The Great Pyramid of Giza – An Architectural Wonder

The Conco Companies have been busy working on modern day wonders such as when we set the world record for the largest continuous mat pour on the new Wilshire Grand in L.A.  The building is slated to become the tallest building west of the Mississippi.   To reach the upper levels of the tower, we are using a new state-of-the art electric pump to pump concrete 400 ft. horizontally and then 1,000 ft.   Another large project we are working on is the Salesforce Tower in downtown San Francisco, which will become the second tallest building in the western U.S. 

Today modern architecture is still influenced by what is known as the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  Of these man-made structures, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse of Alexandria and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus were destroyed in earthquakes.  The Temple of Artemis and the Statue of Zeus were deliberately destroyed and the location of the Hanging Gardens is unknown or may not have really ever existed.  This brings us to the Great Pyramid of Giza, which is not only the oldest of the Seven Wonders but is the only one mainly intact.  It was the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years until the 520 ft. spire of the Lincoln Cathedral was completed in the 1300’s.

The Great Pyramid was built using an estimated 5.5 million tons of limestone, 8,000 tons of granite and 500,000 tons of mortar.  The surface of the pyramid consisted of casing stones, which are slant-faced, flat topped blocks.  They were made of Tura limestone and brought across the Nile River.  Most of the casing stones were loosened in an earthquake in the 1300’s and were later used to build mosques and fortresses in Cairo.  The huge granite stones in the “King’s” chamber were transported from Aswan, 500 miles away, and weighed 25 to 80 tons a piece. 

Built sometime around 2584–2561 BC, there has been much speculation throughout the years of how the Great Pyramid was built.  While the Greeks thought slave labor was used, modern studies point to tens of thousands of skilled workers doing the job.  In a study conducted by Mark Lehner and other Egyptologists, they estimate that the construction of the pyramid took around 10 years and required “an average workforce of 14, 567 people and a peak workforce of 40,000. 

The Conco Companies are one of the leading concrete contractors in the Western U.S. and offer a wide range of quality services and products.  Our extensive experience includes commercial, educational, parking and other construction development as well as public works projects.  We currently serve California, Washington State, Oregon, Colorado and Nevada.

 Source:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pyramid_of_Giza