Why is that Dutchman recently reported building his ark only half the size of Noah's?

Question

Is it true that you cannot build an ark as big as the one described in the Bible because wood is simply not strong enough and it would fall to pieces, what do you think? are there any structural engineers out there who could tell us?

Answer 1

I am dutch and the scale is 1:5.

Aside from the size issues, why do you think it took until the 1500s or so before the true big ships appeared (noah-sized, if you will, there were smaller boats way before that)? There is a minimum amount of technology needed before you can build ships that big. The technology simply wasn't available. People who do not know anything about ship-building maybe think it is just a matter of nailing some wood together but again, if it were that simple, why did it take so long before we saw the great armadas?

Here is an excellent article that thoroughly debunks the Noah myth:
http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/articles/8619_issue_11_volume_4_number_1__3_12_2003.asp

Answer 2

ARK

1. Noah’s ark was the provision by which forefathers of all mankind survived the global Deluge of 2370-2369 B.C.E. (See DELUGE; NOAH No. 1.) Detailed instructions were given to Noah by Jehovah as to its size, shape, design for light and ventilation, and materials to be used for its construction.—Ge 6:14-16.

Design and Size. The ark (Heb., te·vah′; Gr., ki·bo·tos′) was a rectangular chestlike vessel presumably having square corners and a flat bottom. It needed no rounded bottom or sharp bow to cut rapidly through the water; it required no steering; its only functions were to be watertight and to stay afloat. A vessel so shaped is very stable, cannot be easily capsized, and contains about one third more storage space than ships of conventional design. There was a door provided in the side of the ark for loading and unloading the cargo.

In size the ark was 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. Conservatively calculating the cubit as 44.5 cm (17.5 in.) (some think the ancient cubit was nearer 56 or 61 cm), the ark measured 133.5 m by 22.3 m by 13.4 m (437 ft 6 in. × 72 ft 11 in. × 43 ft 9 in.), less than half the length of the ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2. This proportion of length to width (6 to 1) is used by modern naval architects. This gave the ark approximately 40,000 cu m (1,400,000 cu ft) in gross volume. It is estimated that such a vessel would have a displacement nearly equal to that of the mighty 269-m (883 ft) Titanic of this 20th century. No cargo vessel of ancient times even slightly resembled the ark in its colossal size. Internally strengthened by adding two floors, the three decks thus provided gave a total of about 8,900 sq m (96,000 sq ft) of space.

And it had God's blessing. Noah was directed by God himself in its construction. It could not fail.
As a seaman, even I had a problem with the fact that it would have had to have been a carvel built hull. Planking edge to edge on the bottom and sides up to the waterline. But we must remember that Noah and the family were told to enter the Ark and Jehovah god himself closed the door. As the rains began, the water level would have risen slowly, thus giving the TIMBER hull time to slowly soak up water and expand to make it watertight. Just like modern timber hulls do today. When modern timber boats are built, there is quite a gap left between the planks to allow for such expansion. Packing is done with hemp.

Answer 3

well, from what I heard it was to scale.
I could be wrong.

also, an ark could be built that big...it just depends on the construction method.

arks are not ment to sail anywhere..just stay afloat, sorta like a huge barge.
because it doesn't need to move anywhere..just float, you can use many different ways to reenforce the structure that you could not use if you wanted it to sail anywhere.

also keep in mind, the bible does not go into details on it exact contruction..just size and a couple of features. So, nobody really knows how it was put together.

Think of it as a wooden floating island.

Answer 4

It depends on the wood or other material you build out of....

and, yeah, the Ark in the Bible is 3 times bigger than the one that guy built....

Answer 5

The other day my uncle Louis tried to build an ark of his own. I don't know what Noah used to build his but I can safely assume it wasn't old beer cans.

Answer 6

You just can't get the staff these days...

Also, come to think of it, this guy said it was his dream to build this, but I'm guessing "You're all gonna die if you don't, by the way" is a much stronger motivator to action, so Noah and the boys were probably working double-shifts.