VIII. Read the following text and name some striking constructions, which you know

Master builder

Strength in stone

Stonehenge, England was begun nearly 5.000, years ago. The builders
had no machines, or even wheels lo help them. They Had to drag huge
blocks of stone, each weighing as much as 13 hippos, from 40km (25-
miles) away. The total hours worked by the builders of Stonehenge adds
up to 30 million hours.

Canal fever

The Panama Canal, which links the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, was built, between 1904-1014. To build the 82km (51 mile) long canal. 43,000 men dug up enough soil to cover over 14.000 soccer fields. Many workers died from yellow fever and malaria and two whole years were spent clearing the swamps where disease-carrying mosquitoes bred.

Marble marvel

The Taj Mahal in India look 20.000 labourers 20 years to complete. It is made of while marble inlaid with precious stones. The Taj was built by Emperor Shah jahan as a lomb lor his wife. On its completion, the emperor had the architect's head cut off to stop him designing a more beautiful building.

Roads for Romans

The Romans began building roads across their empire in about 312BC By AD200 they had built about 85,000 km (53.000 miles) of roads, enough to run twice around the world. The roads were so well built that some have lasted for over 2 000 years. Most modern roads last for less than 50 years.

Channel tunnel

In December 1990 French and British miners became the first people to walk

between the two countries since the Ice Age, 19.000 years ago when the Channel was dry land. To bore the Channel Tunnel deep under the sea between Britain and France, enough chalky soil was dug up to make a medium-sized town.

Volcano challenge

The 11 ер century chapel of Saint-Michel-d'Aiguilhe stands on an ancient extinct volcano near Le Puy France. Its builders had to haul their material and tools up to the top of the 79m (260ft) high cone in baskets.

Up, up in the air

Many of the steel frames for skyscrapers in the USA are put up by Mohawk Indians from Montreal, Canada. They walk across beams just wider than your foot, over 244m (800 ft) above ground.

At a gallop

The Tacoma Narrows Bridge in the USA was one of the worst ever engineering feats. In high winds, its deck swung up and down in giant waves. The bridge was intended to withstand winds of 190kph (120mph). Four months alter it opened, though, it collapsed in winds of 67kph (42mph).

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1220