what kind of soil are these guys digging in? is this safe? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2019, 09:47:57 pm
content: There is a whole bunch of these guys digging various nice looking trenches in what appears to be the jungle.From what I know about trench construction, doing this is not safe unless you are working in solid rock. Is what they are doing safe with that soil (wtf is this?) type? OSHA does not have a classification for this material they are digging in on some resources of soil classification I looked at.Is it considered type A cohesive or are there a different set of guidelines for this stuff? A+ grade?

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2019, 10:03:37 pm
content: I have no idea on what kind of soil it is. It looks like some sort of clay. I admit it looks very cool but you won't get me into one of these.

author: rhodges
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2019, 10:36:48 pm
content: I am going to guess it is some kind of soft sandstone. He lined it with some clay (thinking bentonite) as a water seal. Maybe that particular area has a history ofsuccessluck with that method (because of local geology?) I would be scared to try that just anywhere.

author: soldar
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2019, 10:48:44 pm
content: I hope everybody realizes those are just shows, not reality. Nobody has dug those holes with a stick and their bare hands, not even a shovel.It seems people like those projects as they get a lot of views but, come on, it's 100% fiction.

author: NorthGuy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2019, 10:59:47 pm
content: There's a house in Utah built as a cave in a huge sandstone wall. The guy who built it lived there with his family for his entire life. It is now a museum there and you can come in and watch how they lived. It is not that bad.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 18, 2019, 11:06:25 pm
content: Quote from: soldar on June 18, 2019, 10:48:44 pmWell, they should have used better tools and more people to do the job. Other than that I don't think there is anything fake about it. And shovel is a pretty good tool for the job.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2019, 11:11:35 pm
content: Quote from: soldar on June 18, 2019, 10:48:44 pmIt is not a stick but some kind of tool with a metal blade. It seems pretty effective to me and it is not out of the question to move 10 to 50 cubic meters of dirt by hand. It just takes time.

author: smithnerd
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2019, 11:20:37 pm
content: My favourite part was when he dragged the bamboo out of the undergrowth, like it definitely didn't have a hose inside!Reminded me of a denehole:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dene_hole

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2019, 11:26:08 pm
content: Very soft sandstone (usually, high purity*, or low mineralized, or geologically young?), or maybe volcanic tephra or something like that?*I recall offhand, there's a layer of this under my feet, or, not exactly where I am right now but elsewhere in the state.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter_SandstoneSo soft, it can be shoveled from the ground; so pure, it can be fused into glass with little correction (manganese, etc.?) needed.Looks to be pretty strong stuff, given that he climbs up and off it. Certainly no concrete, and I wonder how well it will last under rainfall (just a few years?). Can't say I would trust it that far myself. But he's not building an entire city so it doesn't matter much, as long as it doesn't collapse during filming.Tim

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 18, 2019, 11:28:23 pm
content: Quote from: smithnerd on June 18, 2019, 11:20:37 pmProbably it doesn't if they punched holes through the nodes in bamboo and attached hose on the other end. Other than nodes, bamboo is hollow. But yeah this part should be somewhat fake. Although not undoable. On the other hand when he pulls bamboo tube further to fill inner part while water is still flowing, it's a dead giveaway there is a flexible hose on the other end.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2019, 11:36:48 pm
content: Quote from: soldar on June 18, 2019, 10:48:44 pmWhile i agree that a lot of that is going on, we shouldn't assume it always is.Even a small amount of Youtube ad revenue would be huge to a lot of people in poor 3rd world counties.I would never underestimate the hard work someone determined could do to feed their family well.Regardless of if this guy actually built the whole thing or not. I really hope he gets paid some of the ongoing channel ad revenue for his part in it.

author: Red Squirrel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 01:21:54 am
content: I'm surprised at the lack of roots more than anything. Even in a residential setting I've never dug anywhere in a yard without hitting some form of roots. In the forest they'll be everywhere.

author: xrunner
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 02:23:13 am
content: Where's the toilet?

author: Ampera
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 02:32:47 am
content: Quote from: xrunner on June 19, 2019, 02:23:13 amThat wasn't simply mud he lined his pools with.

author: soldar
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 05:59:13 am
content: I never cease to be amazed at the gullibility of the general public.A channel which is entirely of a guy or two digging totally useless things with almost no tools, scooping the soil with their bare hands. And all is videotaped and edited in the most professional way. No way there might be an excavator just outside of camera view. No sir. They really did build those things with their bare hands. In a matter of minutes too. Yes sir. Because people do that. They build totally useless things in the hardest way possible because they have nothing better to do.Also, pretty Chinese girls in the jungle build furniture with nothing but a small kitchen knife. Yes sir. Completely true. I saw it in YouTube and YouTube wouldn't lie to me would they? And those videos get millions upon millions of views because people are interested in building furniture with their bare hands. Nothing to do with pretty Chinese girls. No sir.There must be hundreds of channels like this. Primitive guys in the jungle trap fish with an old soda bottle and a piece of twine. Primitive guys in the jungle trap birds with a piece of twine and a stick. Pretty girls in the jungle catch fish just by being pretty.People love these improbable videos.

author: Berni
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 06:10:45 am
content: Sandstone is indeed quite a surprising material.Its sort of half way between rock and dirt. It acts solid and can take quite a bit of compression load, but if you hit it with something it turns to pretty much sand. Takes surprisingly little effort to dig trough it.Over here there is a guy who lives on a hill made of the stuff and for some reason started digging a little bit of a cave into the side of it. And then he just kept digging at it more and more over the span of years, supposedly all with hand tools and a contraption on a steel cable to haul material back out. It ended up being something like 6 or 7 rooms connected together by tunnels. There are decorative patterns and art carved into the sandstone. Places to sit and stairs are also just carved into it and are plenty sturdy enough to do the job. He gives tours of his diy cave, groups as big as 15 people can fit in 2 rooms at a time to be guided around the place. room by room.There is no proper ventilation system so you couldn't really keep a group of people down there all day in the deepest areas, but since its empty most of the time there is enough time for the air to clear. To me at least the air quality seamed perfectly good, apart from the high humidity you get in caves.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 06:29:53 am
content: so that is sand stone and it does not require reinforcement when trenching it? I thought sand stone is harder (enough to basically require pick axes or drills).That's all I want to know. Is that construction safe from the common trench failure modes? I know your not supposed to leave your diggings on the edge of the trench because they are very very heavy and can cause the wall to slide in.Normally you are supposed to cut the trench like \_/ instead of |_| and you are not supposed to leave dirt on the sides and if its anything other then solid stone your supposed to put various shields and supports in it to stabilize the dirt.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 06:31:03 am
content: https://www.equipmentworld.com/tag/trench-cave-in-fatalities/page/2/Is what he is doing acceptable in that soil type? What does it qualify as if you put it into a soil testing apparatus?Is that considered "stable rock"?Stable Rock Is natural solid mineral matter that can be excavated with vertical sides and remain intact while exposed. It is usually identified by a rock name such as granite or sandstone. Determining whether a deposit is of this type may be difficult unless it is known whether cracks exist and whether or not the cracks run into or away from the excavation

author: soldar
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 06:39:48 am
content: Spain is full of caves everywhere. Many old houses in small towns have caves underneath which were used to store wine, oil, preserved meat, sausage, etc. as the temperature was quite constant. Other towns had the caves up on a hillside dug deep down. Maybe the soil where the houses were built was not adequate. Many caves were dug horizontally into hill sides and used for animal stables and some for human habitation. There must be thousands upon thousands of such caves all over Spain. Many caves that went deep into the ground had vent holes for ventilation. There are still many caves inhabited by humans.A different kind of caves were the ones built during wars as part of fortifications. Not far from where I am right now there are a series of fortifications connected by a series of underground passages and rooms. They have shelves in the walls for candles and benches to rest or sleep. A hole upwards for a stovepipe. In parts were the front moved little during the last civil war there are many such caves and fortifications. People had little else to do. Unfortunately many of these things are disappearing.

author: Berni
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 06:45:33 am
content: From what i heard this guy with his diy sandstone art cave had some experts take a look at it and they didn't have too much of a concern after running some numbers.The ceilings in his cave are curving arches to not create stress concentrations. This also pushes the walls outwards to prevent them from falling inwards.Not sure how well it fares during an earthquake tho. This area doesn't see much in the way of quakes.

author: soldar
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 06:59:33 am
content: Another similar channel. Guy with a stick builds pool in the face of a cliff. Really. He totally did it.And, reality shows are real. They are not acting at all. They just record things as they naturally happen.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 08:18:38 am
content: Quote from: soldar on June 19, 2019, 05:59:13 amExcavator is almost useless in this case. I would like to see how you would be digging that hole with it. Have you ever seen how excavator works?. Also this hole not something a few people wouldn't be able to dig in a few days maximum. People manually dig very deep wells, which is much harder to do.

author: SparkyFX
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 08:31:56 am
content: Quote from: Berni on June 19, 2019, 06:45:33 amI would rather be concerned about rain or the combination of sunshine and rain, as this will soak through the soil no matter what roof he might set on this.In itself it is a nice place, even well built, but it seems to be a dried river bed or so, otherwise there would not be so much clay and lack of plants to build it in the first place. He was able to get the water from a nearby stream to this place just using bamboo, so it is downhill from there and not very far, i reckon once that stream gets some higher water level that place will be flooded right away.Cool to watch how much he gets moved, but i would not trust this thing to last more than one season or so.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 09:15:20 am
content: What is even the functional purpose of such a "well house"?

author: wilfred
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 09:41:33 am
content: Not for a family that's for sure. The purpose is to suck people into watching the construction on Youtube. People will watch anything on Youtube. And I'm living proof of it.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 10:16:21 am
content: Quote from: soldar on June 19, 2019, 05:59:13 amI've seen some other reality TV shows and using an excavator in a jungle is much harder than it looks. Uneven terrain and soft soil can make it impossible to drive around with heavy machinery. I estimate making the well in the first video has taken about 2 months fulltime. But if the Youtube revenues are worth it then why not? Just like Dave they make a living of showing stuff they do on Youtube.

author: John B
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 10:31:53 am
content: Quote from: EEVblog on June 19, 2019, 09:15:20 amIt's a home for the afterlife.**cause of death may or may not be related to occupancy of well house

author: SparkyFX
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 10:52:59 am
content: Maybe like a lumberer hut or so... or just like others suggested to get the views for the video. It worked here.There are plenty outdoor channels that mainly show doing constructions out of ... mud or wood, people seem to like watching it.The water in there is surely moskito breeding spot #1, probably no fun to live in it.

author: soldar
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 11:12:32 am
content: Like the guy is really doing that and not acting. He's just digging a pointless hole with useless tools. And there just happens to be a guy with a camera filming it all and the actor pretends like the camera isn't there. But it's all real. I swear.And it's really miles away from any road and they guy has never seen a white person and has never heard of the Internet or Youtube. I swear. Like there are a lot of places like that left on Earth. That guy has a big screen TV in his home but in the back where the tourists don't see it. In the front he has a "traditional" clay pot and cooks a traditional recipe of rattlesnake with rat.I don't know where people get their impressions of the third world. I mean, besides maybe a few spots along the Amazon river, how many places are left on Earth where there are no roads, and vehicles and machinery have never been seen by the locals?Do people really think the Three Gorges Dam, the bridges, highways, high speed railways are all being built in China by peasants with their bare hands?Here's a cute video in India:

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 11:21:10 am
content: Quote from: wilfred on June 19, 2019, 09:41:33 amSeems only moderately successful

author: soldar
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 11:34:53 am
content: Quote from: EEVblog on June 19, 2019, 09:15:20 amWell, ...Well, well, well, ...You could fill it up with beer and have your friends over for a party. Just give them some bamboo stalks to use as straws. That would be primitive and cool at the same time.I bet more than one would fall into the hole though.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 12:05:58 pm
content: Quote from: soldar on June 19, 2019, 11:12:32 amIs there anywhere written or said it's not for a show?As if there is TV or not, I dunno. Nearest internet or even electricity might be available 100s of km away depending on place. 87% of world population has electricity and only 56% internet access, some countries with nearly zero access.Electricity:Internet:

author: TerraHertz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 02:44:46 pm
content: Quote from: wraper on June 18, 2019, 11:28:23 pmYou know bamboo comes in all diameters, right? Also it tapers from thick bottom to thin tip. And it's not hard to knock out the internal segment walls. So telescoping sections to make long pipes is perfectly possible.Quote from: soldar on June 18, 2019, 10:48:44 pmApparently you've never dug a hole? As a child I lived in a place with deep, cohesive clay-like soil somewhat like in the top video. And I dug a network of trenches and pits in the back yard, as play forts and stuff. Not as big as that one, but I was a small boy with just a spade. And it was easy. I'd estimate that guy took maybe five days to dig that swimming pit, tops. With his bare hands, that cutting tool, and the basket.Also quit criticizing its dubious functionality. It's not meant to be functional, or last forever. It's a sculpture, a work of art. (And a youtube income builder.) I think it's pretty cool.Quote from: soldar on June 19, 2019, 05:59:13 amShe's not living in jungle. Also she has a range of tools (but all simple.) And, her appeal is far from just her beauty. Do you really not know why she gets literally millions of views within a day of releasing a video? Seriously? What do you live for?Anyway, do not insult Li Ziqi, or her millions of fans (including me) will come and reconstruct you using simple tools.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 02:55:05 pm
content: Quote from: TerraHertz on June 19, 2019, 02:44:46 pmWell, it's possible if water flows downwards from some higher place. However it doesn't seem to be the case as terrain looks rather flat. Tube goes over a mound of sand pulled out from the hole and he dragged it suspiciously freely. Not to say for it to work previous bamboo tube should be quite thin to fit inside.

author: apis
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 03:49:21 pm
content: Looks like the you tube channel is from Cambodia. You can hear the generator powering the water pump so definitely some of it is fake. Looks cool but doesn't seem practical at all. You would be at risk from the earth collapsing, flooding, animals falling in, poor ventilation to name a few problems.There are some places where cultures have built houses underground. It's usually places where there is no risk of flooding and where you have extreme temperatures. The underground temperature will be equal to the annual average temperature so it can provide some cooling during summer heat or warmth during winter cold. In some places the underground temperature will be around 2-10 degrees which is good for refrigeration (i.e. a root cellar) and some ancient peoples used dug out caves for food storage, but it's pretty rare as far as I know (it requires permanent houses/villages as well as suitable ground conditions).

author: mleyden
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 04:04:00 pm
content: The catacombs outside Rome were made in a soft clay that hardened once air got to it, if I remember correctly...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catacombs_of_Rome

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 04:11:29 pm
content: Quote from: EEVblog on June 19, 2019, 09:15:20 amTo confuse future archeologists. They'll never figure out this was built for posting it on Youtube.

author: Iceberg86300
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 05:47:12 pm
content: Quote from: Berni on June 19, 2019, 06:10:45 amWhere is "over here?"I went to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo (California) & one of the psych professors did exactly what you describe.Your comment about earthquakes threw me. But it's fairly free from seismic activity compared to San Fran to the north & Los Angeles to the South. Wondering if it's the same guy.Name is Leland Swenson & this a 2017 article in the school paper:https://mustangnews.net/cal-poly-caveman-psychology-lecturer-builds-art-caves-house/Which includes this awesome virtual tour (my GS 5 had a lot of trouble with it so I recommend a more powerful device or using a computer):https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=VUN1Tc8wKRb&utm_source=4Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

author: Berni
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 06:11:41 pm
content: Quote from: Iceberg86300 on June 19, 2019, 05:47:12 pmNow that place linked looks very impressive. The 3d virtual tour also looks really nice.But no, this sandstone cave is is here in Slovenia in a place called "Babna gora" the cave got the name "Rafov rov" and is built by a retired steel mill maintenance worker by the name of Rafael Artiček but he gets called by the shortened name "Rafko" hence the name of his cave.The place is not very well known at all, it doesn't even have a website nor is found by google maps. He doesn't advertise it nor is trying to make profit off it, but if you ask him about it you can arrange for a guided tour of it. This is simply his hobby and he is glad to show it to others. He also makes wine and spirits that he is happy to share.The way i found out about it and got a tour was that a coworker lives in the area and arranged it.Attached is a photo of the guy in his cave.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 09:09:38 pm
content: I am still waiting for someone to provide a cambodian soil trench spec

author: soldar
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2019, 10:59:41 pm
content: Quote from: Mr. Scram on June 19, 2019, 04:11:29 pmArcheologists are never confused. Anything not entirely clear is deemed to be of religious significance and used for rituals intended to favor good crops and fertility. It doesn't matter if it is the Eiffel tower or a hole in the ground, they were built as an offering to the gods imploring for fertility and good crops.

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2019, 02:05:55 am
content: Quote from: EEVblog on June 19, 2019, 09:15:20 amAnything to get out of the sun!

author: onesixright
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2019, 07:54:42 am
content: How you get the water out (or refresh it) :/? At some point that water has to be dirty!Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

author: TerraHertz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2019, 09:47:33 am
content: Sydney has a secret sandstone laybrinth too. Not saying where it is, as it's supposed to be not publically accessible. It's an old sand quarry in the bush, where by 'sand' they meant a strata of very soft sandstone between two firmer layers. It's fairly large, many rooms, but not big enough to get lost in. Makes for a good camp site.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2019, 09:49:16 pm
content: so that sandstone in australia is the same thing they are digging in, in the cave picture above this post?I did not think you can beat sand stone into shape with a stick

author: ebastler
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2019, 11:58:22 pm
content: Quote from: soldar on June 19, 2019, 06:59:33 amYou gotta love how he installs a solid stone wall and a couple of thousand liters of water on a wooden platform which is supported by twostrings...

author: Berni
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2019, 05:10:08 am
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on June 20, 2019, 09:49:16 pmYou can actually scrape sandstone away with your fingernails, tho you would not be getting very far before your fingers are sore. Even just rubbing over the surface causes a little bit of sand to fall away from it.Its sort of like you mixed sand with diluted super glue. The stuff is still mostly just regular sand, but the grains are stuck together. Its very strong under compression, but as soon as you try to pull a grain of sand away it just breaks off.Tho in the guy in the youtube video I'm guessing he doesn't actually dig the whole thing out with a stick and throwing dirt out by hand. I would think that between cuts he grabs a real shovel since it makes moving material much faster and easier and you can probably use a shovel to really nicely scrape a flat straight wall in the sandstone (especially if your shovel is that simple flat design). A strong hard working guy can dig quite a big hole in a day.

author: Melt-O-Tronic
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2019, 05:51:12 am
content: Quote from: EEVblog on June 19, 2019, 09:15:20 amTo die of hypoxia and then be buried conveniently at the next rain.

author: soldar
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2019, 10:16:49 am
content: Quote from: ebastler on June 20, 2019, 11:58:22 pmDon't worry. Someone will be along shortly to explain how paracord has a tensile strength ten times that of steel and could support the Empire State Building.

author: mzzj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2019, 11:33:25 am
content: Quote from: nctnico on June 18, 2019, 11:11:35 pmOLD agriculture book gives table for trech/ditch digging with showel: 20 meters per hour for 2 feet/ 0.6m deep ditch in easy soil. That is roughly 60 tons of soil digged per day.Job like that would "kill" every westenener nowadays but 80 years ago people were conditioned to do this 10 hours per day and 6 days per week. Some still are in developing countries but hot climate might reduce their output.Physical labour is still cheap in 3rd world countries, would be cheaper to hire a crew of local dudes to dig the whatever fantasy house you have in your mind than use excavator for the (impossible) job.Maybe 2-5 usd per day for a manual labour like that in somewhere africa or southeast asia.And many "3rd world" countries have already blazingly fast mobile data and everyone has latest mobile phone (because its sort of status symbol) so its no wonder if these "wilderness" videos keep showing up. Some of them are making crazy amount of money compared to local income level.

author: apis
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2019, 12:26:59 pm
content: Quote from: soldar on June 21, 2019, 10:16:49 amThe rope could realistically have a static breaking strength of 1000 kg, so four ropes and half of the platform resting on the cliff doesn't seem impossible, even if not exactly safe. Could have replaced the rope with steel wire as well, hard to tell. Doubt he made the bricks himself though.

author: mzzj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2019, 01:21:16 pm
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on June 19, 2019, 09:09:38 pm"red soil" common to Thailand and much part of south-east asia is relatively easy to dig with hand tools yet strong enough to make unsupported caves etc.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laterite"When moist, laterites can easily be cut with a spade into regular-sized blocks.:1 Laterite is mined while it is below the water table, so it is wet and soft. Upon exposure to air it gradually hardens as the moisture between the flat clay particles evaporates and the larger iron salts lock into a rigid lattice structure:158 and become resistant to atmospheric conditions.:1 The art of quarrying laterite material into masonry is suspected to have been introduced from the Indian subcontinent.[clarification needed]After 1000 CE Angkorian construction changed from circular or irregular earthen walls to rectangular temple enclosures of laterite, brick and stone structures.:3 Geographic surveys show areas which have laterite stone alignments which may be foundations of temple sites that have not survived.:4 The Khmer people constructed the Angkor monuments—which are widely distributed in Cambodia and Thailand—between the 9th and 13th centuries.:209 The stone materials used were sandstone and laterite; brick had been used in monuments constructed in the 9th and 10th centuries.:210 Two types of laterite can be identified; both types consist of the minerals kaolinite, quartz, hematite and goethite.:211 Differences in the amounts of minor elements arsenic, antimony, vanadium and strontium were measured between the two laterites.:211Angkor Wat—located in present-day Cambodia—is the largest religious structure built by Suryavarman II, who ruled the Khmer Empire from 1112 to 1152.:39 It is a World Heritage site.:39 The sandstone used for the building of Angkor Wat is Mesozoic sandstone quarried in the Phnom Kulen Mountains, about 40 km (25 mi) away from the temple. The foundations and internal parts of the temple contain laterite blocks behind the sandstone surface. The masonry was laid without joint mortar."

author: mzzj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2019, 01:40:51 pm
content: Quote from: apis on June 21, 2019, 12:26:59 pmGuessing its steel wire based on what looked like wire clamps.Guestimated diameter 8 to 12mm from the video, minimum breaking strength 4 to 12 tons depending on diameter. Two 12mm steel wire ropes would hold 24 tons and have plenty of safety factor."plastic rope" UHMWPE (Ultra High Molecular weight Polyethylene) would do even better in theory.

author: soldar
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2019, 04:11:29 pm
content: Anchored to what looks like a flimsy bush but in reality is the mother of all tropical bushes and can withstand the pull of the Empire State building and the Eiffel Tower combined.Same with the beams and the bricks. All made with primitive looking materials but they are stronger than what they used to build the Space Shuttle.

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2019, 04:35:08 pm
content: Quote from: soldar on June 21, 2019, 04:11:29 pmIt seems unlikely that anemic firepit was capable of properly firing bricks. Below you see video with a more realistic kiln. Firing bricks requires a bit more sophistication than throwing square clay in a fire.

author: rrinker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2019, 08:07:00 pm
content: Quote from: mzzj on June 21, 2019, 11:33:25 amIt still usually is in the US and probably the rest of the Western world as well, which is why you will see 2-3 guys hand digging a trench and taking all day to do it, instead of having one guy come out with a backhoe and dig it in less than an hour. It costs less to pay 3 laborers for an 8 hour day than it does to bring the machine and a skilled operator out for an hour. Explained to me by my old neighbor who runs a construction company when I was helping him to first hand select stones and throw them in a small dump truck, and then at the other end, hand unloading them to pile them in his back yard, to then start building a stone wall to divide the back yard into two usable tiers instead of the slope between the two areas that was there. No mortar, loose fieldstone, but when you carefully select and place the rocks it is amazingly solid.

author: apis
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2019, 09:38:30 pm
content: Quote from: Mr. Scram on June 21, 2019, 04:35:08 pmI agree that the fire pit looked pointless, however, plain air-dried mud bricks can be a useful building material (not suitable to build a pool out of though) and it's what John from Primitive Technology is using to build his oven in which he fires ceramic roof tiles (not the bricks!). The roof tiles must be fired clay since dried mud will dissolve in rain and can't be used for roofing.