Page 150 - A Walk to Caesarea / Joseph Patrich

136 Archaeological Review b
a

c

Fig. 151a–c
Proposed reconstruction of
the harbor’s construction
process:
a. A form into which fill

material and marine
concrete was poured
b. Construction of the
casting forms on the shore
and their towing into the
water
c. Linking the casting forms,
filling them, and the
construction of the stone
quay above them

after being submerged. Each had a single outer wall all around, and a kind of central
compartment whose dimensions were 2.3 x 6.8 m (Fig. 151a–c). All the walls as
well as the floor were made out of wooden planks that were joined to a framework
of thick wooden beams by wooden joints and nails, as was common in the carpentry
of sailing vessels. A similar but larger artificial island was found at approximately the
location of the “knee” of this mole, at the point of juncture between the southern
side and the western side. Its dimensions were c. 40 x 80 m.

For the building of the western section of the northern mole double-sided,
floorless forms were used. The sides were linked by wooden joints to a thick
framework of beams 0.4 x 0.4 m in cross-section. Into the space between the sides
was poured a lightweight mixture of gypsum, with volcanic ash and tuff, so that
when it was moved to its designated location in the sea, more and more water
began to be drawn in to the porous tuff, causing the form to sink gradually to its
place, on a bedding that had been spread and leveled there in advance. When
it finally sank to its position, the space in the form was filled with a mixture of
pebbles, unhewn stones, and pozzolana.