There are massive building feats in human history like The Great Pyramids of Giza, the Great Wall of China, the Panama Canal, the Burj Khalifa, and the International Space Station. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest of the Egyptian pyramid and the most famous landmark of the Giza pyramid complex in Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only wonder that has remained largely intact. The Great Pyramid served as the tomb of Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu ("Cheops"), who ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. It was built c. 2600 B.C. over a period of about 26 years. Researchers don't know every detail on how the structure was completed, but archaeologists know a lot about how the Great Pyramids including the Great Pyramid was built. First, the ancient Egyptians had to plan and survey the areas. The Egyptians first chose a solid limestone plateau and carefully leveled the site. They aligned the pyramid almost perfectly with the cardinal directions (north, south, east, and west), probably using observations of stars and the Sun. Later, the ancient Egyptians had to quarry the stone. Most of the roughly 2.3 million limestone blocks were quarried close to the pyramid site. The local limestone formed most of the pyramid. There were higher quality white limestone casing stones from Tura. The granite for the King's Chamber came from Aswan, which is about 500 miles away. The workers used copper chisels, stone hammers, wooden wedges, and other simple tools to complete the work. Workers used wooden sledges to transport the blocks. The works wetted the sand in front of the sledges, reducing friction and making heavy loads easier to move. Some used boats on the Nile during annual floods to bring stones close to the construction site. One large mystery is about raising the stones. Several ramp designs have been proposed like a straight ram (A long earthen ramp leading up one side. Simple in concept but would have required enormous amounts of material), zigzag ramp: ramps climbing along one face), spiral ramp (a ramp wrapping around the pyramid), and internal ramp (One hypothesis suggests ramps built inside the pyramid as construction progressed). Many archaeologists think a combination of different ramp types was probably used. To build the blocks, workers laid blocks in horizontal courses, checking alignment constantly. As the pyramid grew taller, ramps were extended or modified. Once the structure was finished, the smooth white limestone casing stones were installed. A polished pyramidion (capstone) was placed at the top. Much of the casing was later removed over the centuries for reuse in other buildings. The Great Pyramids were built by largely of paid or otherwise skilled laborers and seasonal workers who were fed and housed by the state. Archaeologists found workers' villages, bakeries, medical facilities, and cemeteries for the laborers. Researchers estimate that about 20,000 to 30,000 workers may have been involved during peak construction. Construction of the Great Pyramid likely took about 20-30 years. To this day, we have no definitive answer to the exact design of the ramp system, the precise sequence used for lifting blocks to the highest levels, and some details of the workforce organization. Even so, there is broad agreement that the pyramids were built using human labor, careful engineering, simple machines (such as sledges, levers, and ramps), and exceptional planning.
Initially standing at 146.6 meters (481 feet), the Great Pyramid was the world's tallest human-made structure for more than 3,700 years. Over time, most of the smooth white limestone casing was removed, which lowered the pyramid's height to the current 138.5 meters (454.4 ft); what is seen today is the underlying core structure. Each side of the base was measured to be about 230.3 meters (755.6 ft) in length, giving a volume of roughly 2.6 million cubic meters (92 million cubic feet), which includes an internal hillock. The dimensions of the pyramid were 280 royal cubits (146.7 m; 481.4 ft) high, a base length of 440 cubits (230.6 m; 756.4 ft), with a seked of 5+1.
The Great Pyramid was built by quarrying an estimated 2.3 million large blocks, weighing 6 million tonnes in total. The majority of the stones are not uniform in size or shape, and are only roughly dressed. The outside layers were bound together by mortar, primarily local limestone from the Giza Plateau was used for its construction. Other blocks were imported by boat on the Nile: white limestone from Tura for the casing, and blocks of granite from Aswan, weighing up to 80 tonnes, for the "King's Chamber" structure. There are three known chambers inside of the Great Pyramid. The lowest was cut into the bedrock, upon which the pyramid was built, but remained unfinished. The so-called Queen's Chamber and King's Chamber, which contain a granite sarcophagus, are above ground within the pyramid structure. Hemiunu, Khufu's vizier, is believed by some to be the architect of the Great Pyramid. Many varying scientific and alternative hypotheses attempt to explain the exact construction techniques, but, as is the case for other such structures, there is no definite consensus. The funerary complex around the pyramid consisted of two mortuary temples connected by a causeway (one close to the pyramid and one near the Nile); tombs for the immediate family and court of Khufu, including three smaller pyramids for Khufu's wives; an even smaller "satellite pyramid"; and five buried solar barques. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Memphis and its Necropolis." The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications in China. They were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic groups from the Eurasian Steppe. The first walls date to the 7th century BC; these were joined together in the Qin dynasty. Successive dynasties expanded the wall system; the best-known sections were built by the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). To aid in defense, the Great Wall utilized watchtowers, troop barracks, garrison stations, signaling capabilities through the means of smoke or fire, and its status as a transportation corridor. Other purposes of the Great Wall have included border controls (allowing control of immigration and emigration, and the imposition of duties on goods transported along the Silk Road), and the regulation of trade. The collective fortifications constituting the Great Wall stretch from Liaodong in the east to Lop Lake in the west, and from the present-day Sino-Russian border in the north to Tao River in the south: an arc that roughly delineates the edge of the Mongolian steppe, spanning 21,196.18 km (13,170.70 mi) in total. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and was voted one of the New 7 Wonders of the World in 2007. Today, the defensive system of the Great Wall is recognized as one of the most impressive architectural feats in history. The Great Wall of China was created to defend against invasions from northern nomadic groups, guard trade routes, control border crossings, collect taxes, send military signals quickly using smoke by day and fire by night. It is one of the largest projects in human history. The Great Wall of China was created by using layers made up of sand, loess etc. Many layers were made up of brick too. Many people used ropes, wheel barrows, and basket and pulley systems to construct the Great Wall. The Panama Canal helped to connect the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a conduit for maritime trade between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Locks at each end lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial fresh water lake 26 meters (85 ft) above sea level, created by damming the Chagres River and Lake Alajuela to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal. Locks then lower the ships at the other end. The original locks are 33.5 meters (110 ft) wide and allow the passage of Panamax ships. A third, wider lane of locks was constructed between September 2007 and May 2016. The expanded waterway began commercial operation on 26 June 2016. The new locks allow for the transit of larger, Neopanamax ships. An average of 200,000,000 litres (52 million US gallons) of fresh water is used in a single passing of a ship. The canal is threatened by low water levels during droughts.
The Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduces the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage, the Strait of Magellan or the Beagle Channel. Its construction was one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken. Since its inauguration on August 15, 1914, the canal has succeeded in shortening maritime communication in time and distance, invigorating maritime and economic transportation by providing a short and relatively inexpensive transit route between the two oceans, decisively influencing global trade patterns, boosting economic growth in developed and developing countries, as well as providing the basic impetus for economic expansion in many remote regions of the world. It has 3 locks up and 3 locks down per transit. It was opened in 1914 and expanded by June 26, 2016. The Panama Candal Authority has navigational authority. Before the Panama Canal, many ships went under South America to trade in Asia. That changed.
Colombia, France, and later the United States controlled the territory surrounding the canal during construction. France began work on the canal in 1881, but stopped in 1889 because of a lack of investors' confidence due to engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate. The US took over the project in 1904 and opened the canal in 1914. The US continued to control the canal and the surrounding Panama Canal Zone until the Torrijos–Carter Treaties provided for its handover to Panama in 1977. After a period of joint American–Panamanian control, the Panamanian government took control in 1999. It is now managed and operated by the Panamanian government-owned Panama Canal Authority. Annual traffic has risen from about 1,000 ships in 1914, when the canal opened, to 14,702 vessels in 2008, for a total of 333.7 million Panama Canal/Universal Measurement System (PC/UMS) tons. By 2012, more than 815,000 vessels had passed through the canal. In that year, the top five users of the canal were the United States, China, Chile, Japan, and South Korea. In 2017, it took ships an average of 11.38 hours to pass between the canal's two outer locks. The American Society of Civil Engineers has ranked the Panama Canal one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.
With the news about tariffs and the Iranian war, we realize the huge value of ports in the world. A port is a place on the coast or a river where ships dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. A terminal in a port is a specialized, dedicated facility where ships dock and load and unload cargo or passengers. Terminals deal with berthing, loading and unloading, storage, sorting, and intermodal transfer (or connecting ocean transport to land transport like trucks, cars, and trains). There are container terminals, bulk terminals, Ro-Ro (roll-on/roll-off) terminals (that cater to cars, trucks, and railway carriages that drive directly onto the vessel), and passenger or cruise terminals (that serve travelers boarding ferries or cruise ships). The largest ports in America are found in Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York City, and New Jersey. They deal with massive TEUs (or container volume). The largest ports on Earth are found in Shanghai, Singapore, and other places in China. Port engineering is a specialized branch of civil and marine engineering that deals with planning, design, construction, and maintenance of ports, harbors, wharves, and marine terminal facilities. It manages both waterside structures (like dredging, breakwaters, and docks), and landside infrastructure (like cargo yards, rail connections, and storage). Waterside design relates to building piers, wharves, quay walls, and mooring dolphins that safely handle large ship berthing forces. We know about coastal hydraulics that manage wave action, tidal motions, sediment transport, and channel dredging to maintain safe water depths. We have intermodal integration and design efficient landside connections for freight rail, trucking routes, and automated container handling equipment. There are port engineers using vessel maintenance that oversees the mechanical operations, repairs, and regulatory compliance for commercial marine fleets or barges. A port engineer manages the mechanical safety, maintenance, and repair of a fleet of ships. They fix broken parts, plan dry dock work in shipyards, handle budgets, and make sure that vessels follow Coast Guard and environmental laws.
Engineering is the spice of life. We all remember back in the day, when he had to use CAD and other programs in engineering classes in high school and some did it in college too. CAD helped me in high school to create digital 2D and 3D technical drawings for engineering, architecture, and manufacturing. I took those high school classes back in 2000. There are always engineering formulas that are necessary to not only plan on constructing homes and other mechanical items. They are needed to learn about the functions of reality as mathematics is one major foundation needed to figure out how the Universe functions. Some formulas are basic like the volume of a cube being a side to the third power, and the surface area of a cube is 6 times a side squared. The volume of a cylinder is pi times the radius 2 times height (or h). There are tons of other formulas too. 1 atm of pressure is equal to 33.9 ft. of H2O), 220.02 in. of HG, and 14.7 psi. 1 J of energy is equal to 0.239 cal. There are units that engineers follow. Ten to the power of one is prefixed as deca-, to the power of 2 is hecto-, and 10 the power of 24 is Yotta-. There are fluid mechanics formulas like P (absolute pressure) is equal to F/A. F is force and A is area. Charles' Law is V1/T1 is equal to V2/T2. That means that V stands for volume and T stands for absolute temperature. In other words, Charles's Law is a gas law stating that the volume of a fixed mass of gas is directly proportional to its absolute temperature, provided the pressure remains constant. As a gas heats up, it expands, as it cools, it shrinks. 1 in the equation means the initial volume and temperature, and 2 stands for the final volume and temperature. The temperature must always be measured in Kelvin (add 273.15 to Celsius, not Fahrenheit or Celsius). The pressure and the amount of gas in moles (n) must always stay the same. This is related to hot air ballons, sports balls, and breaking bread.
Learning about infrastructure is key to learn about ourselves. Our body is like a biochemical infrastructure filled with cells and organs necessary for human survival. We have various building and other forms of infrastructure that develops our civilization. For example, there are external and internal parts of a building. The external part of a building has a roof, the lintel, window, the door, the sill, the wall, the water supply the drainage, the DPC, the plinth, and the foundation. Inside of a building, you have the floor, columns, floors, the plinth beam, interior walls, outlets, ceilings, and various rooms. Therefore, buildings are made up of a substructure (below ground) and a superstructure (above ground). Essential structural parts include foundations, columns, beams, walls, floor, and roofs. They rely on core construction materials like concrete, steel, wood, masonry, and glass. Many people use structural steel, dimensional lumber, plywood, oriented strand board (OSB), and masonry. There are materials used like drywall (gypsum board), glass, brick veneer, vinyl siding, stucco, paint, and insulation. We know that zoning and inspections are necessary before a building is officially established in the world. Infrastructure can relate to water systems, transportation, healthcare, government, IT, and cloud services. We use infrastructure all of the time in growing our power grids and making sure that STEM is flourishing in our society too. It is certainly our responsibility to defend the general welfare, stand up for the oppressed and marginalized, and speak truth to power (in favor of equality and justice for all).
There is the story of my late cousin John Calvin Claude Sr. who lived from February 1, 1946, to July 12, 2024. He lived to be 78 years old. He was a husband, father, grandfather, brother, cousin, and friend. He believed in God and loved his Christian faith. His parents were Amos C. Claude and Minnie C. Clark Claude in Boykins, Vriginia. He worked hard with his father on the farm. His education started in the Southampton County schools system in Virginia and into the Northampton County school system in Seaboard, North Carolina, where he attended Coates Elementary and Gumberry High School. He married Garnet Mae Stewart Claude and moved to Portsmouth, Virginia. He worked for the Norfolk Tunnel Commission, Hall Bakery on High Street in downtown Portsmouth and Sunbearn/Flowers Bakery in Norfolk, VA for many years until retirement. He worshiped God at Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Boykins, Virginia, Galilee Missionary Baptist Church (in Branchville, VA), and Bethlethem Missionary Baptist Church (in Seaboard, North Caroina). He rededicated his life to the Lord and joined the Garden of Prayer of Portsmouth, Virginia, under the pastorate of Levi E. Willis. He preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ everywhere and was licensed to preached. He loved to dance, do baseball, and word usage. His wife, Garnett Maw Stewart Claude, passed away on August 17, 2023. They were married for over 50 years. His sister, Ella Mabel Claude Artis passed away too, and she lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. John Calvin Sr.'s children are John Calvin Claude Jr. of Portsmouth, Virignia and Michael Claude (Lynette) of Norfolk, Virginia. His granddaughters are Pashe' Murphy of Portsmouth, Vrginia, and Tavonia Watson (Darryl) of Virginia Beach, Virginia. Her great grandddaughters are Kodi Murphy (of Portsmouth, Virginia), Indigo Harvey, and Gia Harvey (Indo and Gia are from Virginia Beach, Virginia). His grandsons are John Calvin Claude Jr. III of Portsmouth, Virginia, Alonzo Lassiter of Portsmouth, Andre Lassister of Portsmouth, Dion Lassister of Portsmouth, Michael Claude Jr. of Boston, Udarrin and Willow Harvey of Virginia Beach, Emmanuel Harvey of Chattanooga, Tennessee, Jeremiah and Madelyn Harvey of Killeeen, Texas, and Elijah Harvey of Norfolk, Virignia. His great grandson is Levery Garnet Watson of Virginia Beach. His siblings are Celestine Parker (her husband Lloyd passed away) of Portsmouth, Matthew L. Claude (Helen passed) from Seaboard, North Carolina, William E. Claude (Delores) of Sylvania Georgia, Gracie M. Claude of Philadelphia, Alvin L. Claude (Eva) of Suwanee, Georgia, Shelwood R. Claude (Cynthia) of Richmond Virginia, Cardell Claude of Portsmouth, Virgini, and June C. Anderson (her husband is James) is from Richmond, Virginia. He has more nieces, nephews, relatives, and friends.
By Timothy
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