Original subtitles

Around the world might be more Costly than we anticipated.

Some people say The shipping container

Is the greatest invention Of the 20th century.

Thousands of ships transport More than 1 million containers

Through the port of alexandria Each year.

Stuff these containers With stone blocks,

And in a single year, you've got Enough to build three pyramids.

The shipping part Is actually the easy part.

The logistic of this, we have.

We're shipping already a lot Of blocks to asia and europe.

Narrator: move a great pyramid's Worth of rock halfway

We'll take advantage of its Massive container terminal.

We're estimating $500,000,000 For 6 million tons of stone.

That averages out to $85 per ton shipped.

Try to get that deal From the post office.

Now that we know how we'll get Our materials in place,

We need to put together Our construction crew.

We'll need skilled stone workers And a lot of them.

And in our modern day economy, This will not come cheap.

Narrator: with over 2.3 million Granite blocks

Coming from quarries All over the world

Came from the country's Finest quarry in tura.

Out of solid granite.

And to finish it In fewer than 25 years,

We'll need to source the rock

From quarries All around the world.

How's that going to work?

For starters, we've budgeted For 2 1/2 million

Stone blocks cut to fit.

At $1,300 each, our total cost Is $3.25 billion.

The stone for the exterior Of the great pyramids

Through the port of alexandria, We'll need people who can

It was brought by barge Along the nile.

The monoliths of granite For the interior chambers

Were transported by water, too, From aswan,

Almost 500 miles upriver.

This was once the largest Construction site in history.

It was also a great inland port.

To move over 2 million Granite blocks to our job site,

We need to pass through The country's biggest

Modern port, alexandria.

To do that, our budget has to Include a competitive wage

Being a pyramid builder Was an esteemed sort of task.

I mean, this is An important project.

You're not gonna put Some hack on it.

You're gonna have people Who know what they're doing

And their skill.

Narrator: There are 600 graves here.

That's three deaths per Every 100 workers.

That's not gonna go over well On a modern construction site.

We want to ensure our workers' Lives and their livelihoods.

Beer, bread, and salted fish.

Plus benefits, Including vacation

And insurance against Injury and death.

So let's do some math.

To hire the same 20,000 workers Needed in khufu's day

For five years at today's wages Would add up to

$10 billion in labor costs.

But by relying on modern Machines and technology,

We could reduce the number of Workers to just 1,000.

If we factor in engineers And architects,

So no free labor here.

Turn our raw materials Into a modern pyramid

Worthy of its neighbor, The great pyramid of khufu.

We'll need the best builders And engineers we can find.

It was the same in khufu's time.

Historians used to think That enslaved people

Built the pyramids,

But zahi hawass proved That theory wrong.

He discovered the tombs Of the people who did the job.

Egyptians who got A proper burial.

To make it last, We'll build our pyramid

The great pyramid was Constructed by an estimated

20,000 trained workers who were Compensated for their time

And expertise.

These were craftsmen. They were sort of guilds,

If we can use An anachronistic term.

But this is what they did, You know, for a living.

It was actually a good job.

It got you out of some Really worse jobs.

They're workers, And we give them salaries...

Is the deepest granite-quarry Hole in the world.

But where on earth can we find That much granite?

How will we get it To the giza plateau?

And finally, how much Is it going to cost?

Narrator: geologists say granite Is our best bet

For making a durable Modern pyramid.

We'll need around 2.3 million blocks,

Based on estimates from The great pyramid.

To source a couple million Blocks of granite,

We'll need a reliable Supplier with a bottomless pit.

Labonte: What you're looking at

Improved structure.

Narrator: geologists believe This deposit

Extends nearly 10 miles.

That's twice as high As mount everest.

The barre quarry... It started over 200 years ago.

It started small, But it grew very fast.

Narrator: barre, vermont, is the Granite capital of the world.

It's also a long way from egypt.

The stone here is in demand Around the world

For everything from statues To state houses

Between a sedimentary-style rock Or an igneous rock,

For millennia, and will continue To be used, i'm sure.

Narrator: clearly sandstone Doesn't have the staying power.

Not in a world of wind, water, And acid rain.

And limestone has already proven To be vulnerable

To the giza plateau's Conditions.

But what about granite?

It's an igneous rock That makes up

Most of the earth's Continental crust.

It's stronger than marble And so good-looking.

To tombstones.

You'd definitely be better off Using granite

To build the pyramids,

From erosional purposes, Mainly, from look.

Narrator: so we're gonna Splurge on granite,

But we'll need a lot of it.

Experts estimate The great pyramid

Was built with between 1 million And 2.3 million blocks.

So let's be on the safe side.

We'll figure on 2.3 million Blocks to build our new,

And have all quarries Work simultaneously

Narrator: so we're not going to Be able to rely on

A single source for our granite.

What if we spread Our business around?

Our super developer has a plan.

The biggest challenge i see Is sourcing the stone.

For that, i have A simple solution.

I mean, instead of going To a single source,

You can scout the globe

And find stone In different continents

And all your other business Would be left aside.

On producing The the size required

And get it all shipped Or flown to the location.

Narrator: flown?

This project is shaping up To be a money pit

As deep as the barre quarry.

And we still haven't figured out How we'd move all of that rock.

Our location... Egypt's giza plateau.

It's home to the great pyramid Of pharaoh khufu,

And we're out to build A worthy neighbor.

At the current rate Of production,

If we were to build a pyramid Today, how would we do it?

I think that the logistic... Aside from the logistic,

Definitely build it Out of barre gray.

Barre gray is the known Granite for a monument.

Narrator: if we polish Our barre-gray granite,

We can get the lavish Look we're going for.

And our granite is more durable Than the limestone used

To construct The pyramids of giza.

But 6 million tons of stone from A single quarry is a big ask.

We're looking at an average Six-figure salary.

They can only pull and polish Two pyramid-sized slabs a day.

That means if we used Barre granite to build

The great pyramid today, We would monopolize

The supply until the year 2050.

Labonte: imagine taking A project like this

Would almost be impossible For the simple reason

That you could not devote All your production

And your expertise To something that in 20 years

Or 30 years from now Would be gone,

We're looking at 1,000 laborers, Millions of tons of granite,

So we'll have to use Aerial cranes

To fly in the final stones.

This modern solution Will cost plenty.

But the result will Be worth it...

A new wonder that will attract Tourists from around the world

For centuries to come.

And they'll want to be there for Our crowning achievement,

As a helicopter places our Pyramid shaped capstone.

Our new pyramid will be The biggest addition

To the plateau since The 26th century b.c.

To reach the center Of the pyramid.

And around five years to Complete a modern pyramid

Worth celebrating.

So when it's all said and done, What would it cost us

To raise this modern monument?

Narrator: our planning And research proves that

A brand-new pyramid on The renowned giza plateau

Can be built.

All we need is 2.5 million Blocks of the finest granite

Shipped from all over the world,

Building the pyramids In those times,

You would do that With one or two

Or four cranes on a large site,

Making sure they don't interfere With each other.

The crane is capable Of picking up

50, 60, 70 metric-ton pieces,

Which is An extremely large crane.

Crowder: and you'll be able to Lift one or two of those stones

At a time with today's Modern cranes.

Maclean: certainly, When you think about

Modern ramps, cranes, And helicopters,

Stacking rough-cut stones Even with a crane

Is just one piece of the puzzle.

Ensuring that everything Fits together

And that it's stable Would be extremely challenging,

Even with modern Construction machinery.

Narrator: cranes can lift high, But this build is also wide.

It sits on more land Than a city block.

10 levels from the top, We're stuck.

Our cranes don't have The wingspan

It was the result of The cleverness and artistry

To future generations.

Heiser: If we ponder the question,

"what do the pyramids Mean today?"

I think they tell us a lot About human ingenuity,

Human aptitude, human skill...

Basically that we're Pretty smart, okay,

And we can accomplish A lot collectively.

Narrator: the great pyramid Was created without free labor

Or the aid of modern machines.

We can only speculate What it might mean

Of an ancient civilization.

It's not just a monument To a leader.

It's the immortal legacy Of 20,000 crafts people,

Tradespeople, and laborers.

It's a testimony to the value Of hard work,

Determination, and the shared Beliefs of a nation.

Dreaming about building A new pyramid reminds us

Of how much we can achieve By working together

If we built it today.

$5 billion.

And a team of 1,000 workers In five years.

But all that comes with A hefty price tag.

We asked our mega-developer To crunch the final numbers.

I would say, give or take, Around maybe $5 billion.

Narrator: But we haven't accounted for

One crucial expense.

If we want to build in egypt Next to the great pyramid,

Real-estate costs could Blow up our whole budget.

A safe estimate for This prime real estate...

A very large crane.

There are more than 2,000 billionaires alive

In our world today.

Surely one who would Pay the price

To see their name Etched in eternal stone.

Pharaoh khufu didn't live Long enough to see his pyramid

Become one of the seven Wonders of the world.

What might our new pyramid Become after its modern patron

Was dead and memorialized?

While we can imagine how we'd Build a new great pyramid,

Fares: once you have the plans, Once you have the stone source,

We do the mausoleum monument And surface plate

For the industrial-product Needs.

At the plant, The sawing process,

The polishing, is there...

The cutting, carving, Sandblasting.

Narrator: and here's where we Use all that geometry.

Our stones have to be cut To a precise angle

To create a consistent slope All the way to the peak.

After we get the stones cut And shipped from

All over the world, there will Be a lot of assembly required.

Labonte: at the processing plant Here in barre,

It all fits like a lego.

Like, every stone Would be numbered.

It's a lot of planning Before you get to that stage,

But that's the way to do it.

Then it's implementing And following the plans

And putting every stone Where it belongs,

And that's the quickest way,

And that's how I would tackle it.

Narrator: we're ready to Do the heavy lifting.

They have no problem slicing Right through the sturdy rock.

We're budgeting $100 million For the 1,000 people

We'll employ over the duration Of the project.

If we're going to build Our pyramid with a team

Of only 1/20 the size Of the ancient workforce,

They need the very best tools And technology.

Our rock will arrive On-site pre-cut

To our exact specifications By automated wire saws

Like this one.

Made of the hardest Material on earth... Diamonds.

With the location, materials, Logistics, and labor

Just a continuous loop So you can make it the size

That you want to to fit the cut That you have to do.

We can make cuts up to 100 feet Long by 40 feet high.

The limitation of the wire Is almost limitless.

Narrator: but this saw needs Water to stay cool.

Friction makes it hotter Than desert sand.

It takes just a few minutes To levitate a 10-ton slab

Shaped to perfection By space-age diamond saws.

At our modern facility in Vermont, it's a one-stop shop.

Because you just have The problem of the materials.

We'll use heavy-duty loaders

To lay down the first Two levels of stone.

Then we're gonna have To steal a move

Out of the ancient Egyptian playbook.

We don't know what this Ancient ramp looked like.

So we'll have to improvise To get our granite up

More than 200 levels.

Heiser: for sure, there was At least one external ramp...

Not to the top, again,

When it hardened, they had The perfect sledge highway.

You're using more to do that Than build the pyramids,

Which doesn't make A whole lot of sense.

It's not practical.

But at the very least, Some form of external ramp.

Narrator: our ramp will circle The outside of the pyramid,

But that can only Take us so high.

Our capstone is still Out of reach.

So we'll finish the job as if We were building a skyscraper.

In terms of lifting materials, You'd want to have

Now we just need to Put it all together.

All decided, We estimate that this job

Could be done in less Than five years.

But to complete our Great pyramid on schedule

And within our budget, We'll have to take

Every advantage we have over The original builders.

So to stay on schedule, We need an air-tight plan.

Narrator: the location, Building materials,

And workforce for Our modern great pyramid

Are all accounted for.

For a building stone, granite Has been used for centuries,

In short, we need a plan.

Our geotechnical team advised We level the foundation.

Phase 1... Flatten all the mounds.

The ancient egyptians toiled Without wheels,

Cranes, gasoline engines, Or electricity.

But they did have A genius design

And a lot of brute strength.

The egyptians did have A trick or two.

They used water to wet The desert sand.

At our disposal.

Narrator: ashraf mohi Is the general director

Of the giza plateau.

He says the pharaohs Were more than politicians...

They were religious leaders.

Building the pyramids Was a national project.

So all of the egyptians Were participating

To build the house of god.

What about today? There's no motive.

Narrator: we don't have The benefit of the same

Religious fervor, but we might Have a different motivator

This is called the house of god.

There's a lot of ego involved In building a structure

That will last For thousands of years.

People like to leave legacies.

People like to leave Their marks on this planet.

Narrator: we want to build A wonder for the modern world.

And that's one heck of a mark.

And that mission will guide Every decision

We make about our Modern day greater pyramid.

Where will we build it?

Can we even pull it off?

Maybe we can skip Most of the electricity.

It really depends on the utility Of what you're trying to build.

Narrator: from the outside, It looks like modern technology

Has a fighting chance.

This is a deceptively simple Design the size of a mountain,

Intended for someone who was Both ruler and high priest.

And we have to plan Everything, too.

How long will that take?

Where will we get The right people?

What will we make it out of?

I can get 3,000 people to build The pyramid for 20 years.

Can you convince them nowadays?

I don't think so.

Narrator: it's a king-sized job Lining up all the parts, pieces,

And people we need.

In fact, experts think it may Not even be possible

For one key reason.

Why not? Because we Are missing the motive...

The religious motive.

We're calling in the best Engineers in the world.

Of the mound. It was built in the mound.

It's like a hump.

Narrator: our foundation can't Be left to chance.

If we choose the wrong location, We could end up with

Something like this... The infamous bent pyramid,

Built for khufu's dad, sneferu,

The angle had to be changed Mid-construction

Because the pyramid Was starting to collapse.

So we're insisting on a stable Base for our pyramid.

If you go inside the pyramid, You will see the remains

Some of the top guns Are at work in canada

On what's going to be The tallest building

In the country...

Over 80 floors of high-end Retail and condos.

That requires a sure footing.

Crowder: so if i was going to Build a pyramid today,

The first thing, As with any structure

That you want to build,

The key is making sure You have a good foundation.

This is a world heritage site.

How will we build this thing?

How long will it take?

How many people will we need?

And how much will The whole thing cost?

But before we start building,

It's all about location.

If we want to build it In the most exclusive

Pyramid neighborhood, The giza plateau is it.

But buyer beware.

Well, then we can Skip the plumbing.

It won't be easy To get permission.

But we have a bigger problem With this site.

Is this really "terra firma"?

It supported three great Pyramids for over 4,000 years.

But can it handle over 100,000 More tons of rock?

It's wrong. It wasn't flat.

It was a mound in there.

Narrator: other experts say The ancient egyptians

Built on bedrock.

Looming monuments to some of Egypt's most powerful rulers.

Narrator: our job is to go Head-to-head with history

To find out just how far Centuries of progress

Have taken us.

We're on the job site of one of The world's greatest wonders,

And we're wondering, How long would it take,

How much would it cost, How many workers would we need?

Could we even do it If we built it today?

Cairo, capital of egypt.

Its skyline is dwarfed

By the pyramids Of the giza plateau...

Can high-tech know-how Measure up?

The pyramid of pharaoh khufu Stands above all the rest.

If you can build a pyramid, You can do anything!

Narrator: Among the largest constructions

The world has ever seen.

It's big. It's really big. It's really huge.

I'm talking about 147 meters High, okay, and about 12 acres.

It's really huge.

Narrator: how high?

More than 40 stories.

The ancient egyptians built Such a magnificent structure.

Defining symbol In ancient egypt,

The oldest and biggest Of the pyramids at giza.

The great pyramid is one Of the ancient seven wonders

That still exist.

Narrator: A symbol of secrets, mysteries,

And the lost knowledge Of the ancients.

And after 4,000 years,

It still inspires awe.

Experts are still undecided on How exactly

How wide?

But how would we build it today?

It's very simple... Just show me the money.

We can build anything you like.

Narrator: so we're rounding up The heaviest equipment,

The latest technology, And all the money it would take.

What have we learned?

What have we lost?

What have we forgotten?

We're pitting modern machines Against ancient innovations.

Fares: i think if we incorporate The knowledge we have today

Know-how, artistry, And inspiration

Just doesn't exist anymore.

But this modern Mega-developer thinks

He could build something better

If he had a budget that Matched his ambitions.

We can build it definitely Better, last longer,

And probably more sexier And more sophisticated.

Narrator: armed with new Technology, francis fares says

He could create a modern icon To rival this relic.

But the people who know pyramids Best claim this kind of

And the technology, we can do it Much better, much faster,

And much more In an interesting way

That reflect The culture of today.

Narrator: it won't be cheap, But fares and his team

Do have a factors In their favor.

I mean, let's think about it A little bit.

Is this just a lone Standing object

That doesn't require plumbing?

If you're not going to Have people in it,

Mathematics, and muscle power.

10 football fields.

200 levels of stone, A total of six million tons,

Each block as big as an s.u.v.

What about the blocks?

2,300,000 blocks!

The average of the weight Of the blocks...

Some blocks about two tons,

And some blocks this wide, 60 tons.

Narrator: A marvel of management,

The key to that is making sure

A source of pride To modern-day egyptians.

A testament to one of the Longest-lasting civilizations

In history.

Archeologist Zahi hawass literally

Wrote the book on ancient egypt.

Wael fathi morsi is The antiquities inspector

At this celebrated site.

If egyptians could do this over 4,000 years ago,

Surely modern engineering could Build it even bigger and better.

Take a look at city hall In calgary, canada.

The memphis, tennessee, pyramid Are predicted to last 150 years.

That's not a long enough life Span for a pyramid in egypt.

We want our pyramid to last At least 4,000 years,

Just like khufu's.

To give it longevity, I would stick to the granite

Or the stone.

Narrator: but building for Eternity doesn't come cheap

Or happen fast.

Our pyramid will have to endure

Mother nature's Increasing wrath.

The steel construction materials Used to create

This heritage building Is currently under cover.

It's constructed of sandstone.

And over a century Of harsh canadian winters

Has taken its toll.

100 years Is a good length of time,

But it's nothing compared To the 4,000 years

Of the pyramid at giza.

Narrator: darrell bell is The director of

Facility management At the city of calgary.

Into a retail destination of Bass pro shops at they pyramid.

Narrator: doomed to flood And flail,

It was the wrong pyramid in the Wrong place at the wrong time.

The city's basketball team Headed for high ground in 2004.

Three years later, The whole thing was shut down.

Even elvis would have Left the building.

Demolition loomed.

But a new tenant decided To go with the flow.

They built a water feature Right into their renovation.

The 500,000 square feet of the Pyramid has been transformed

Bell: we're just going into A major rehabilitation now.

So right now, we're walking

On to what used to be The arena floor.

We used to have Lebron james here.

We had the rolling stones Play here.

As you can tell, It looks nothing like

An arena floor anymore.

Narrator: the saga of Tennessee's tomb of doom

May be amusing to some, But this would be no joke

If it happened near The banks of the river nile.

Alongside these Modern skyscrapers,

And we have big cutting plants That can shape

The stones off-site And then bring them in.

The skill of stone masonry Remains a hands-on skill

With hammers and chisels And compasses for curves,

So it really has changed very, Very little over the time,

Actually, over the period.

Narrator: Calgary is an oil town.

The boom times have financed A forest of high-rise

Architecture In the city's downtown.

That makes it much quicker.

The old city hall does not

Appear to stand The test of time.

We've said it before... We're gonna need a harder rock,

One that can take Abuse for at least 4,000 years.

So the labor will be expensive,

But we have to use stone For longevity.

Now we just have To decide what kind.

For natural stones, i would say That sandstones, limestones,

And granites would be The most commonly used.

That we used to have hundreds Of years ago no longer exist

Narrator: Every single stone here

Has to be doctored or ditched.

Treatments can range all the way From a very basic clean

All the way through To a complete replacement.

We don't build With stone much anymore

Because of the expense of Extracting it from the ground.

Primarily, that's one of The reasons

Why we don't see So many stone buildings.

The other one is The skilled workers

And early 2000s, it will forever Be the tomb of doom.

Because times have moved on And construction methodologies

Are now more on steel And concrete and glass.

Narrator: get this.

One of the oldest professions Is not what you think.

It's stone masonry.

The only real difference Is how you extract

The stone and cut it.

So now we have Mechanical methods

Of taking the stone From the ground.

Crowder: so you wouldn't want To build it on a peat bog

Narrator: so, what can this Lightweight tower tell us

About our heavy hitting Modern pyramid?

Narrator: structural engineer Kevin maclean is part of

The team responsible for The construction of

This modern tower, Which will eventually be

The tallest one in canada.

Still, its 165,000 tons Don't hold a candle

To the modern pyramid We have in mind.

Our foundation will be At least six million tons.

Are quite A lot heavier than that.

Or in loose sands or soils, Things like that.

You want a solid foundation.

So very much like What we've done here,

We've carried the loads Very far down on to bedrock.

In the case of a pyramid, You'd want to build that

Right on bedrock Or right on very dense soils.

Narrator: our location Fits the bill.

The ground under the giza Plateau is solid limestone.

And we'll construct Our new pyramid

A good foundation provides A level base

You do a proper Geotechnical investigation

To determine the strength And distribution of those

Good soils Or rock below the site.

Narrator: geotechnical engineers Like jason crowder

Know before anything goes up, Something must go down.

My job is to look at the actual Resistance of the soils or rock,

And factor those loads Or resistances down.

Narrator: that means predicting How sturdy the ground is

And designing The right foundation.

Out of the same rock It will sit on.

And distributes The weight evenly.

Despite it being 1,000 feet tall And a very large building,

The loads that we're carrying

Are actually quite a bit less In terms of the gravity loads

Than what you'd see In the pyramids.

Narrator: kevin maclean is A structural engineer.

He makes sure the things We build don't fall down.

Maclean: our building's Self-weight is around

150,000 metric tons, Whereas the pyramids, obviously,

Was short-lived.

It turns out we're not the first People to ask that question.

Check out this pyramid, Not too far from elvis presley's

Graceland in memphis, tennessee.

It's a project that was inspired By another memphis...

Memphis, egypt, Just outside cairo.

It was supposed to be A super-sized stadium

On the banks of the mississippi,

A river almost as long As the river nile.

But the excitement surrounding The pyramid's opening

What material might be mighty Enough if we built it today?

When the pyramid opened in 1991, It actually flooded

On the very first night That it was open to the public.

Narrator: today, the only Sports fans it attracts

Are the ones who like to fish.

And they don't have to go far To find a catch.

Every time the river floods, The pyramid does, too.

When they pyramid was an arena,

It was known As the tomb of doom.

And i think that for memphians That were here in the '90s

Identical to what towers above And sits below

That's how they did it during Ancient egypt's 4th dynasty,

By utilizing the natural Macadam rock formation.

Take a look at The nearby sphinx.

Its head is carved from stone From the macadam hills in cairo.

Layer number one used to be An ocean reef.

Hard to believe 50 million years ago,

This arid land was under water.

The middle is shale.

And it's all topped off With egypt's hardest limestone,

Narrator: The great pyramid of khufu,

One of the most visited Historic sites in the world.

The great pyramid Was once encased

In shining white stone.

But that was loosened by An earthquake and repurposed

As building material for Nearby mosques and fortresses.

After 4,000 years,

The great pyramid of giza Isn't looking its best.

Our new construction Needs to last forever.

If limestone isn't up To the task,