THE STATUE OF LIBERTY

THE STATUE OF LIBERTY

A Feet in Engineering.

The statue of Liberty situated in New York harbor in USA, welcoming immigrants to the country is one of the marvels of the world. This wonderful Statue is Beautiful work of art and, at the same time, an excellent piece of engineering.

The enormous size and the severe design condition called for innovation in engineering. There was another all- prevailing factor. The Statue was to be made in Paris but to installed in the New York harbor. The statue had to be transported over some 3000 miles (4800km) across the Atlantic Ocean.

The design, the making the transportation, and the re-assembly and all engineering feats.

Why was the statue huge in the first place?. About that a litter later, but first get the perception of the size and the work. Look at the details below. They tell us of the tremendous efforts and ingenuity in engineering and in making the statue.

ENGIONEERING DETAILS

Height form base to the top of the touch : 151 ft 1inchØ
Foundation of pedestal to touch: 305ft 1inch.Ø
Length of hand: 16ft 5inch.Ø
Index finger: 8ft.Ø
Size of fin email: 13ft x 10 ft.Ø
Wind spread at which statue sways 3 inches : 50mph ( 80km/h)Ø
Torch away in 50mph (80km/h) wind: 5inches.Ø
Weight of copper used in statue: 200,000pounds (90tonnes)Ø
Wight of steel used in statue: 250,000pounds (114tonnes)Ø
Total weight of statue: 450,000pounds (204tonnes)Ø
Wight of concrete in the foundation: 24,000tons ( 22,000tonnes) the largest single mass ever poured till then.Ø
Foundation Height: 52ft 10inches.Ø
Foundation measurement . Bottom – 91 feet square; Top: - 65 feet square.Ø
Height of pedestal: 89ft above the foundation.Ø
Thickness of copper sheeting: 3/32inch(2.37mm)Ø
Approximate fabric in the dress: 4,000sq. yards(3340 sq. m )Ø

THE ENGINEERS AND THE ARTISTS:

Who were the genial of engineers and art to make this wonder?

The Statue was conceives and sculpted by: August BartholdiØ
The structural was Alexander-Gustavo Eiffel who was already known for this brilliant iron railroad bridges at the time and who later designed the famous Eiffel Tower of Paris. Alexader- gustave Eiffel designed the intricate skeleton for the statue.Ø
The Architect of the pedestal : Richard M. Hunt.Ø
The chief Project Engineer : General Charles P.Stone. General Charles was in charge of the construction project including the foundation, the pedestal, and the reassembly.Ø

METHOD OF FABRICATION:

The material of construction was an important consideration. Stone and bonze were discounted because of their weight. Besides, the use of the stone and bronze would mean higher expenses.

The statue was fabricated using copper sheets. The thickness of the sheet was 2.37mm. The method of fabrication was what is called the ‘ Repousse Process’

The ‘ Repousses Process’ is a technique for creating sculptural forms. The method is to hammer a sheet metal inside moulds. The Repousse Process was the only method available then that would allow such a ‘monumental’ work to be shipped overseas.

HOW DID ALL START IN THE FIRST PLACE?.

In 1865, in Paris, several French intellectual had gathered at a small dinner party. These intellectuals were opposed to the oppressive regime of Napolenon iii. One of the intellectuals, Laboulaye, was the host. Laboulaye, was a scholar, a jurist and the leader of the ‘ liberals’ At that party was another bright man Frederic-August. Bartholdi was 31 at that time, but was a successful sculptor already. The ‘Liberals’ were the lolitical group that decided itself to the establishing of a French republican government. This government would be modeled on America’s constitution.

The intellectuals were discussing and admiring America’s success in establishing a democratic government and establishing slavery at the end of the Civil War.

The talk turned to the close historic ties and love of liberty France and America shared. Laboulaye noted that there was “ a genuine flow sympathy” between the two nations. He called France and America “ the two sisters” .

As Laboulaye continued speaking and reflected on the centennial of American independence in 1876, only 11 years in the future, he commented: “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if people of France gave the United States a great monument as a lasting memorial to the independence and thereby showed that the French government was also dedicated to the idea of human liberty?”

Laboulaye’s question was casual, but it struck a responsive chord in Bartholdi. Years later Bartholdi wrote: “Laboulaye’s idea interested me so deeply that it remained fixed in my memory”

So was sown the seed of inspiration that would turn into an all-time, world class beautiful monument in art engineering, called STATUE OF LIBERTY.

WHY WASD THE STATUE CONCEIVED SO HUGE?

The state was conceived and designed by the great sculptor of his time, Bartholdi. Batholdi lived in his time. He liked art in a grand scale. He was not alone in this passion for art on a grand scale. During the 19th century, large scale public monuments were a popular art form. It was an age of display inspired by classical Greek and Roman civilizations. Most monuments reflected either the dress or architecture of those ancient times.

THE GREAT SCULPTOR AND HIS MYSTERIOUS INSPIRATION?

The life and work of the great sculptor is interesting and inspiring.
Barthodldi was bron on August 2, 1834 in a well-to-do middle – class family on Colmar, France. Baethildi was a civil servant and prosperous landowner. The father died when Batholdi was only two years old. So bartholdi’s stem and possessive mother Charlotte raised the child.

Many people believe that Chrlotte Bartholdi’s early drawings for a never-commissioned statue in Egypt. The sculptor’s true inspiration for his masterpiece remain a mystery.

THE EXPEDITOR:
Bartholdi drew up plans for the statue in 1867. The statue was to be in the form of a robed female Egyptian peasant, with a light beaming out from two places: (1) a headband and (2) a torch held dramatically upward into the skies. But the project was never commissioned.

In1870 with the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War, Bartholdi become a major in the French army. He was stationed in his home city of Calmar. When the Germans annexed that region and made the residents as German citizens, the reality of the world “librty” took a new, personal meaning for him.

THE SITE FOR INSTALLATION:

The third Republic of France was established that the statue be prohibitively expensive to produce. They decided that the cost should be shared between France and America. France would pay for the statue, America would pay for its pedestal and foundation. A fund – raising committee called the “France American Union” was formed, with members from both nations. Elaborate fund-raising events were staged.

Enough was collected to begin the work on the statue, but the goal of completing it in time for American’s 100th independence anniversary ( July 4, 1878) was ompossible.

At the end of the marvelous efforts, the following dates were achieved.
Construction began in France : 1875.Ø
Statue completed in France: June 1884.Ø
Statue final assembly on the pedestal in America: 1886(110th independence anniversary of America.Ø

THE DESIGN OF THE STATUE:

The construction of the statue began in 1875. Barthildi selected Caget, Gauthier and company as his workshop. Its craftsman were experts in the art of Repousse.

Bartholdi decided to use thin copper sheets a light and relatively flexible metal instead of casting the copper, beating the metal into shape over sculpted wooden moulds. This copper outer skin would ‘hang’ on an inner,tower-like framework of iron.

The copper plates or section for the gaint hand and table were the copper sculpture. Temporary braces were put to prevent the plates from buckling and holes were then punched for the rivets which connected all the places into one great figure.

Bartholdi designed and built a 36ft (11m) high plaster model. The final statue was to be more than four times taller. The statue had to be strong enough to withstand the aggressive weather condition and yet light enough to be shipped to America.

The solution was to make the statue hollow, with the outer shell support on an inner iron framework.

THE MAKING OF THE STATUE:

Bartholdi out of his master model into sections and made thousands of meticulous measurements before scaling up each section into full size plaster replica. Wooden moulds were then carved to exactly mach each enlarged section. The finished ‘skin’ was made through hammering of 300 thin copper sheets into the moulds.

Meanwhile. The structural Engineer Alexander Gustve Eiffel was working on the interior framework, which was to be the tallest iron support structure attempted up to that time. He came up with the tremendous design.
The outer shell of the Statue is non-load- bearing and flots on its frame. A framework of iron ribs radiates horizontally from a central backbone of four vertical girders that reach from the statue’s base to the nape of the neck. Attached to this is the armature, made of spring- like iron bars. The bars curve and twist to follow the shape of the statue, like the framework of a dressmaker’s dummy. To minimize the direct and potentially corrosive contact of copper and iron, the sections of copper skin are hung on this interior skeleton. The skeleton has copper brackets covered with an insulating material to keep the two metals apart.

The first rivet was driven into the statue, on October 24, 1881 by the American ambassador to France, Levi P. Morton, by December, Bartholdi wrote to his American compatriots “The statue commences to reach above the houses, and by next spring will see it overlook the entire city”.

In June 1884, the statue received the final touches and French Prime Minister Jules Ferry and ambassador Morton decided the statue with much pomp. However, when Bartholdi invited the celebrating party to climb with him some 171 steps up the statue, few accepted this challenge.

IN AMERICA:

The statue was stored and exhibited in France till the spring of 1885. Then the statue was dismantled in 350 individual, meticulously numbered pieces for the voyage to America, in 214 enormous wooden crates. The statue was shipped aboard a Transport ship of the French frigate called “Isere”.

The statue arrived at the Beadle’s Island on June 15, 1885. The statue began to rise in May 1886. It took six months to mount the statue to the base. The final assembly of the statue and the pedestal was achieved in 1886.
THE PROJECT COMPLETED:

The statue was declared open and thus the project was completed on October 18, 1886. Bartholdi pulled the cord, revealing the statue’s gleaming copper face to the world. A masterpiece of engineering was now completed.

THE PROJECT COMPLETED:

From 1886 to 1902, the statue was maintained by the Lighthouse Board, an agency of the federal government, in conjunction with the Army and the American Committee. In 1901, the War Department assumed responsibility, making some much-needed repairs and improvements to the statue and the island.

In 1916, it was decided to floodlight the statue at night. The torch was also redesigned in glass.

THE INSPECTION REPORT:

In the barely 1980’s the statue was given a thorough examination and it was found to be disintegrating. Over a century of high-level exposure to the natural elements – and condensation from the breath of millions of sightseers climbing up the inside – had caused severe corrosion.

In the later year, some of the rivets that had held the copper skin together had given way, allowing more moisture to seep into the vulnerable iron framework and leakage of water was observed through these gaps. The iron armature connecting the copper plates to the framework was corroded. The whole network, including the rivets, had to be renewed with modern material’s

Much of Eiffel’s original asbestos insulation, the buffer between the copper skin and iron skeleton, had worn away and nearly half of the armature had become badly rusted . Nearly 1800 bars had to be completely replaced. The touch was in danger of falling off and the torch-bearing shoulder needed reinforcing
The French – American Committee for the Restoration of the statue was established in 1981. Following the initial diagnostic report to be done.

THE RESTORATION PROJECT AND THE SCAFFOLDING:

The statue was encased in what was probably the largest freestanding scaffolding structure ever and statistics were fed into the computer to create detailed new structural plans. French craftsman rebuilt the touch, replacing Bartholdi’s original design using the Repossess technique, and master gilders from Paris gold-leafed the flame with 24 carat gold so that it would gleam when floodlit.

The skin itself was in good condition once the rivets were replaced. Over the years of copper had lost its original colour and acquired a naturally weathered, pale-green patina. When the statue was cleaned, this patina had to be carefully preserved as it formed a protective coating against corrosion. On the inner surface, seven layers of old paint that were trapping moisture in the seams had to be frozen and cracked off with sprays of liquid nitrogen cooled to (-) 163degree C . The layers of tare beneath them were blasted off with jets of sodium bicarbonate solution.

“ LIBERTY ENLIGHTENING THE WORLD”

The official title of the Statue is “Liberty Engineering the world” Yes, the Statue is engineering the world – in art and engineering. The Statue towers some 100m – that is the height of a thirty-storey building – above the water and is the largest metal statue in the world. The Statue of Liberty represents the application of best engineering mind from two nations.