BobTheAverage t1_irtekpe wrote on October 10, 2022 at 10:09 PM

Reply to comment by JazzlikeScarcity248 in Has metal ever been used in ancient/medieval fortifications or any equivalent by HDH2506

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_ram >The Athlit ram consists of a single bronze casting weighing 465 kilograms (1,025 lb). It is 226 centimetres (89 in) long with a maximum width of 76 centimetres (30 in) and a maximum height of 96 centimetres (38 in). ... The casting of an object as large as the Athlit ram was a complicated operation at the time, and would have been a considerable expense in the construction of a war galley.

The ram was MUCH smaller than castle walls. It was 7' long by 2.5' around. A castle wall could easily be 10' tall and several feet thick. A 10' section of wall would need maybe 6 times that much metal and castle walls are far longer than 10'. Metal walls would get wildly expensive very quickly.

JazzlikeScarcity248 t1_irtfbt0 wrote on October 10, 2022 at 10:14 PM

Parts of the walls and doors could have been reinforced too.

Honestly I was just fighting back at the idea that large single cast objects did not exist till the industrial revolution.

BobTheAverage t1_irth3dj wrote on October 10, 2022 at 10:28 PM

Your example isn't that big though, not compared to a castle. Doors were sometimes made of metal. Portcullis