What do you do if you live in a land where most people’s religious beliefs forbid cremation and the land that you live in is so small that it is running out of room for proper burials?  People in Israel are in the midst of confronting that situation and have already built cemetery towers – similar, but different than mausoleums.  Today I learned about what has been going on about 150 feet below Jerusalem’s main cemetery, Har Hamenuchot.  I learned about it originally, not from a death care publication, but from an article in Interesting Engineering.

So, what I have learned is that 150 feet underneath Har Hamenuchot at this time is a construction project consisting of kilometer long (that’s about 6/10th of a mile) tunnels that are being criss-crossed in a $50 million project that will provide for about 22,000 graves.  It is an amazing architectural and engineering feat that will only provide graves for the city for another 10 years when finished.

As an article from Fox News Religion explains it is a solution when relying on finite land resources to cope with the endless stream of the dying.  That situation has forced Israel to look about for creative ways to resolve the problem.  The article also explains that in a city where archaeological digs are not uncommon, the project is taking extreme precautions not to disturb ancient ruins or graves.  The project is funded by a Jewish burial society and is expected to be ready for use in late 2018.

Funeral Director Daily take:  This is something that I was not aware of but when I saw the pictures I was somewhat in awe of the engineering at 15o feet down.  Think of coal miners and the small tunnels that they do their work in.

It does, however, give a great solution to some of the problems that this nation faces in burying its dead.  And from my point of view it is price competitive and not outlandish.  If the figures are correct – $50 million and 22,000 graves that works out to a raw cost of goods sold to be about $2300 per grave.  Similar to a mausoleum pro-forma they will probably sell for $5000 – $7500 each and provide the operator with a profit over time.

I would suggest that you click onto the link simply to give yourself a chance to see the photos of the project.  I apologize asking you to do this, but it is the only way that we can get them to you in light of the copyright laws we must adhere to.