleys providing mechanical advantage and without the use of heavy scaffolding as the Egyptians had a limited supply of wood. The last part of the challenge included placing the pyramid stones so close together you could not cram a playing card in between the stone

 

 

We decided to build a 24-ton step pyramid out of twelve 2-ton stone as a learning experience in preparation for a 106-ton true pyramid (scheduled to be built in Tijuana, Mexico in 2007. Team member Mark Cripe, an LA County Sheriff and part time carpenter, stepped to the fore.  Dave Culp and Dean Jordan of Kiteship constructed a silk kite covered with shellac to harness an envelope of air. Twelve 2-ton stones were donated by Prime Building Material, and the land in Rosamond, California was donated by Bill and Sue Edmonton. Our first step demonstrated that a kite made of natural material can pull a 2-ton stone along log rollers on level ground.

 

Now that we could move pyramid stones easily along the ground, the next step involved the precise placement of stones. Daniel Correa of Incablock (he is also an adjunct professor at the University del Sol in Cuernavaca, Mexico) recounted how the ancient Peruvians used spheroidal river rock as natural ball bearings to maneuver stone. New Yorkers used a similar idea when relocating Cleopatra’s Needle to Central Park. They placed their obelisk on cannon balls to negotiate the monument through the city streets. Realizing that the Giza plateau is littered with dolerite, a rock with natural spheroidal weathering, we tried another field experiment. We put a 2-ton stone on spheroidal river rock, and moving the stones 2-dimentionally only two people were needed get two stones so close together we could not cram a playing card between them.

 

The challenge of replacing wooden scaffolding was next. How do you move the pyramid stones in place without the use of heavy scaffolding? This haunted me for days. Then, at four o’clock in the morning, the answer came. I realized that by using rope, simple scaffolding could be made just using rope. When the kite was launched, the rope would become taut. Using this system, the kite could fly within a 180-degree angle and a pyramid stone could simply be pulled into position.

 

As we progressed, the next step was to ascertain the optimum type of ramp. We wanted a ramp that was simple to construct, effective and easy to reuse. We spent a lot of time building various types of ramps, and the friction was severe, especially when using log rollers to facilitate the movement of the stone up a ramp. The goals of our June/July 2006 Wings World Quest expedition were:

  1. Design an optimum ramp
  2. Ascertain if bronze rollers were effective
  3. Using wind, pull a 2-ton stone up a 40-degree ramp
  4. Field test ‘soft scaffolding’, and develop a practical design for the soft scaffolding.

 

 

 

Wings World Quest Expedition: Summer 2006

Saturday, June 24

Edward Harrison Van O’Linda II (the project General Manager) and I met Chuck Taylor in the field (thank you, Granite Construction for the loan of the heavy equipment) and staged the site for Sunday. Using the heavy equipment, we positioned a 2-ton stone on the existing ramp. We solicited Ed Teets of NASA for a wind forecast for the following day. Teets said the optimum winds for Sunday would occur between 2pm to 5pm. The step pyramid is our ‘test’ pyramid. The ancient Egyptians started with step pyramids before they advanced to true pyramids. We decided to follow this protocol in order to learn how to build a step pyramid in order to apply this learning to a subsequent 106-ton true pyramid, tentatively scheduled for construction in Mexico in spring 2007.

 

 

Sunday, June 25

Ed Van O’Linda, Ruth Reid and I arrived at 7:30 in dead calm wind conditions, and set up camp and displayed our Wings World Quest expedition flag. The team convened, and started revising the ramp. In spite of the heavy overcast conditions, optimum winds started at 2:01pm, so Ed Teets' forecast was off by 60 seconds. This ramp would be different from all the others we've tried. In the past we have been severely hindered by friction. We built ramps that had log rollers integrated in the design. This did not work at all. We build ramps using log rollers, resulting in the friction of wood –on-wood. This worked, but required tremendous amounts of energy to perform. Finally, we downgraded our design and constructed a simple wooden ramp of three re-enforced beams. It is the simplest we've ever done, and the severest incline. The majority of the ramp is lashed, not nailed.

 

This took a lot longer than expected. Meanwhile, Dave Culp and Dean Jordan, our kite experts, rigged the 'soft scaffolding". As you can see from the photographs, originally our knots were very rough. The knots would get in the way of the kite flight. So, as we worked, Mark Cripe (an LA County Sheriff who is also an experienced rock climber and construction expert) would simplify and tighten our rigging to make it simple and unobtrusive. While Mark and Mohammad El Tawansy (a mechanical and electrical engineer who volunteered to help) completed the ramp, Dave and Dean worked on practicing how to erect our huge bottle of champagne provided by Mumms. Unfortunately, Ed's wind prediction was perfect. At 5pm, the winds radically diminished. Using the small silk kite, Dave and Dean erected the champagne without breaking the bottle. But, since the winds died, we could not pull our stones

 

 

The wind stopped cold at 5pm, so we were grounded. However, we broke out the tensometer to get reading on the force needed to move the stones using metal rollers. Using Marks concept of using the ancient masons pry bars as rollers instead of log rollers, we placed steel metal rods on the ramp. If this experiment worked with the steel, then our next field endeavor would test bronze rods as part of our reverse engineering process. The best news of the day was that we cut our friction almost in half. The metal bars only required 1,200 pounds to break the static friction, and just 900 pounds to keep the stones in motion, despite the sharp angle of incline of the ramp. This was incredible news.

 

 

Monday, June 26

Ed Teets predicted optimum winds starting between 1pm - 2pm, but he warned the clouds might dampen the wind. We hit the field at 2pm, and rigged the large kite. Again, we placed the metal rollers. The wind danced from 7 to 10 mph. Nothing happened. Then, when we had a gust of a modest 13mph, the 20-ton stone started to roll up the 40-degree ramp. The team was excited. We had another gust of a mere 13mph, and the stone moved again. Wow. We realized that if we can harness a safe 15mph wind, the system will now work. We do not need 20mph wind. This was also our first test of the 'soft scaffolding' on an incline. It worked beautifully. This is a major breakthrough, discovering pyramid building scaffolding can be made of rope and a directional.

 

This is the simplest system we have used for pyramid building, and it worked the best so far. After many attempts using various ramps, we have finally been able to break the static friction on an incline and start to move the stones.

 

We ended the day with Dave and Dean teaching Mark the technique to use the control line, so we can hit the field one last time with the step pyramid.

 

 

 

July 28, 2006

 

Today we expected optimum 15- 20mph winds. We arrived in the field in the morning to ensure everything was correctly staged. While waiting for the wind, we decided to replace ‘steel rollers’ with ‘bronze rollers’ to ascertain what force was needed to break the static friction. Bronze was available to the ancient Egyptians, thus this was an important metric.

We placed a 2-ton stone on the 16mm bronze rollers, attached a tensometer, and realized we only needed 400-lbs of force to break the static friction of bronze rollers on the horizontal. This is incredible. We kept a 2-ton block on the 16mm diameter bronze rods for three hours, and the rods did not deform.

 

 

 

Finally, the winds came up. We launched our kite, and within minutes, it was torn in half by the wind. We were immediately grounded. Grrr. This was frustrating. Subsequently, Culp researched the problem and discovered that the shellac shards will shred silk. Linen, a material employed by the ancient Egyptians, would be much more resistant to this new force of nature we experienced, ‘shellac shredding’.

 

Field work is very arduous, and learning comes in stages. Despite the unseasonable weather which restricted the wind conditions this year, the team accomplished the following during our June/July 2006 field research:

 

  1. Designed viable ‘soft scaffolding’, allowing the kite to fly within 180 degrees
  2. Demonstrated that bronze rollers can dramatically reduce friction and bear the weight of 2-ton stones
  3. Designed a simple, strong, reusable ramp
  4. Realized that pyramid stones could break the static friction in a 13mph wind on a 40-degree ramp
  5. Discovered that silk (a natural fiber) was weakened by shellac shards, and linen would be more viable

 

Our challenges for fall 2006 include:

 

  1. Repair the silk kite for one last pull (wind permitting)
  2. Using the silk kite, pull a 2-ton stone up a 40-degree ramp

 

Once we complete the 24-ton pyramid, the team will take the knowledge gleaned from the step-pyramid and apply that to the construction of a 106-ton pyramid scheduled to be built in Mexico in 2007. We look forward to working with Cethys University and the University del Sol in Mexico in the construction of this pyramid.

 

I would like to thank Wings World Quest for their support and encouragement and to Mumms Champagne for their assistance in offsetting our field expenses. I would also like to thank my research team for their dedication, expertise, and passion for science. These weekend warriors, in addition to full time jobs, have volunteered their time, knowledge and experience, and in so doing, are prying open doors into ancient engineering. Thank you.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Dr. Maureen Clemmons