Cheops Pyramid Cools Down

A new ventilation system may provide Egypt's Cheops pyramid with the eternal life for which it was planned by reducing the damage done by its hundreds of visitors every hour.

When the largest of the Giza pyramid trio reopens to the public in January after a nine-month closure for restoration work, they will be able to breathe fresh air, antiquities officials said on Sunday [Nov 8] at a ceremony to officially present the French ventilation system.

"The main purpose of setting up a new ventilation system was to reduce humidity and carbon dioxide levels inside the monument and give the stones a new lease on life," Ahmad al-Haggar, director of the Pyramids, told AFP.

Visitors inside the pyramids leave behind up to 70 ounces of water which are released in micro particles through breathing and perspiration and form corrosive salts that nibble into the limestone, officials said. Carbon dioxide in the air that people breathe is the other danger facing the 4,500-year-old monument, the experts said. According to Haggar, up to 800 people visit the pyramid per hour in the winter months while summer months see 600 visitors an hour.

"The real problem is when humidity and temperature fluctuations meet," said Mustafa Abdel Kader, who oversees conservation work in the Giza plateau where the Cheops, Chephren and Mykerinos pyramids stand. Supreme Council for Antiquities chief Gaballah Ali Gaballah told AFP that a study was underway to install a similar ventilation system at the Unas Pyramid in Saqqara which has been closed for many years.

Unlike an older fan system placed inside the 4,500-year-old monument, the new ones were mounted outside the pyramid, on the north and south sides and operate around the clock, CIAT company officials told AFP. "The old system was too noisy, and so the antiquities official had reduced the speed of the fans. But by doing so the fans were not pushing out enough bad air," said CIAT ventilation expert Marcel Berthelon. "I was visiting Cheops as a tourist and the air inside was so stifling. That's when I got the idea for a custom-made fan," Berthelon said.

CIAT gave the 18-pound fans, valued at more than $50,000, to Egypt. Preparation for the project lasted six months and only 10 days were needed for the actual installation after a successful trial run. French mountain guide and Everest veteran climber Philippe Grenier helped Berthelon carry the fans 264 feet up and 165 feet across the 452 feet tall pyramid.

Cheops, also known as the Great Pyramid or Pyramid of Khufu, is set to reopen in January after salt incrustations, flaking and modern-day graffiti are removed from inner walls and ceilings and a new lighting system isset up. The pyramid was restored only six years ago, but the re-emergence of salt deposits and black spots required another clean-up operation.