The Pyramid Project
The Pyramid Project |
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Daily News - June 2008
28 June 2008 Platform advancing well The North-East and South-East corners were advanced this week which means we nearly have all the 8 "Spoke" beams in place. The pyramid base is now far stronger. When waves come the rafts tend to stay more unified. When all the "Spider" beams are in place the whole pyramid's base will act as a single unit in the water
27 June 2008 Seeking Corporate Sponsors
Thanks to Charlie, Katherine and project friend Jorge Moral we have made some great contacts with two large oil companies and we are asking them for corporate sponsorship. Confidential applications were made both on the same day. Perhaps one of them will be interested in helping the project One of our missions is researching renewable energy and another is reducing gasoline vehicles in cities so at first glance one might think that seeking to be in partnership with these guys is over ambitious because why would they support us? However, I am thinking that the offer of partnership gives them a chance to work with us on the problem of pollution and global warming. The long-term future for an oil company is to become an energy provider including the generation and distribution of renewable energies. The industry already has the infrastructure to transport inflammable liquids - that is currently petroleum but in the future it could be liquid hydrogen for example. Also the companies have the roadside infrastructure and motorists relations to say exchange battery fluid in order to recharge electrical vehicles The oil companies have been criticised for environmental damage and by partnering with them and developing a good relationship this project may be able to bridge the link between independent environmentalist concerns and the operational planners of the oil industry. Rather than confrontation it is far better to work in harmony $300,000 is required and so we may also be asking the big Peruvian telephone companies; Claro and Telefonica as I dare say we will need several sponsors to meet this sum We will also be looking for political support from the local Iquitos government, the Municipality - it may be possible to obtain a grant because we are developing tourism here, for example seeking to match Cusco's excellent tourist record. For those that worry that increased tourism will be harmful in the jungle please bear in mind that with the extra revenue from increased tourism many more environmental projects can be achieved. The Pyramid Project is dedicated to this end
21 June 2008 Plastic Bottle Experiments Over the next few weeks we should get the platform segregated into the spider web pattern so the compartments for the drums and bottles are ready. Today I was playing around with creating what I call "bottle bricks". The bottles are tied with wire into a 7 bottle hexagon which makes them easier to pack into spaces. The experiment was to see, without using gas in the bottles, how much water the bottles can displace
The bottle brick was lowered into the water and 5.1 litres were displaced, that's 5,100cm³
The brick itself is 25.5cm high with a diametre of 20cm. That means it has a volume of 8,011cm³ 5,100/8,011 = 64% ...using bottles with no gas in them, 64% of the volume will displace water. In the original dry experiment, with a random orientation of bottles, the number calculated was 57% so that is good news. In fact when I find the right gas to use I am hoping to get up to 70% because the bottles will not crush The 7 bottle brick pattern is a good idea because it means we can orientate all the bottles with caps down and the regular pattern utilises more volume displacing more water. The bottles with the non pressurised caps will be placed nearer the surface of the water where pressure is lower. The caps are placed downward so that if they fail the water is still not going to completely get in Even if life expectancy is as low as a few years clearly we can replace whole sections in a continuous maintenance program. Perhaps by ensuring no ultra violet light gets to them by enclosing them in light proof bags we can expand their life considerably Now we have to persuade half a million people in Iquitos to donate all their bottle to the pyramid for 3 months! Also we need to find a way to pressurise them. Dry ice has been suggested
20 June 2008 Lighting The Pyramid The past two weeks have been dominated in trying to sort out the solar energy and lighting the pyramid at night. We are making progress and can see that light at the end of the tunnel but it has been tough. The only lights we could get of a low enough electrical energy are not very good quality and break easily. They are non repairable. The problem has been squeezing them into a 1" thick transparent tube (to keep the rain out) whilst not accidently severing a cable by pulling too hard. We have found that using a transparent cooking oil has helped. Before you ask, no there is no transparent tubing thicker than this in the whole of Iquitos! Well, we'll get there and the next photo will hopefully be taken from the Boulevard at night showing the pyramid lit up
Improving the Platform More wood arrived last week and we are currently building 2 of the 4 diagonal spoke beams South-West corner and Emilio's team...
North-West corner and Westeban's team...
The two teams are racing for a bonus and it looks like Westeben's team will win We are also instigating talks with PlusPetrol, the local Peruvian oil company, to see if they can help the project by supplying 55 gallon (200 litre) oil drums for buoyancy (we need 5000). Obviously they would have to be decontaminated. I think it might be better to use these in conjunction with the plastic bottles. The idea of involving the oil industry with the Pyramid Project may too some seem counter to our beliefs. However, I believe it is better to work constructively with the industry to help them understand environmental issues rather than taking on a confrontational stance as most environmentalist do. The talks we will be having are a test of their willingness to pursue a relationship with the project. I'll keep you posted on that one!
07 June 2008 Settling In Living in the pyramid is tough at present because there is no electricity or water and the mosquitoes are a problem. Well one by one these problems must be solved. On Tuesday we should have solar energy installed which will run my computer and lights. Longer term we hope to drill for an underground water supply and when we have more areas enclosed in the pyramid the mosquitoes will be outside. Mosquitoes are generally a problem from dusk to dawn and the life recommendation of the pyramid is to "Sleep with the Sun"
From the Boulevard the pyramid is visible in the centre of the frame altho an exact GPS reading has not yet been taken and we may yet have to move. We are waiting for the water to get lower to do this because then it is easier to sound the river bed and discover the flattest location. The Navy have said we are good within 100m of the agreed GPS location An additional project is to light the pyramid up at night so that everyone in Iquitos can see it. This will aid promotion. It has been calculated how many Christmas Tree lights (white) are required... more to come on this
For the first time I am able to enjoy sunsets because there is a view West. Here you see the sun setting over Iquitos
06 June 2008 Move Successful! The pyramid is now safely stationed on the other side of the river with 7 of the 21 anchors in place. Waters are calm and a team continue to transfer the anchors. It took around 7 hours to move the pyramid. 5 boats were used. At one point the advance was so slow that I was worried we would lose the battle against the current but we changed strategy, cut thru the current at 90 degrees and got to the other bank where currents are more gentle. (In the shot below the Ankh is viewed side on)
It is very tranquil in the new location, the distant noises of the city are extremely faint. The sky is so black that you can see the Milky Way. The water is cleaner and currently 5m deep where we are We do not have electricity or water there yet and it has been difficult to post this news. We are planning to get some solar panels and light the pyramid at night
More photos to follow of the views from Iquitos
03 June 2008
Well wishers look on The pyramid is a spectacle and there is always a crowd watching the work altho there has been no media interest. Generally people think the pyramid is beautiful and are wishing us success. It is a shame we cannot stay here longer but the water is low and we must be gone. We are moving at 5am tomorrow morning, God willing. We asked for calm waters and still airs
Anchors raised There are 21 anchors around the pyramid. Each has around 15 bags of stones and each bag is around 35kg. That's over 10 tons of anchorage! By lunch time today the guys had lifted 2 of the anchors!
Contortionists... Jerry's team worked on correcting the diagonals across the top square. These need to be 18.1m. The South-East to North-West gap had to be closed 80cm! After this was done the other diagonal, which was too small before, was only 5cm out. For now this is close enough, when we add more iron later on we will get another chance to straighten out this work
02 June 2008 The Morning After... Today the men were tidying some of the welding. When we cross to the other side there will be no electricity for a while and possibly never the current necessary for industrial welding
There is still quite a bit of work to do. We have found that despite our best efforts there is distortion. This is slowly being corrected
The pyramid is very visible from every part of the Boulevard here in Iquitos
01 June 2008 The final Push All day the men worked to get the final top third of the pyramid in place. It was a magical moment when we raised the apex
Ankh Raised By 4pm the Ankh was raised, ready to be positioned above the apex
There were many spectators and a couple of people filmed the event. It was getting dark...
Finally by about 6pm, at 25m high, Jerry daringly lifted the Ankh into position and Phase 1 of The Pyramid Project was complete. I felt emotional. Thank you God for protecting this project
And the Celebration Began... Click here to see photos of the party!
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