A Beacon of Knowledge

Recovering a Viable 'Alternative' Technology.

Built c300BC, the Pharos was damaged by an earthquake c1000AD but continued to operate in a slightly reduced capacity until totally ruined by a further series of earthquakes c1300AD. However, from images on coins and pottery and from written descriptions, a significant amount is known about what was arguably one of the world’s earliest tourist Mecca’s. Clearly far more than simply a lighthouse, well over a dozen unique and highly specific features will be described in detail that go toward defining its hidden secrets and true purpose.

In the simplest terms, the lighthouse was built primarily to produce a supply of fresh water for the new city of Alexandria. The water was extracted from the air by the unique mechanisms of its construction and was delivered to the city by a viaduct. The basic principle of its operation was to amplify the energy differentials within the atmosphere to create the vortex seen in Nature only as the eye and eyewall at the heart of a cyclone, undoubted the most powerful weather phenomena known to Man.

The Pharos achieved this using a series of vortex generators and energy storages for the generated vacuum and for hot and cold water. To understand how all this was achieved it is necessary to understand some of the subtleties and characteristics of ring vortexes as described in 'How the Weather Works'.

By sequentially combining the known characteristics of various vortexes with the known or reported detail of the Pharos it has been possible to reverse engineer the basic mechanisms of how it must have worked. Each clue has been assessed on the basis of its unique contribution and how it might possibly relate to the design imperative of the viaduct and the apparent implication made from this, that the Lighthouse MUST have produced fresh water. To top

The Defining Features of the Pharos Lighthouse.

There were a number of contemporary works around Alexandria of an equally massive scale. The massive double harbour (still one of the largest artificial harbours in the world) and the 50km Alexandria navigable canal can both be shown as entirely relevant parts of the same total project and, with one significant exception (that may yet be detected at the bottom of the harbour), all the essential elements are revealed in various ways in the evidence that remains. By reverse engineering from the known physical details of the lighthouse, a blueprint is provided of a technology that artificially enhanced and then used the exact same vortex mechanisms found in Nature in the largest of storms. To top

1.Location.

The lighthouse was built on the Mediterranean coast c300BC around 50km west of the Nile delta, on the island of Pharos in a shallow lagoon around 1km-2km from the newly established city of Alexandria. A lengthy navigable canal brought Nile water to the city but it would have been of relatively poor quality. The Pharos would have reprocessed it and made it completely clean and pure as well as making the heat storage system more efficient.

By siting the city on a shallow lagoon and channelling in nominally fresh water from the Nile, the followers of Alexander were able to continue the development of a Utopian scheme. Although its full scope is yet to be fully appreciated it certainly challenges anything of an equivalent scale attempted in our modern era. To top

2. Height.

The total height of the lighthouse was defined as 300 cubits. With a cubit recognised as being at somewhere between 400mm-500mm this gives a the total height  of between 117m-150m. However, by today’s standards, even the minimal interpretation (117m) would still rate the structure as by far the tallest dedicated lighthouse in history and certainly the most elaborate.  

Logically. It would thus seem entirely probable that its role as a lighthouse was merely a secondary or bonus feature that more easily and specifically caught the public eye and imagination. As easily equivalent to a modern 40 storey building, its extraordinary height is highly evidential in numerous ways, as discussed later. To top

3. The Viaduct.

The very existence of the viaduct made it the defining feature of the Lighthouse and of my research in relation to the building's  true purpose. Although modern science has commonly assumed the viaduct to have merely been a supply ramp for bringing fuel to the site, its placement, design and the scale of its construction all clearly indicated otherwise. The logic of building a viaduct 'for the use of donkeys and/or donkey carts' is also totally invalid on any number of grounds not least of which is the cost benefit.

Aqueducts

From around 6m above the Lighthouse plaza (~12m AMSL), the 16 massive arches of the viaduct led to a high embankment and on down at a modest gradient all the way to Alexandria. Nowadays, viaducts are sometimes built to carry trains or traffic but in ancient times a viaduct of this type was exclusively built to carry water. Ipso facto, since the viaduct clearly led down and away from the lighthouse, then logically the lighthouse must surely have produced fresh water.

The puzzling question of “How could this be?” has been answered by the recovery a whole library of lost technologies all based on the phenomena of atmospheric vortexes and more specifically on one specific vortex, the Inverted (Horizontal) Ring Vortex (IRV). Available in either of two orientations, 'normal' and 'inverted' (ie NRVs and IRVs respectively), it is the more powerful and more complex IRV  is defined in the ruins at Alexandria. To top

4. The Viaduct's location and detail

Viaducts require very little gradient and the city of Alexandria was no more than 2km away and generally low-lying, so I soon began questioning why the viaduct was connected to the tower in such an odd manner. Forming a channel at least 2m wide, the viaduct joined the tower at least 5m above the plaza and the plaza itself was a similar height above sea level.  

When the plaza itself was clearly high enough to supply the gradient needed to carry water to the city, there had to be a previously unrecognised design imperative ?

Since it was clearly a deliberate and very costly design feature, the evidence of the viaduct became seminal in defining the technology behind its construction. Its somewhat anomalous features are critical indicators of both purpose and the design imperatives behind the construction. Ultimately, the full solution came in two parts. The first part lay, predictably, in the engineering imperatives of the primary technology. The second, more specifically, in the building’s secondary but immensely profitable role as a tourist Mecca. To top

It is generally accepted that:

       (a) the tower was built in 3 distinct sections upon a walled plaza that itself stood around 5m-6m above the encircling sea.

       (b) the viaduct connected to the tower, agan at around 5m-6m above the plaza.

       (c) if the building produced water (as by now seemed self-evident), then (c300BC) it must have done so using some form of solar technology that also, logically, must in some way be evident in the tower’s design.

As will be shown, it is inherent in the basic desalination technology involved, that water is produced within the structure in two quite separate ways. The majority is produced on the external surface of (pottery or metal) heat exchanger panels. These panels are cooled either by the cold water that is run through them and/or by simply sucking air into the sealed panels through a few tiny holes . In the second instance, it is the extreme and rapid drop in air pressure that provides the majority of the cooling but it also creates something of a dilema because the water has the potential to freeze up the workings and cause damage.  To top

Whichever method is used, a significant source of vacuum is a near-essential operational ingredient that I will return to. The water condensing on the outside of these cold panels is no problem since it simply runs off and can easily be carried away by the viaduct. This water is essentially pure rain water and entirely potable and perfect for a city supply.

 could be drawn off easily  that are held at relatively low pressure by the tower’s internal mechanism. If this very cold water could be drawn off it would have very obvious commercial potential at what has long been acknowledged as a tourist Mecca

Without an electric pump (obviously not available c300BC) the water produced inside the panels cannot be drawn off to take advantage of its obviously  high commercial tourist  unless a simple but quite specific provision is built into the building’s design. To counteract the low pressure inside the panels, the drain outlet for the water must be placed significantly lower than the rest of the system to prevent air being sucked back up into the heat exchangers and thus breaking the vacuum. Quite simply, that 'specific provision'  perfectly explains the vertical separation of the viaduct above the plaza floor.

Even today, in a warm climate, chilled fresh, pure water has obvious and significant commercial potential. However, within the mechanism of a heat exchanger it is actually a physical liability as it may flood the system, making it inefficient or, even worse, freeze and cause irreparable mechanical damage. The small quantity of cold water could simply be dumped back into the sea or, alternatively, the system could in theory be shut down to allow it to be drained off as the pressures equalised. However, if the viaduct is raised a significant height above the plaza, a simple siphon mechanism makes it possible to extract the cold water at the plaza level without interrupting the operation in any way. Then, before it has a chance to warm, that pure, cold water can be sold at a very significant profit. To top

In this final option the operators gain in three quite significant ways, producing a truly win-win-win situation.

            i) They obtain a small quantity of very valuable, very cold, pure water.

           ii) In suitably removing the fresh water, the water remaining in the system becomes increasingly saline. This heavy brine can be returned to the halocline pool making it more saline and thus more efficient as a storage medium, and

           iii) Any risk of freeze-ups within the mechanism is totally avoided. Design imperatives demand that the height of the separation between plaza and viaduct be sufficient to prevent air being sucked back up into the system and gives a strong indication of the working vacuum within the system. [Depending upon salinity, ~13.6 inches of water gauge = ~1millibar (1mb of mercury, ie barometric pressure).

The absolute maximum practical height separation is shown twice in the Pharos at ~4m or 120 inches. This roughly translates into ~400mb of suction. In  practice the system would probably operate at around half of this figure, [ie 200mb].

The design features of a solar-powered water extraction plant were based on the above assumptions and upon the application of vortex technology, as  defined elsewhere. To top

5. Plaza (~5m AMSL)

Surrounded by water, the walled Plaza platform was undoubtedly an essential and highly significant feature in the building’s structural design and purpose. If my analysis is correct the plaza was also essentially the roof of a massive water-filled energy reservoir held under a partial vacuum. Evidence to support this conclusion is found in the Qait Bey, the fort built in the ruins of the original tower. The fort is still partly surrounded by a massive fresh water cistern, apparently used as a reservoir for emergency use should the fort ever be put under siege. However, in the cisterns still remaining there is strong evidence that salt contamination would  have been a major problem. Although fresh water would undoubtedly have been stored as well,  it was not in the cisterns that have survived. It would seem clear therefore, these particular cisterns were originally used for something else, presumably as a part of the vacuum storage  system for this novel solar-powered technology as previously deduced.

The construction of a canal and a new double harbour indicate that separate halocline pools were quite deliberately established in the new inner and outer harbours to store reserves of both hot and cold water, again as a form of energy storage. Halocline (saline) pools can  store water at 5^oC-10^oC above and/or 20^oC-25^oC below the ambient norm. It therefore seems entirely likely that in normal operation, reserves of hot and cold water would have been used separately as a form of stored energy differential. Warm water from  the shallow saline reservoir of the inner harbour was  drawn into the low-pressure plenum beneath the plaza. The high temperature and low pressure would significantly increase in surface evaporation and would be flushed in and out on a regular basis to maximise its value as a natural source of heat energy. To top

Water from the second (colder) halocline pool in the outer harbour was drawn into a separate chamber. Extracted from the deeper water of the open sea, it was pumped to the top of the tower by a number of suction pumps operated in series on the stored vacuum. Sequentially, each pump would automatically raise the water between 2m-4m. Alternatively, and using less energy, a similar effect could be achieved by circulating some of this water through a secondary siphon system and a series of heat exchangers.

The cold water was used in the main coolers to encourage condensation on the outer surfaces of heat exchanger panels, in much the same way as water forms on the outside of a cold bottle of beer or soda taken from the fridge.

The precise detail of how the system operated is of no great importance as there are clearly many possibilities given differing initial circumstances. What is significant is that all would rely upon the availability of a significant source of vacuum. Tests suggest a 10% (100mb) reduction in surface pressure (to ~910mb) is easily attainable with a relatively small and simple vortex generator and significantly more would seem entirely achievable. Indeed, as already detailed there are two defined clearances

           (a) between the viaduct and the plaza (~4m-5m), and

           (b) between the internal plaza roof and the Mean Sea Level (MSL) below, also at ~4m-5m.

Both possibilities suggest a pressure differential of at least 20%-30% (a 200mb-300mb) drop in atmospheric pressure to ~ 810mb. With normal commercial practice commonly running at somewhat below the maximum possible , this is entirely in line with projections from the tests carried out so far. To top

Commercial Incentives

It would seem clear the primary goal of this whole complex was to amplify ambient temperature and pressure differentials in order to condense off the water naturally held as vapour in the atmosphere.

The noted features of the design can all be shown as serving to enhance these effects. With the exception of the area immediately surrounding the tower and walled plaza (that would be fed with cool, dry waste air from the heat exchangers), the operation of this technology would significantly raise the humidity around the lighthouse complex, to a radius of at least 300m. An air-conditioned plaza on a hot day at the heart of this region of humidity would have been a singularly unique attraction for wealthy patrons. To top

6. Plaza Sealing and design imperatives

The lighthouse was built in stone and massively constructed and in places the plaza and tower were both sealed with what is described as a lead mortar.

The discovery of lead, especially as a mortar, is another clear indicator of the role and the design purpose of the building. It also proves  that lead was available for other plumbing roles. However, I suspect that the lead as a mortar was not an original design feature  but was poured in, in molten form into cracks in the structure that developed as a result of earthquakes. [As a construction medium, lead makes no sense, however as the repair medium for a massive vacuum chamber built of stone, it is totally brilliant.] To top

Storing Vacuum, Cold and Heat

Within my reconstruction, the plaza acted as a reservoir of water and air held at low pressure. A vortex generator high in the tower provided a vacuum to supply a series of heat exchangers in the accommodation rooms. The reservoirs and the heat exchangers were otherwise only open to the waters of halocline (saline) pools deliberately developed in the deeper sections of the inner and outer harbour.

Separate halocline pools would be kept as a source of a temperature differential above and below the mean ambient conditions. One pool would be relatively warm, the other very cold.

By drawing cold water from deeper out in the sea and applying a vacuum, the cold water storage in a halocline could at times be developed at anything down to 4^oC . Most commonly, however, it would be perhaps 10^oC-20^oC below the ambient norm, possibly depending on the time of day. Warm water storage is limited by the water's salinity. With a heavy brine layer developed beneath fresh water, the storage can be kept at a maximum of around 10^oC-15^oC above the temperature of fresh water at the surface. At night the surface water would  be warmer than the surrounding air, conditions ideal for the release of vapour. The energy.stored in the deeper, salty water would 'upset' and maintain this vapour release for far longer than would otherwise occur but the inverted differntial would need to be re-established each day with the steady, non-tubulent release of fresh water across the surface of the harbour. To top

7. Tower–1st Stage.(~90m-100m AMSL)

Encompassing well over half the tower’s total height, at around 100m, the square main tower section was the largest and most visually impressive part of this complex. According to numerous sources, the square tower had a (sealed?) hollow circular core surrounded by a spiral staircase and around 50 rooms or suites for visitor accommodation.

The very recent discovery on the I/net ( Figs 1 & 2 ) show the external appearance and internal workings of the Lighthouse tower. I had long ago deduced the design imperative of tower's  core being a vortex generator, but the image (Fig 2) appears to take my analysis even further, apparently showing not just one but three vortex generators, stacked in series.

Taken from the www.shipwrecksofegypt.com web site, a more detailed provenance of the image is apparently unavailable but what it shows is still nothing less than extraordinary, providing powerful confirmation of my earlier conclusions. To top

The engineering imperatives of the structure as a water producing mechanism define the hollow core and base of the tower as the plenum of the vacuum system that caused air to be drawn down through the tower and out to. a ring of pyramids (or thermal towrs) surrounding the lighthouse at a radius of ~200m . [The initial 1st-stage vacuum was created by convection within the ring of thermal towers(see Fig 3.) ].

Heat exchanger panels in every room of the accommodation section would have been fed with cold water by suction pumps powered from the vacuum system. In operation, the panels produced a constant supply of cool, fresh air and fresh water that no doubt, was readily available to wealthy guests using syphoning techniques in series from the floor above. To top

8. Tower–2nd Stage. (~110m+ AMSL)

On top of the square accommodation section, the Pharos Lighthouse is especially noted for the highly distinctive, octagonal middle section of the tower. The engineering imperatives plus a simple test clearly define this section as a Vortex Generator and/or Amplifier.

A modern electric vacuum cleaner can easily provide an initial suction of 100” w/g (250mb) but in Alexandria (c300BC), the 1st-stage suction to drive the whole system can only have been produced by warm, vapour-filled air, rising by convection. Even enhanced within a ring of 1st-stage vortex generators, this initial Stage-1 suction would probably be limited to 5”-10” w/g, at most. However, when this initial, Stage 1 suction was applied to the main vortex generator the results were amplified significantly (~8:1) and were thus sufficient to drive an "Alternative" Technology in many ways simpler and more powerful than anything developed in our modern era. To top

The basic, limiting factors of what Nature could provide have served to guide my research and, with the evidence on site, have made it possible to ultimately define the primary drive mechanism.

My tests with a vortex generator of identical, octagon design have shown that, even without additional enhancements (some of which were clearly available, even c300BC), this type of vortex generator can amplify a basic (Stage 1) vacuum source by a factor as high as 8 or even 10:1. Thus, from an initial vacuum source of a relatively low 5 inches w/g, the small (200mm high) octagonal test rig on my model has generated over 42inches w/g (~100mb). In the Pharos, this octagonal section was closer to 15m high and the advantages of scale would most certainly have applied to some degree. The higher (Stage 2) vacuum would have been applied sequentially to lift cold, salty water in order to produce fresh water condensate on the special heat exchange panels. Any condensate forming within the vacuum systems would have been drawn off by a separate siphon system as previously discussed.

A simple vortex generator was the primary mechanism needed to amplify the partial vacuum essential to the workings of the whole machine. A multi-facetted (ie octagonal) tower is about ideal in shape for this purpose, able to create a far stronger vacuum from a more modest source of suction. To top

9. Tower–3rd Stage.(~115m AMSL)

Descriptions vary somewhat but clearly this final, top section of the tower had a basically round cross-section. According to contemporary reports, it was also apparently capped with a pergola where the (nominal) lighthouse signal fire was produced.

It is thought that as the pressure within the system reached its operational level, additional air was progressively allowed in through the top of this final, top section to allow the mechanism to access cooler, drier air from higher in the atmosphere. In the process, it created what was essentially an inverted tornado funnel. More significantly, cooling from this inverted linear vortex (ILV) helped anchor, trigger and sustain the primary IRV circulation in the air surrounding the tower.

Once an Atmospheric Cyclone Effect (ACE) vortex was established around the tower, by its reaction with the surface of the sea, it developed the characteristic horizontal core of an inverted ring vortex (IRV). Unrestrained in any way, the vortex core would form with its axis centred in the air over the lagoon approximately level with the top of the lower tower (ie ~100m AMSL, see diagram). To top

Once fully established, the ACE became self-sustained in precisely the same manner as occurs within the eye of a natural cyclone in similar circumstance. As a direct consequence, the atmospheric pressure in and around the tower would be significantly reduced. Controls within the tower would maintain some control of these effects but the encircling ACE vortex was now essentially limited in its expansion only by the close proximity of dry land and a ring of pyramids. [The one essential ingredient for vortex expansion is a stable source of vapour. Producing little to no vapour, the proximity of the dry land was a natural limiting force to the size of the ACE phenomena.]

The physical design indicators given by the Pharos tower indicate a working pressure drop well in excess of 100mb and potentially as high (?low) as 200mb-400mb. This is far in excess of my initial goal in developing this technology, which was to approximately replicate the pressure drop demonstrated in a major (Category 5) storm that rarely exceeds 100mb (ie 910mb barometric pressure).[The record barometric reading in Nature, of 871mb, (a drop of ~140mb) was recorded in 1979 Pacific cyclone Tip).

Whilst no immediate clues have yet been identified that prove the existence of the final pieces of the puzzle, (ie the source of the initial vacuum), the design imperatives and the author’s prior research nevertheless provide a ready answer. More on this shortly. To top

10. Fifty rooms of Visitor Accommodation.

The lighthouse was recorded as an instant social success and was arguably the first major tourist attraction in the world. Whilst 50 rooms or suites of accommodation might initially seem a lot, the claim is associated with the main tower, recorded as possibly 100m tall (ie Which, in modern terms equates to ~40 storey’s ).

How much of the tower was used for accommodation and how much for producing water? It seems logical to assume the two roles were integrated but if so, how did visitors get to the 40th floor? And did the building provide lifts? At least one source suggests a ‘dumb-waiter’ type arrangement for lifting the fuel for the lighthouse beacon but does this suggestion just hint at another and possibly far more realistic possibility, given the details of my reconstruction so far? To top

11. The Towers and Elevators.

A hollow core is a near-essential feature in meeting the engineering imperatives of my reconstruction and just such a feature is mentioned in two of the primary documents referenced (iii&iv). Apparently the existence of a hollow core was established in part from claims it was thought fuel was hauled to the top of the tower in a dumb waiter (lift arrangement), rather than by stairs. However, this observation also provides the obvious potential in reverse, for air to be drawn down through the hollow core.

In a counter-argument to sceptics, historically this feature is also significant in that if the tower did indeed have such a lift arrangement, what need would there have been for an extraordinary and expensive ramp? Logically, by this argument, with a slightly longer rope or multiple lifts, the fuel could have been lifted from ground level with no need for a ramp at all. To top

Within our present technology, logic would seem to suggests that only a steel cable could operate over such an enormous height without breaking under its own weight but in fact, under a vortex-based economy there are other possibilities.

          a) The shaft could have been split into a series of lifts or, and far more likely

          b) The basic, vortex technology, now indicated, could have been applied here as well.

The Pharos could have used a vacuum system in much the same way many major stores transfer their money in pods from cash desks to accounts departments. ie within vacuum tubes. Again, more later. To top

12. Estuarine Heat Traps.

In river estuaries with a steady but minimal flow of fresh water and a shallow entrance bar, a heavy layer of brine can become trapped beneath an upper layer of (fresher) river water. A relatively well researched phenomena, they can include elements of both a thermocline and halocline .

The establishment and maintenance of this phenomenon depends upon differentials in salinity and temperature that can be varied quite naturally or by design. As a primary heat exchange medium, a halocline layer has potential to act as a reservoir of either cold water or water somewhat warmer that the layer above, depending upon salinity. Whilst haloclines getting colder with depth are the norm, if mixing is sufficiently controlled, a heavily saline halocline can trap water in the depths far warmer (ie ~5oC-7oC) than the fresher water at the surface and possibly more. To top

The artificial harbour created at Alexandria is approximately 2km x 1km and is still one of the largest artificial harbours ever constructed. It is/was fed by the canal from the Nile that (originally) fed an outlet adjacent to the junction between the old and new harbours, making it entirely possible to control the feed either way.

The new harbour, comprising an Inner and Outer section, has two wide and relatively shallow entrances onto the eastern Mediterranean, making it potentially ideal as a halocline thermal reservoir. Whilst it was clearly deliberately engineered as a part of the total project, just how it was used remains to be tested. There are good arguments both ways for using a halocline pool in this situation for the storing of both cold water and/or warm water, although obviously in separate sections. To top

Since vortex technology benefits enormously by the suitable availability of moderate extremes of both hot and cold it would explain entirely why the harbour at Alexandria was so specifically divided into a separate sections, both separated from the old harbour to the west by the causeway and viaduct. In this situation and with suitable techniques it would seem entirely possible to create separate storage reservoirs of both hot and cold water.

Passed over a warm, shallow water and/or a wetted surface, heated air would be released as a humid ring of vapour from an unbroken circle of pyramids or similar structures set in the sea at a radius of around 200m from the central tower. Producing an unbroken ring of warm thermals, they would provide the major convective heat source to sustain IRV circulation and thus act as the primary energy trigger for starting the ACE mechanism.

In contrast, cold water is an ideal agent for chilling heat exchangers to induce condensation. Acting within the core of the tower, the cooling effect could be used to sustain an inverted ring vortex, centred on the tower. To top

13. Anomalous Funnels of 'Smoke'.

Contemporary images of the Pharos Lighthouse in various forms are relatively common and although not hard evidence they present yet another small anomaly that would seem to beg an alternative explanation.

The images in question commonly show what appear to be one or more swirling columns of smoke emanating from the top of the tower or (in this example) from numerous chimneys on the upper level balconies. Whilst smoke at night from a single signal fire at the top would not be unreasonable, the smoke would not in any case be seen in the dark. And conversely, a number of signal fires during the day from the tallest (and only) lighthouse on the planet (c300BC) would seem at best as more than somewhat superfluous. To top

It my analysis is correct it would seem possible the presence of these oddly swirling ‘smoke’ trails drew attention because the viewer recognised something distinctly odd about them and tried, as people do, to express the mystery in graphic form. It would seem entirely possible that instead of smoke these spirals were instead the vapour funnels of inverted tornado funnels created as air was drawn down into the upper sections of the tower. To top

Although not strictly proof, the extraordinary and anomalous nature of these images could be seen as further evidence of the use of the ACE mechanism, the most powerful atmospheric vortex phenomena known. If so, and more importantly, then these images might also give us some clues about how the mechanism was operated and controlled. Some sources show just one plume and others (as here) show a number and the plumes appear to rotate in different directions. This may be coincidence and it may in part relate to the damage created by earthquakes that progressively reduced the structure to ruins in the 14th century.

It is on record that after the first earthquakes the building continued to operate in a reduced capacity for many (possibly 300) years, so it’s entirely possible earthquake damage resulted in changes to the way the mechanism was operated and that this is reflected in later images. Whilst it’s something that may well be resolved with further experiments, it remains to be seen which is true since the images cannot be firmly dated. To top

14.The Plaza Colonnade.

It is generally agreed the plaza was totally surrounded by a totally walled and relatively narrow roofed colonnade. As a promenade for visitors it would  appear to raise some anomalies for if the plaza was built purely for the benefit of visitors surely the failure to include landscape views of the surronding harbour would seem an almost inexplicable omission. The feature is not likely to draw comment except in the light of the engineering imperatives of the building's newly rediscovered structural objectives.

However, if as I claim, the building was built as a desalination plant then, as far as was possible, every feature would have been built with the main objective very much in mind's eye of the engineers.  In a system designed to maximise ACE vortex rotation,  reverse engineering reveals the true purpose of the colonnade. To top

If the Pharos building was in essence the start mechanism for IRV rotation around the tower, as I claim, then the top of the colonnade would have been the transition point between the cold (contraction) and the hot (expansion) sides of the energy cycle. In this scenario, a perimeter channel of cold (salty) water along the top of this wall could been seen as a control mechanism.

Cold water flushed down the outside of the wall in the morning would dampen convection from the wall when it was first warmed by the sun, reducing any tendency for rising air to set up NRV rotation around the tower, (ie in opposition to the building's design purpose). However, once IRV rotation was established out over the sea then a reduced flow of salty water would serve in an entirely different role, as a significant contributor to the total energy of the whole system.

Salty water flowing down the walls and out over the surrounding rocks would absorb heat. With only a moderate flow, the heated stones would cause significant evaporation and the remaining very warm  and very salty water would sink to the bottom of the harbour when it ran into the surrounding sea. Highly enhanced salinity was an essential requirement for setting up a warm water halocline. To top

When the sun went down in the evening,  the ACE would be sustained long into the night by the energy returned to the surface by this warm water halocline. As it became less thermally stable, the halocline would upset and return the heated water to the surface, to release vapour to the outflowing winds of the vortex.

With an initial head of water, a hydraulic ram pump was probably then be used to automatically raise a lesser quantity of cold water to the top of the tower. There is evidence to show that both hydraulic rams and waterwheels were availbale from this approximate era.

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