Castors and the Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is a long-stretching wall of stone that was originally built to protect the northern border of China from attacks and intrusions during the 5th century BC. The wall has been added to on numerous occasions and, as of the 21st century, stretches 5,500 miles in length. Castors would have made the building of such a monstrous project easier and quicker.

It is made mostly from brick and various stone in its present form. However, when the first sections were constructed, it mainly consisted of rammed earth. Even with it being made out of rammed earth, it can be easily determined that castors would have made the project much simpler. The carrying of that much earth and making it a compact, hardened form, by hand, must have been a pain in every muscle and joint of the assembly line’s bodies.

Not to mention later in history when they started using stone and brick in the building of the wall. The span of this wall is 5,500 miles! That’s a lot of carrying to do just to construct a wall. Not to mention the proportions of the wall in various spots. The "North Pass" of the Juyongguan pass, consists of stone and bricks from the hills. This part of the Great Wall alone is 25.6 feet tall and 16.4 feet wide. We’re talking 5,500 miles of the same dimensions that are all made up of the same heavy bricks and stones. Castors would have made moving the stones and bricks a much quicker task.

If the aspect of its dynamic proportions isn’t enough, consider the land that the wall stretches over. The wall runs almost everywhere! It isn’t simply a nice straight wall on flat land. Back during the Ming Dynasty, invasions happened anywhere; invaders didn’t knock on the front door and simply sneak in. They had to construct the wall to protect themselves from all attack points, which was nearly the whole northern border of China. Ironically enough, a Castor system may have been a way for the attackers to make it over the wall easier.

The people who constructed the wall not only had to carry the bricks and stones from wherever they may have originally been, but they had to carry them over the most rugged of conditions. They had to move them from one place to another, over hills and mountains, and even place them on the sides of hills and mountains. With the mighty invention of Castors, they could have easily knocked down the time it took to move the bricks drastically.

That’s not even adding in the fact that the wall is almost 26 feet tall in certain places. The bricks have to make it on top of other bricks somehow. Using Castors, that could have been easily automated and less of a hectic task. Even using some sort of stair system, who wants to carry a brick or stone, no matter what the size may be, 26 feet high just to place it down and go grab another? The Great Wall of China could have been built much quicker provided innovative creations at the time.