Transporting Concrete Slabs Didn’t Stop The Egyptians

Before transport trucks, conveyor belts, and cranes were built, the transportation of concrete slabs was quite a difficult task. But ingenuity was in the forefront for Egyptian engineers.

The concrete slabs themselves, mostly formed from limestone and originating from limestone quarries, were huge and heavy, and required an inordinate amount of workers to get them from point a to point b. Unthinkable manpower was administered, and the time it took to transport the slabs from the quarries to the construction sites was long and arduous.

Concrete Slab

Transportation methods included dragging the stone on a sled, sometimes taking as many as 80-100 men to do so, and rolling the stones with a cradle-like device. Four of the objects were arranged around the concrete slabs so they could be moved fairly easily (although both methods were extremely laborious and slow, the cradle device only covering 18 meters per minute with a 3-ton slab).

When it came time to transport the concrete slabs onto the partially built pyramid constructions, ingenuity showed some advancement. Wooden levers made from logs were used to boost the slabs from one level to the next, forming the structure from the top down. Ramps were constructed from sand, salt, and other minerals for the same function.

There is a theory however, that the concrete slabs used to construct the pyramids were not made of carved stone but a soft clay-like material packed into wooden molds and set like cement. The clay was made from evaporated pools with dissolved limestone. This theory no doubt would have aided in transportation factors.

Either way, Egyptians conquered huge concrete slabs with engineering and ingenuity.