How to create a seawall with medieval technology?
A seawall is basically a coastal defense to prevent waves and tsunamis. Let's suppose there is a town that is located in a lagoon next to the ocean, a sea version of Esgaroth, the lake town.
In this town, with a 16th century technology, is it possible to build a seawall with length of 5 kilometers in the ocean delta, like this?
This town basically encounters heavy storms more than thrice a year, and big waves (about 5 to 10 meters) hit the town. This causes hundreds to die and causes serious damage to the town. (This town earns money with trading.) But this town harbors more than tens of thousands, so hundreds might not have a serious impact. Also, the town will be located inside the seawall.
I did some research about seawalls and their materials, but it looks like a seawall made out of pebbles and stones might not be a good building material for this. Concrete would be a best solution, and I am not very sure whether 16th century technology can create tons of concrete and cement.
So the conditions are:
- Must use solid materials
- 5 kilometers of seawall
- Has to be stable enough to last a couple hundred years
- Maximum construction time: 30 years
Would it be possible to build a seawall with 16th century technology in these conditions? (Assume the town can provide infinite money and workers.)
This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/83082. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
1 answer
Yes, obviously, if stone materials are available. The pyramids were built, right? Stonehenge was built. The Roman Coliseum was built, and we know how.
Infinite money and workers means stone walls of great height and width can be built. Unlike the pyramids; it is not necessary to have huge stones that are problematic; just 'large' stones of one ton or so can be shaped (using other rocks) and moved by about 20 men (i.e. they must each carry 100lb some distance). Such rocks can be loaded on a barge and transported to their destination. twenty or forty men on the barge can lower the rock into the water. Divers (natural divers can dive a hundred feet, and hold their breath for minutes at a time) can guide them to put the stones in position. Likewise, using medieval (or even Roman) technology, such a sea wall could easily be built.
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