The Biggest International Arts Project in History
Logistical & Technical Outline
- Type of Structure
- Construction
- Construction Methods
- Advantages
- Stone Blocks
- Transport
- Steps to the summit of the monument
1. Type of structure.
The monument has been designed in the style of a Peruvian stepped pyramid.
1.1.
The material to be used for the construction will be of suitable local sandstone. The sandstone when chosen will be treated with an absorbent synthetic material to protect the stone from erosion.
Return to Top
2. Construction
There are 2 methods that may be used in the construction of the monument.
Method (A):
This being of one solid mass, i.e. the outer skin being of sandstone blocks withthe inner core being made up of sandstone rubble and concrete.
This is a time consuming method because thousands of tonnes of crushed stone and concrete would have to be used.
This method of construction would involve many more stone blocks to be quarried and thousands of tonnes of sandstone rubble which would entail the quarries setting their crushing machines to crush the waste stone into penning sizes i.e. from between 50 - 100 millimetres.
This rubble would then have to be transported to site where a conveyor system would be used to move the rubble up to and into the core ready for the concrete over layer.
The in-fill would be like a sandwich i.e. rubble which would have to be compressed then concrete to stabilise it, then rubble, then concrete etc. This will involve a lot of manpower and machinery.
Return to Top
2.1.
As a solid mass construction project, it would mean that a total mass of 17,997m2 will be required and that is for the monument itself and does not include the terraces and fountain areas. Other buildings will also be required for the tourist industry.
Approximately 5,999.087m2 would be of stone blocks, the rest being the rubble and concrete for the centre core i.e. in-fill. That would amount to 1,998.175m2 nearly 1200 cubic meters.
This is an awful lot of rubble and concrete. The rubble and concrete should be of equal amount, that being the case then we would require approximately
1. 300 twenty tonne loads of graded rubble or
2. 600 ten tonne loads.
Concrete
We will require approximately the same amount in cubic meters of concrete. The maximum amount that concrete hauler carry is 6m2 so we would require 999.84 deliveries of 6m2 loads. This is a lot of concrete and very expensive.
There is a possibility of setting up a concrete batching plant on site then pumping the concrete into the core. The operation of hauling rubble and concrete then pumping the concrete and using a conveyor system is both messy and time consuming, furthermore, it is extremely expensive.
Return to Top
3. Construction methods
Method (B)
This construction method is much easier, more cost effective, cleaner and of course quicker. It would consist of an extremely strong stepped pyramid steel frame supported by steel and concrete pillars. The stone blocks will then be laid upon the steel structure and cemented into place.
3.1.
The construction period should be decreased by at least 25% and the cost in savings by at least that much.
Return to Top
4. Advantages
Being that this method would offer us an enormous chamber within the monument where all of the necessary utilities can be housed i.e. water, power etc. Furthermore, it can be used for storage of stone blocks that may be needed if any of the monuments stone blocks are damaged or defaced, and all of the maintenance equipment and/or machinery can be stored.
This type of construction will keep the transportation costs down to a minimum and enable us to carry out essential repairs when the utilities break down.
Return to Top
5. Stone blocks
(as required for the Stone and Steel construction method)
5.1.
Stone block dimensions are 1.5m2 x 1.5m2 cubic measurement @ 2.25 cubic meters. Weight: approximately 3 metric tonnes.
5.2.
We require 210 blocks of 1.5m2 x 1.5m2 dressed to a smooth finish or five sides. We have all approximately 14 spare blocks to be stored within the monuments central chamber. These may be necessary if a future date the blocks to the monument need replacing due to damage or defacing.
5.3
The blocks required are to be used for the relief carvings.
5.4.
The rest of the stone blocks would have a textured face with the top of the blocks having a non-slip scabbled finish.
We will require approximately 1116 further stone blocks with the top side being a non-slip surface i.e. scabbled.
Return to Top
6. Transport
A low loader transporter can carry weights of 50 tonnes or more, so if they are available then it may be possible to carry 10 or blocks at any one time. This would require 111.6 deliveries. If they do not have this capability then it would be proportionate to the weight that their transporters could carry.
Return to Top
7. Steps to the summit of the monument
The length of each step is equal to 5 block widths so the length is 7.5 linear meters. These steps should be made up of 4 separate sections, each section being 1.875 centimetres long. The thickness being the riser height should be 12.5 centimetres and the tread width approximately 240 millimetres.
There are 8 steps to each level on all 4 sides so the equation is 4 sections per step x 8 steps x 7 levels = 224 sections per side x 4 = 896 units required.
The steps required for the opposite sides are equal to 560 linear meters. Broken down into units of 1.875 centimetres long we would require a further 298 sections.
Together we require a total of 1185 units.
Each step is equal to approximately 17% of 1 tonne. As there are 1185 divided by 17% we would require approximately 70 tonnes of stone steps.
The transport of the steps would take either 2 loads of 35 tonnes or 7 deliveries of 10 tonne loads.
The manufacture of the steps will be quite easily carried out as a sawn surface is all we require except the nose or the leading edge which has to have a slightly rounded edge so as not to chip or break the edge.
Return to Top
