Size
This structure stretches from Shanhaiguan in the East to Loop Lake in the West and is the largest man-made structure. The actual wall measures to be 4160 miles of defense and can be used for much more, and averages to about 30 feet in height and 15 feet in width. The Great Wall contains 1386 miles of natural defense such as rivers, valleys, mountains, and hills. A natural defense is something that could be a struggle for an attacker and it gives an advantage to the offence because they can use hills to see their attackers. The Great Wall of China contains 651,325,878,854 bricks.
Condition
The condition of the Great Wall is not as good as it was 2000 years ago in 1644, of course. Some parts of the wall have been vandalized and destroyed. Studies have said that 60 kilometers of the wall will disappear in the next 20 years (37 miles) due to erosion from sandstorms. Furthermore, some of the western sections are made of mud rather than stone or brick. In other places, of the wall it has lowered more than 5 meters to less than 2 meters because of deterioration. Some sections even been shut down because they needed to rebuild a section of the Great Wall. For example, in 2010 the Simati section was closed and had reopened in the spring of 2012.
Watchtowers
Watchtowers are used for to send smoke signals, store weapons, and house troops. These watchtowers were built on very large hills or higher points of the Great Wall to see when am attacker might be approaching. Watchtowers are in many of the sections of the Great Wall such as the Simatai, Badaling and other sections of the wall. In these watchtowers there are little slits for weapons to be shot from when attackers are battling. This is one of the advantages of the watchtowers. They also have great enclosure and are great for protection.
This structure stretches from Shanhaiguan in the East to Loop Lake in the West and is the largest man-made structure. The actual wall measures to be 4160 miles of defense and can be used for much more, and averages to about 30 feet in height and 15 feet in width. The Great Wall contains 1386 miles of natural defense such as rivers, valleys, mountains, and hills. A natural defense is something that could be a struggle for an attacker and it gives an advantage to the offence because they can use hills to see their attackers. The Great Wall of China contains 651,325,878,854 bricks.
Condition
The condition of the Great Wall is not as good as it was 2000 years ago in 1644, of course. Some parts of the wall have been vandalized and destroyed. Studies have said that 60 kilometers of the wall will disappear in the next 20 years (37 miles) due to erosion from sandstorms. Furthermore, some of the western sections are made of mud rather than stone or brick. In other places, of the wall it has lowered more than 5 meters to less than 2 meters because of deterioration. Some sections even been shut down because they needed to rebuild a section of the Great Wall. For example, in 2010 the Simati section was closed and had reopened in the spring of 2012.
Watchtowers
Watchtowers are used for to send smoke signals, store weapons, and house troops. These watchtowers were built on very large hills or higher points of the Great Wall to see when am attacker might be approaching. Watchtowers are in many of the sections of the Great Wall such as the Simatai, Badaling and other sections of the wall. In these watchtowers there are little slits for weapons to be shot from when attackers are battling. This is one of the advantages of the watchtowers. They also have great enclosure and are great for protection.