Building the Crystal Palace in London
-
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17581206.2024.2391984#d1e154
While the Great Exhibition of 1851 showcased Britain’s most advanced and acclaimed industrial capabilities across a number of exhibits, the five-month-long event’s crown jewel undoubtedly came from architect Joseph Paxton. At over 1,827-feet-long, the Crystal Palace was the world’s largest building at the time, and featured a huge glass roof supported by 3,300 cast iron columns.
For nearly 175 years, however, a mystery has left historians puzzled—how was it possible for Paxton’s workers to complete construction in only 190 days?
A study published in The International Journal for the History of Engineering & Technology now has solved the mystery. According to John Gardner, a professor of English literature at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), the Crystal Palace relied on a revolutionary screw thread designed by a man named Joseph Whitmore.
Before Whitworth’s standardized concept, every screw and bolt was unique to one another without standardized measurements. This meant that lost screws or broken bolts could easily grind construction projects down to a standstill, at least until someone fashioned new replacements. Given its immense size and complexity, the Crystal Palace alone needed 30,000 nuts and bolts—and yet requiring so many pieces somehow didn’t hinder the building’s construction.
-
Interesting. My dad told me you he remembered seeing the glow in the sky when it burned down from where he lived 15 miles away.
