sp06 - work like an egyptian

8/6/2019 SP06 - Work Like an Egyptian

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Work Like an EgyptianWalter A. Viali, PMPPrincipal Consultant

PMO To Go LLC, Houston, Texas, USA


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Agenda

Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall (DMJM)

and Program Management

The Evolution of the Pyramids in Egypt

Napoleon and the Egyptian Campaign

Program Management B.C.

Reengineering the Pyramids of Giza Accordingto DMJM

In Conclusion


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Program/Project Management and the Pyramids

Inspired by a reengineering study conducted byDaniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall (DMJM), acompany with headquarters in Los Angeles, which

provides services in the areas of architecture,construction management, and engineering.

Reinforced by an awesome and mesmerizing visit tothe Giza Pyramids in November 2006.

Dedicated to my wife Giulia, who dragged me all theway to Egypt to see the Pyramids at Giza!


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The Pyramids of Giza

The pyramids of Menkaure's three queens in front of the pyramids of

Menkaure, Khafre and Khufu.

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An Astounding Achievement!The logistics of construction at the Giza site arestaggering when you think that the ancient Egyptianshad no pulleys, no wheels, and no iron tools. Yet, thedimensions of the pyramid are extremely accurate andthe site was leveled within a fraction of an inch overthe entire 13.1-acre (5.3 hectares) base

. This iscomparable to the accuracy possible with modernconstruction methods and laser leveling. That'sastounding. With their `rudimentary tools,' thepyramid builders of ancient Egypt were about as

accurate as we are today with 20th centurytechnology!

Craig B. Smith, P.E., Ph.D.,

Chief Operating Officer

Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall (DMJM)

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Who Done It?

Aliens from outer space ?

People from the lost continent of Atlantis ?

Thousands and thousands of slaves ? A whole bunch of Egyptians ?

And the correct answer is:

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Who Done It?

A whole bunch of Egyptians!

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For the Geographically

Challenged..


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http://www.touregypt.net/


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Whats the Big Deal

with the Giza Pyramid?

Volume is 30 times greater than New Yorks Empire State Building

Could contain the entire St. Peters Cathedral in Rome

Existing blocks could be used to build an 8-lane highway betweenNew York and San Francisco

Great Pyramid facts Original height of 145.75 meters times 1 Million is equal to the distance

between the Earth and the Sun

Height coincides with the average height above sea level of the Earthscontinents

Weight of 5.2 Million Tons times 1 Billion is equal to the weight of the Earth Internal temperature is equal to the average temperature of the Earth and

varies as the temperature of the Earth changes over time

Sides of the Great Pyramid are not linear, but slightly convex and the degreeof curvature is equal to that of the Earth


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From One Mystical and Mysterious Myth.. 15


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to another

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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b2/View_from_Cairo_Tower_31march2007.jpg


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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b2/View_from_Cairo_Tower_31march2007.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b2/View_from_Cairo_Tower_31march2007.jpg


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Sound and Light Show at Giza

"You have come tonight to the most fabulous

and celebrated place in the world. Here on the

Plateau of Giza stands forever the mightiest of

human achievements. No traveler, emperor,

merchant or poet has trodden on these sands

and not gasped in awe."

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The Great Pyramid at Giza

For centuries mankind haswondered how the earlyEgyptians were able toaccurately level the site,

position enormous blocksof limestone and granite,some weighing as much as20 tons, and thenconstruct the immense

structure with greatprecision in terms of bothits dimensions andorientation.

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Giza and Project Management

There are other great feats of antiquity which areforerunners of todays project management practices.Building the pyramids comes immediately to mind. TheGreat Pyramid in Egypt was built around 2500 BC. Ittook about two decades and somewhere between20,000 and 100,000 laborers to erect. Stone was cutwith crude hand tools, transported without wheeledvehicles, and put into place without lifting machinery.This masterpiece of technical skill and engineering

ability remains perhaps the most colossal singlebuilding ever erected on the planet. No taller buildingwas built until the 19th century. (EncyclopediaBritannica)

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The pyramids are the last wonder of the ancient

world - the only ones that haven't been destroyed

by time. 25


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The Seven Wonders of the World Pyramids of Egypt, oldest of all the ancient wonders and the only one still

standing. The largest, the Great Pyramid, is a marvel of building skill,

containing more than 2 million stone blocks that average 5,000 pounds

each.

Hanging Gardens of Babylon near modern Baghdad, Iraq. No positive trace of the gardens

remains, but scholars know about them from an account by a Babylonian priest of the 200s B.C.

Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the largest and most complicated temples built in ancient

times.

Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Greece; perhaps the most famous statue in the ancient world.

Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, in what is now southwestern Turkey, was a huge marble building

built as a tomb for Mausolus, an official of the Persian empire. Its size and decorations made it so

famous that all large tombs are now called mausoleums.

Colossus of Rhodes, a huge bronze statue that stood near the harbor of Rhodes on the Aegean

Sea. In 224 B.C., the statue was destroyed by an earthquake.

Lighthouse of Alexandria stood on the island of Pharos in the harbor of Alexandria, Egypt. It

became so famous that the word "pharos" came to mean lighthouse.

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Step Pyramid of Djoser, Saqqara

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Bent Pyramid of Snefru at Dashur

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Pyramid of Khufu at Giza

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King Khufus Ship

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Egyptian Chronology Predynastic Period (Prior to 3100 BC) Protodynastic Period (Approximately 3100 - 3000

BC)

Early Dynastic Period (1st2nd Dynasties)

Old Kingdom (3rd6th Dynasties) First Intermediate Period (7th11th Dynasties) Middle Kingdom (12th13th Dynasties) Second Intermediate Period (14th17th

Dynasties)

New Kingdom (18th20th Dynasties) Third Intermediate Period (21st25th Dynasties)

also known as the Libyan Period

Late Period (26th31st Dynasties)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Pharaoh.svg


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~2,600B.C.

~2,680B.C.

~2,550B.C.

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http://www.culturefocus.com/pyramids-3.htmhttp://www.culturefocus.com/pyramids-3.htm


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The Pyramids -100 Years Ago

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"From atop these pyramids, forty centuries look down upon you."

-- Napoleon Bonaparte to his soldiers before the Battle of Giza, 1798

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N l D f


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Napoleon Defeats

the Mameluks

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Nelson Destroys

the French Fleet
http://www.exn.ca/news/images/19990816-BattleoftheNilebig.jpg


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The Rosetta Stone

Hieroglyphics

Old Egyptian

Script

Ancient Greek

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Why the Pyramids?

The people of ancient Egypt believed that

death on Earth was the start of a journey

to the next world.

The embalmed body of the king was

entombed underneath or within the

pyramid to protect it and allow his

transformation and ascension to theafterlife, and a place among the gods.

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DMJM and the Pyramids

Program management is the science andpractice of managing large private andpublic projects. Daniel, Mann, Johnson &Mendenhall (DMJM) functions as theprogram manager for projects around the

globe, managing large, complex programsfor clients in both the public and privatesectors.

The logistical issues, making certaineverything comes together at the right

time, in the right quantity, with the rightquality, are among the greatest challengesof these projects and become the majorpreoccupation of the program manager.

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DMJM and the Pyramids

To clearly illustrate the complexactivities undertaken by aprogram manager in today'senvironment, DMJM sought acompelling example that wouldbe familiar to most people.

Someone commented, "If youthink managing today's projectsis complex, try building the

Great Pyramid!" And thus, theproject Program/ConstructionManagement in 2550 B.C.,Building the Great Pyramid atGiza was born.

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The Great Pyramid at Giza

Originally 481 ft (147 m)high, the top 30 ft (9 m)have been lost to the

ravages of time, the

Great Pyramid rests on a

base that covers an area

of 13.1 acres,

incorporates 3.4 million

cubic yards (2.6 million

m3

) of material, and isroughly two-thirds the

size of Hoover Dam.

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Reengineering the Pyramids

The project entailed the staging of

a remarkable construction

undertaking that required the

marshaling ofvast amounts of

materials from all over theEgyptian kingdom

This involved the feeding, housing,

and payment of thousands of

workers, as well as the schedulingof the work for timely completion

i.e. prior to the death of the

Pharaoh

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Craig B. Smith, P.E., Ph.D.,Chief Operating Officer ofDaniel, Mann, Johnson &

Mendenhall (DMJM) in LosAngeles, explained thisreengineering project in thetelevision special "TheGreat Builders of Egypt,"

which aired on the Arts &Entertainment channel in1999.

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Working closely with leadingEgyptologists in both Egypt and theUnited States, most notably, MarkLehner, an Egyptologist with theHarvard Semitic Museum, a team ofconstruction managers with the

international architectural,engineering, and constructionmanagement firm Daniel, Mann,Johnson, & Mendenhall (DMJM)performed a forensic analysis todetermine the construction

methods and constructionmanagement techniques that wereemployed by the ancient Egyptiansin constructing the Great Pyramid.

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By applying modern programmanagement and constructionmanagement methods, the

project team developed anumber of interesting insightsinto centuries-old mysteriesconcerning the size of theworkforce, the duration ofconstruction, and the design ofthe construction ramp.

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Canopic Jars


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Initially, the goal of DMJM wassimply to identify the majorsteps that a hypotheticalprogram manager would haveundertaken to construct theGreat Pyramid at Giza.

DMJM asked the team ofconstruction managers tovisualize the work that would be

required so that logic diagrams,schedules, and other tools ofthe program manager could becreated.

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but as the projectunfolded a strange

transformation took

place: members of theteam became

absorbed by the

challenge. How would

DMJM build the GreatPyramid?

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http://www.culturefocus.com/pyramids-5.htm


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Engineering, mathematics, andscience disciplines, necessary toexecute large constructionprojects, were well established

in ancient Egypt. The Egyptians could predict the

flooding of the Nile, identifymajor stars and the position of

the stellar bodies with someaccuracy, and calculate areasand volumes of structures ascomplex as the pyramids.

Anubis god of

healers and embalmers.

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In addition to having asystem of written

records, the Egyptians

used many basic toolsmade of copper,

including saws, chisels,

hammers, and drills,

and understood theprinciples of the lever

and the inclined ramp.

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The Great Pyramid

Also known as the Great Pyramidof Khufu (Khufu reigned from2551 to 2528 B.C.).

It was constructed during the

fourth dynasty, about 2,550 yearsbefore the birth of Christ, and isthe best known and largest of the80 pyramids discovered along thewest bank of the Nile.

For more than 4,000 years, it wasthe largest man-made structure inthe world.

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The logistics involved in theconstruction of this pyramid arestaggering when one considersthat the ancient Egyptians hadno pulleys, no wheels, and no

iron tools. Large blocks of limestone and

granite, some weighing asmuch as 20 tons, had to be cutat quarries and transported by

boat across or down the NileRiver.

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Summer 2/21-6/21

Inundation 6/21-10/21

Emergence 10/21-2/21


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All of the interior rock was carvedon the Giza plateau, but thelimestone used on the exteriorfacing of the pyramid came fromTura, which was situated across theNile.

Blocks oflimestone weighinganywhere from 2.5 to 6 tons madeup the bulk of the structure.

Estimates indicate that more than2 million such blocks were used.

Most of these were cut from aquarry at Giza, while heavier blocksofgranite from Aswan were usedto construct the Kings Chamber.

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Egyptian workmen perfected thetechnique of cutting holes instone faces with hand-drivendrills. Wedges were then insertedinto the holes, and slabs of stonewere broken loose by pounding on

the wedges with mallets. The slabswere subsequently dressed downto finished dimensions.

The final dimensions of thesestones were extremely accurate on

the exterior faces of the pyramid,as thejoints were made withinfractions of an inch, in some casessubstantially less than 1/8 in. (3mm).

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The pyramid was oriented with its majorsides either north-south or east-west. This in

itself was a remarkable undertaking, given the

accuracy to which it was done, because the

Egyptians had to perform the work using

astronomical or solar observations, as thecompass had not yet been invented.

The dimensions of the pyramid are

extremely accurate and the site was leveled

within a fraction of an inch over the entire

base. This is comparable to the accuracypossible with modern construction methods

and laser leveling.

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The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that theconstruction of the ramp and pyramid occupied30 years with a workforce of 100,000 men.

There is also speculation that some of theworkforce was seasonal, consisting largely of

farmers who arrived during the periods whenthe Nile flooded and they were unable to workin their fields.

The 100,000 figure seems high in the light ofwhat we know today, but by any standard andfrom any point of view this was a mammoth

undertaking.

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http://www.britannica.com/eb/art-95808/Herodotus-detail-of-a-Roman-herm-probably-copied-from-a?articleTypeId=1


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Reengineering the Pyramids Excavations indicate the presence of an

artisans' village, which may have housedsome 4,000 to 5,000 people.

This, plus evidence of tools andworkshops, led DMJM to surmise thatthere was a full-time workforce of about4,000 to 5,000, not including the workers

responsible for cutting limestone at thedistant quarries, transporting it to Giza,and bringing it to the site.

This number also did not include theadministrative and support staffnecessary to feed and care for apermanent workforce or those necessaryto handle the logistics of bringing insupplies, timbers for scaffolding androllers, stone blocks, and otherconstruction materials.

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Reengineering the Pyramids Several theories have been advanced as to how

the pyramid was actually built.

Herodotus indicated that a system of levers

was used.

Long wooden poles were employed to

elevate the blocks from one level of the

pyramid terrace to the next level. Either multiple levers were used or the

levers themselves were moved to each

elevation as it became necessary to lift

higher and higher.

DMJM determined that this approach wouldhave been impractical, but there is

considerable evidence, however, to support a

different approach, that of an inclined ramp.

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Sloping ramps were constructed for otherpyramids and thus it was speculated thatafter the site was leveled, an initial courseof blocks was placed to outline the base ofthe pyramid.

This placement was done with extreme care

because it formed a reference point for theother dimensions as constructionproceeded.

Construction continued for a number ofcourses, although a tunnel, called thedescending corridor, was cut into the baseof the pyramid.

This corridor descended a distance of some350 ft (107 m), roughly to the center of thepyramid and beneath it, angling down atabout 26 degrees, where a room wasconstructed.

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An ascending corridor wasconstructed from thedescending corridor, rising tothe center of the lowerportion of the pyramid.

Here another chamber was

built, which is known today asthe Queen's Chamber.

Above the Queen's Chamber isa large, lengthy, and uniquegallery, the Grand Gallery,which leads to the King's

Chamber. This was the intended final

resting spot ofKing Khufu.

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Sarcophagus made from a single block of pink

granite. All corners are exactly 90 degrees.


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As construction reached the levelof the corridor and chamber, itwas possible for workmen toinstall the highly finished walls,lintels, and ceiling blocks of the

corridors and chambers from alevel surface and then build therest of the pyramid up aroundthem as they proceeded upward.

DMJM concluded that the ramp

was extended until the topportion of the pyramid wasconstructed and, at some point, alimestone capstone was put inplace.

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Reengineering the Pyramids The exterior courses of the pyramid were

constructed ofwhite Tura limestone casing

stones, which were cut and fitted more

accurately than the interior core stones.

These stones were placed with excess

material remaining on the face, to be

trimmed at a later time.

Once the last row of casing stones was in

place, the ramp and scaffolding were

removed to expose several courses of the

casing stones.

Then the outer surface was trimmed to the

finish dimensions to give the pyramid a

smooth exterior surface.

This was done working downward, as the

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DMJM team members drew upon theirexpertise in working on large

construction projects to determine

how long it would take to cut and

transport blocks of limestone and to

erect the pyramid.

They tried to imagine the time that

would be required without the

availability of modern tools.

The first step in this process was to

develop a Work Breakdown Structure

(WBS) to define the various elements of

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Once the WBS was completed,DMJD developed a logic diagram toillustrate the constructionsequence that the team foundmost plausible.

Construction estimatorsresearched the methods usedbefore the introduction ofmachinery in order to producelabor estimates for each of thetasks identified.

Where possible these estimateswere checked against publisheddata, but for the most part theteam relied on the experience of itsmembers.

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Collectively, the DMJM team

members have overseen large

construction projects in Saudi Arabia

involving tens of thousands of

workers. Additionally, several members had

experience with labor-intensive

construction methods in Third World

countries, including the processes of

hand excavation and the pouring ofcement by the bucketful.

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These unit estimateswere then combined withthe engineeringestimates of materialsand constructionmethodology to derivethe amount of time andmanpower required toperform each workpackage.

The data obtained wasthen used to develop acritical path constructionschedule.

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The analysis enabled theteam to reject asimpossible certainhypothesizedconstruction methods.For example, a singleramp to the top of thepyramid would haveextended for more thanhalf a mile and wouldhave involved moreconstruction than thepyramid itself.

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Reengineering the Pyramids A single large ramp to level 50 of the pyramid would

have been of reasonable height and volume, as itwould have permitted two-thirds of the blocks to beput in place.

The DMJM team postulated that after level 50, asquare helical ramp would have been constructed onthe pyramid itself to reach the upper layers.

At the apex of the pyramid, the last 10 to 20 levels, thenumber of blocks is very small.

The team suggested that an internal "staircase" wascreated and that levers were used to place thecapstone and the last remaining blocks.

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Which Ramp System?

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The critical path analysis showedthat the production of blocks fromthe quarry would not have been aconstraint.

Additionally, DMJM determinedthat blocks could have beenprepared in advance andstockpiled on-site in the event of ashortage of stonecutters

with the assumption that a largenumber ofworkmen could be

recruited on a seasonal basis toassist in transporting the blocks upthe ramps to the working area,where skilled masons put them inplace and built the corridors andchambers.

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The team also worked out thelogistics for: site preparation, quarry operations, transportation of the finished limestone

from Tura and granite from Aswan, the creation of a workers' village for

permanent skilled staff,

construction of the ramps, performance of the finish work, and

removal of the ramps at the end ofconstruction.

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Reengineering the Pyramids Based on its program management

approach, and informed guesses, DMJMconcluded that the total project requiredan average workforce of 13,200 personsand a peak workforce of 40,000.

The project required two to three yearsof site preparation, five years ofpyramid construction, and two years oframp removal, decoration, and otherancillary tasks.

Assembling a workforce of this size, andfeeding it, appear to have been well

within the capabilities of the Egyptianeconomy at that time if the populationwas in fact 1 million to 1.5 million.

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Once bedrock was exposed thesite was leveled. This was most

likely done by the use of a

square level, a right angle with

a cross piece resembling theletter A with a plumb bob that

hung from the apex and

registered against the cross

piece. Leveling was done in a

series of measurements that

established benchmarks along

the length of the foundation.

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Next, using either solar observationsor star sightings, survey workingpoints were established and cornerpositions were fixed.

Since the Egyptians worshiped thesun, it is more credible that theyunderstood the movement of the sunand would have measured the sun'sshadow to determine true north.

In a simple experiment with the toolsand knowledge available to theancient Egyptians, this determinationwas readily made.

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flight of the stars

Pole

Where is North?

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Finding East


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Pole

Pole

W

g

and West

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Determining the Perimeter of the

Pyramid

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At this point tunneling toconstruct the descendingcorridor and lowerchamber was probably

started. A construction gap was left

open in the core blockswhile the descending andascending corridors, theGrand Gallery, and theKing's Chamber wereconstructed.

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DMJM determined that there were 3workweeks of 10 days per month, 8

days of work followed by 1 to 2 days

off.

A workday consisted of four to five

hours in the morning followed by fourto five hours after lunch.

Deductions would be necessary for

holidays and religious observances, so

DMJM used 280 working days per year

as the estimate for construction time.

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Reengineering the Pyramids DMJM estimated that a

delivery rate of180 blocks

per hour was required from

level 50 to level 74 and then

used this rate to determine

if the ramp size and numberof crews were feasible.

This seemed possible.

DMJM then determined that

at the lower level the rampwould be wider and could

sustain delivery rates twice

this number.

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Above level 75 the deliveryrate drops off because of the

smaller number of blocks, so

ramp size and crew numbers

are reduced.

The size of crews can be

estimated in various ways.

Carrying capacity will

ultimately depend on

load and distance.

DMJM assumed an

average crew of 20 men.

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Reengineering the Pyramids Unit cost estimates were developed from a variety of sources,

including the team's judgment and experience. For example, the stonecutting estimate oftwo man-days per block is

based on best judgment on the part of DMJM.

For the average block, DMJM assumed that a team of 20 laborerswas required to pull a sled up the ramp and onto the work area.

This would require four hours on average (up to level 50), whichmeant that a team could move two blocks per day. Ten man-days were required, therefore, to move each block into

place.

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For estimations regarding excavation and ramp construction, DMJMconsulted turn-of-the-century civil engineering handbooks andestablished unit rates for moving earth manually.

This corresponded to about 1 cu yd/h (0.8 m3/h), with time addeddepending on the distance the material was carried.

DMJM estimated that at an average distance the rate was 0.03 d/cu ft

(0.1 d/m3). DMJM also prepared a manpower labor forecast.

Once courses 1 through 50 were completed the labor requirements droppedoff considerably;

Additionally, the skilled labor requirements are consistent with a workers'village of 4,000 to 5,000 persons on-site.

The total labor expended is 36.7 million days, or approximately 131,200man-years. Thus the average labor force over the 10-year duration of the project is

therefore 13,200 men.

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DMJM learned that workerswere paid in grain, to makebread and beer, as well as inoil, other foods, and cloth.

Payments differed, of course,depending on the level of skilland rank.

Ancient records indicate that

a superintendent earned 8jugs of beer and 16 loaves ofbread daily.

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Thus the total labor costs forconstruction of the pyramid were

approximately 111 million jugs of

beer and 126 million loaves of

bread over the 10-year span of the

project.

The production capacity for

agrarian Egypt at that time

suggests that it was perfectly

plausible for the economy to

support such an undertaking over

that period of time.

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In Conclusion.

While there is uncertainty as to precisely how theEgyptians built the Great Pyramid, there iscertainty about the fact that it was done. Thepyramid stands today as awesome testimony to

the skill and sheer determination of the ancientrace that built it. We must also stand in awe oftheir program management techniques, as it isequally certain that they had highly developedadministrative and planning skills. The complexity

and logistical requirements of this project aresimply extraordinary.

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Walter A. Viali, PMPPrincipal Consultant

PMO To Go LLC, Houston, Texas, [email protected]

713-252-9722

www.pmotogo.com
mailto:[email protected]://www.pmotogo.com/http://www.pmotogo.com/mailto:[email protected]

sp06 - work like an egyptian

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