Back to Basics ...

[Armchair detective]

Somebody exaggerated.

 

[GravelTeeth]

We know you're dying for the numbers, so here we go.

You know I love to play devil's advocate with the details and the variables.

The first thing that jumps to mind is the density of "pre-worked" vs. "unworked" glacial till, which may or may not be Lawrencetown till. Does the fluffier nature of the pre-worked till, which made it much easier to dig out of the original money pit according to the legend, also make it weigh less per unit?

What does the word "alaska" in your Google AI search signify?

Finally, as to the spruce itself, do "poles" connote any specific strength qualities that may differ from planking? If they were whole small trees, shorn of their branches, as per some of the descriptions of the ten-foot oak levels, how does that compare with, for example, spruce heartwood "dimensional lumber" as it were? And does anything change if, instead of a single layer of 6", we have multiple layers totaling 6", laid with alternating grain? For example there could have been two 3" layers, or three 2" layers. I'm not sure the augers that were sampling this stuff were sophisticated enough to differentiate discrete layers of the same material ... it was probably just a spiral of wood dug out of the grooves of the drill head, fragile and perhaps fragmentary already.

--GT

 

[Armchair detective]

2nd question first .
"Alaska" is the 49th state of the USA. It is parked above Canada, is large and very rural.
The University of Alaska generated this table, and you can trust their competency and experience in dealing with snow on the roof.
The particular phrase I use to find it helps Google to consistently go back to the same info.

3rd question
Cross section is the key factor in the strength of materials. For some weird math compare the ratio of the cross section of a 6"circle in a 6" box (beam) versus for four 3" circles in a 6" box versus nine 2" circles in a 6" box. It's the same, so there is no difference in strength for the same material.
We used spruce pine because it is indigenous to oak Island and was positively id'd as a part of that lower construction in the Mccully letter.
Different materials, different strengths obviously.

Drat. Since spruce is ruled out for 10' levels, we can try 6" oak poles and 6"oak beams if we can find shear tables online for them. Various heresy accounts have both spruce
And oak mentioned as building materials.

Out of power.