When I was a child I loved to play with blocks. As an adult I got to play with bigger blocks. There is something about messing with monstrously heavy loads and using machinery to place them exactly where you want.
One of the reasons I like tilt-up construction, in addition to being quick and efficient because you just rig forms for the perimeter of a slab, is that once the concrete sets you have to stand it up and place it. Nothing like rigging a lift, moving a 10' by 25' hunk of reinforced concrete, placing it right where you want it, and having everything line up and fit. Once the panels are poured and cured you come in and the building goes from bare slab foundation to substantially built in a couple of hours.
Of course on that sort of job you usually call in one or more massive cranes and other heavy equipment. Huge chunks of steel with diesel engines, elaborate hydraulic systems, and a small team of operators, mechanics, and tenders.
But what if there weren't any modern diesel monstrosities around? Not even horses. What then? This isn't a new problem.
Let's look back at at how our ancestors did it.
http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2010/03/history-of-human-powered-cranes.htmlThat's enough to give Bob the Builder heart palpitations. Even if he won't have his mechanized friends to work with. Yes ... we can.
While your there check out some of the other entries.
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