HOW GREAT IS THE GREAT PYRAMID?
There is nothing so wasteful as doing with great efficiency that which doesn't have to be done at all.
As any journeyman in almost any construction trade will testify precision is more than just a learned skill, it's an attitude. All craftsman are asked why they make those cuts so perfect or why go that extra step? And when that familiar term 'over-built' enters the conversation of those taking pride in their work it is really mean it as 'built to last'. The Great Pyramid is the decidedly the most over built and at the same time the most precisely engineered building on the planet. Therefore it is safe to assume that the builders were first supreme craftsman and certainly intended this structure to last for a long time. And last it has, for at least 4700 years and quite possibly many thousand more. Until a mere six centuries ago it was still protected by a watertight covering of shimmering white limestone. Big seems like a understatement to describe every aspect of this awesome structure. There is no stone in the entire construction weighing less than a ton with some near the top weighing 70 tons. The red bricks so familiar in modern building are minuscule compared to even the smallest of these blocks but make a good point of reference. Three thousand pound blocks aren't used in construction for the same reason little red bricks are, practicality. The total number of bricks equaling the weight of blocks used in the pyramid is I billion 350 million or enough bricks to build a walkway over 14,000 miles long.
Using the accepted theory 900 tons or 350 blocks with all the men, animals, and materials required to move 5000 pounds of dead weight were moving at the constant pace of a mile an hour. Lightning speed for 2 ½ tons with no wheels and rough terrain. All this material was dragged to the river, loaded onto barges, pulled upstream, unloaded on the other side, and dragged up hill some 400 feet above river level each day. Then all the men, animals and materials had to return to the quarry. The number of men required to cut and extract 350, 5000 pound blocks every day of the year would be incalculable. The crews that could drag, cement, align and precisely place 350 blocks per day had to be to say the least above average.