Noah's Ark Facts: Building the Ark

Biblical Passages: Gen. 6-8; Matt. 24:37,38; Lk. 17:26,27; I Pet. 3:20;II Pet. 2:5.
The Bible story of Noah's Ark teaches us a lot about the nature of God.
 For example: (1) It shows He is a holy God and cannot tolerate sin. (2) It shows He is a just God and that sin will not go unpunished. (3) It shows He is a God of mercy in that He spares some. (4) It shows God's power in that the Flood unleashed great power.

This picture shows the size of the ark alongside a regular sized house.

The Dimensions of the Ark:

If a cubit was 18 inches This means that the  Ark would have been at least 450 feet long [137.16 meters], 75 feet wide [22.86 meters] and 45 feet high [13.716000000000001 meters].
The total available floor space on the Ark would have been over 100,000 square feet, which would be more floor space than in 20 standard-sized basketball courts.


The Design of the Ark

More likely it was shaped like a rectangular barge which floated rather low in the water. From the story in the Bible, it also would appear that Noah had no control over the vessel. He, and it contents were at the total mercy of God.


 The Ark had three stories with only one door. The phrase in Gen. 6:16, "Make a roof for it and finish the Ark to within 18 inches of the top." Most commentators believe it means leave an 18 inch space at the top that is open all around the vessel. This then would be for ventilation, and when water entered it would drain out somewhere below, similar to the vents in cars.



British civil and mechanical engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel built a steamship (the Great Britain) in 1843 that had almost the same proportions as the Ark, although it was smaller. This was regarded as a remarkable feat of Victorian and maritime engineering. TheGreat Britain was the first large vessel to be propelled by a screw propeller.


The world had to wait until AD 1884 before the Ark's size was exceeded, when the Italian liner Eturia was built.


It is almost certain that Noah did not construct a standard wooden ship of the kind we are familiar with pointed bows. It was most likely a barge like structure. According to nautical engineers the longest wooden vessel ever built was 360 feet in length and was not seaworthy. 



120 Years Building the Ark


 If Noah was 480 years old when God told him to build an Ark and 600 when the Flood came, it is reasonable to assume that the construction of the Ark took place during this 120 year period (See Gen. 6:3 along with I Pet. 3:20). The need for this preservative was essential. It is also possible that things did not decay as rapidly in the pre-flood atmosphere.

Though the Bible does not say, it seems reasonable that Noah employed a large group of workman to build the Ark. If Noah started building the Ark soon after God spoke to him, then the process of building the Ark may have taken close to 120 years.

Let's take one side of the Ark and see how much Gopher wood was needed. A single side was 300 cubits long and 30 cubits high. That's 9000 square cubits, or around 1881 square metres, or 20,250 square feet.
Assuming Noah and his three sons each prepared only two square metres of the Ark each day, one side of the Ark would be finished in 235 days. That's less than 8 months.
At the same rate, the other side would be finished in 16 months. Allow time for supports, scaffolds, the base, the roof, window ledges, pens and cages inside to keep the animals, and then time to coat it with pitch.
Allow for days off, cutting time, sick leave, a week-long vacation every now and then, and various other activities, and they should still have well and truly finished within 7 years. If they worked faster, or if they hired workman to help with the job, it could have been finished in a few years.
We have to remember Noah was also preaching at this time. Perhaps he traveled around to make sure everybody heard of God's warning to mankind.


Some of this material and facts was referenced from these websites. 
http://www.ldolphin.org/cisflood.html
http://christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-c013.html