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The dystopian side is the lack of squares to protest on ;) In all seriousness though, the project does look very realistic and I can't find any major flaw with

by cynusx 4y ago

The dystopian side is the lack of squares to protest on ;) In all seriousness though, the project does look very realistic and I can't find any major flaw with it except that the glass wall will need to be a triple-mirror which is ridiculously expensive. The other unknown is how an idealized architecture like this stacks against real-life humans who don't care to maintain anything if they're not paid for it. I do hope they build it.

dmitriid 4y ago
> In all seriousness though, the project does look very realistic and I can't find any major flaw Except, you know: all the infrastructure needed to build it in the desert. And maintained. And repaired
everforward 4y ago
I posted down below as well, but I think wind is going to be a big issue for them. A 170km long, 500m tall wall is about the least aerodynamic thing I can think of. I would anticipate that wind issues will be substantial. My napkin math said that if peak wind speeds hit it dead on, the wind will impart a force of 156N/m^2. A 1 meter wide slice will have to absorb roughly the force of 3 Tesla Model S' pushing on it at full throttle. Across the entire wall, the force is roughly equal to that generated by 381 Saturn V rockets at lift-off. The other problem is price; they're almost certainly off by at least a couple orders of magnitude. The Burj Rafal is 308m tall with a 20,000m^2 base, and cost $320m, which comes out to $520/m^3. $500bn for this comes out to $29.41/m^3. That price for the Burj Rafal probably doesn't include public infrastructure (electricity generation, water cleaning, sewers, etc), and Neom will be way too big to piggyback on an existing system. It's a neat idea, I agree I hope they build it, but I hope they do so cautiously. Build a kilometer or three and then revisit the design and costs. Starting with a 170km version of it almost assures that it never actually gets finished.
sofixa 4y ago
> The other unknown is how an idealized architecture like this stacks against real-life humans who don't care to maintain anything if they're not paid for it. Well they'll probably pay for it. I don't know if the idea is to rent or sell housing there, but in both cases it's pretty standard to have provisions for ongoing maintenance.

by cynusx 4y ago

dmitriid 4y ago

> In all seriousness though, the project does look very realistic and I can't find any major flaw Except, you know: all the infrastructure needed to build it in the desert. And maintained. And repaired

everforward 4y ago

I posted down below as well, but I think wind is going to be a big issue for them. A 170km long, 500m tall wall is about the least aerodynamic thing I can think of. I would anticipate that wind issues will be substantial. My napkin math said that if peak wind speeds hit it dead on, the wind will impart a force of 156N/m^2. A 1 meter wide slice will have to absorb roughly the force of 3 Tesla Model S' pushing on it at full throttle. Across the entire wall, the force is roughly equal to that generated by 381 Saturn V rockets at lift-off. The other problem is price; they're almost certainly off by at least a couple orders of magnitude. The Burj Rafal is 308m tall with a 20,000m^2 base, and cost $320m, which comes out to $520/m^3. $500bn for this comes out to $29.41/m^3. That price for the Burj Rafal probably doesn't include public infrastructure (electricity generation, water cleaning, sewers, etc), and Neom will be way too big to piggyback on an existing system. It's a neat idea, I agree I hope they build it, but I hope they do so cautiously. Build a kilometer or three and then revisit the design and costs. Starting with a 170km version of it almost assures that it never actually gets finished.

sofixa 4y ago

> The other unknown is how an idealized architecture like this stacks against real-life humans who don't care to maintain anything if they're not paid for it. Well they'll probably pay for it. I don't know if the idea is to rent or sell housing there, but in both cases it's pretty standard to have provisions for ongoing maintenance.