DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.33567#0048
14
their own fashion. Arab Mohammedans and Maltese and European Christians formed the majority of the
men employed. The former spent Friday, their Sabbath, in a rational manner, sleeping during the early part
of the day, attending services at the mosque at noon, and devoting the afternoon to social intercourse and
amusement. The Christians, almost to a man, would devote the thirty-six hours from Saturday evening to
Monday morning in drinking, gambling, fighting, and other excesses, and return to work drunk, sleepy, and
bruised.
By December 2d the turning structure had been placed in position, and so admirably were the several
parts fitted that it was not even necessary to ream out a bolt hole/ The process of lifting the obelisk clear of
the pedestal and disengaging the metal supports or crabs occupied us until the evening of December 5th.
With the bolts that clamped the trunnions together loosened so as to allow the obelisk to pass freely up
through them, levers inserted in the turn-buckles of the tie-rods were turned simultaneously with the nuts on
the upper and lower ends of the tie-rods. Some anxiety was caused by the buckling of the heel-beams, due
to imperfect bearing against the bottom of the obelisk. After this had been provided against by wedges
driven in the vacant spaces, the lifting was successfully and easily accomplished. The operation of lifting,
here briefly described, will be made clear by referring to Plate ii, where the turn-buckles in the tie-rods C are
shown inside of the steel towers, about midway between the trunnions Z?, and the heel-beams ZT And on
Plate iii the ends of the tie-rods are seen through the brackets on the trunnions and also through the ends of
the heel-beams.
Before turning the obelisk horizontal the steel wire-rope truss yf, shown on Plates iii, vii, and viii, was
placed in position and tightened by means of screws and nuts to an estimated strain of sixty tons ; thereby
relieving the section of the obelisk through the point of suspension of this amount of the weight of the ends,
and insuring it against fracture when it was horizontal. Plates vii and viii also show a stack of timber piled to
receive the upper section of the obelisk should the tackles that were provided to keep control of the turning
unexpectedly give way. These tackles were led from a strap round the bottom of the obelisk to posts led
into the masonry towers. They were, theoretically, capable of raising fifteen tons. New rope and blocks of
the best quality obtainable in Alexandria were purchased expressly for the purpose. The rope previously
purchased had been so treacherous, and had parted so many times with inadequate strain, that it was deemed
prudent to provide a safeguard against the obelisk revolving past the horizontal. The upper section was
known to have a preponderance of three and a half tons of weight, given it to facilitate the operation of
turning.
TURNING THE OBELISK.
On the morning of December qth an attempt was made to pull the upper end of the obelisk over by
means of tackles. This attempt failed, owing to the further bending of the heel-beams, which caused the
bottom of the obelisk to bind against the top of one of the crabs. The impression prevailed that the turning
structure had settled and was therefore of inadequate strength to sustain the weight. Several engineers and
others strongly advised abandoning the attempt to place the obelisk horizontal in the manner proposed ; and
letters were received protesting against the destruction of so valuable a monument by any further attempt to
remove it. These expressions did not affect in any way the confidence I felt in a speedy termination of this,
the first stage of the work, although they caused me great chagrin, and aroused every one associated with me
in the work to an extra exertion in order to prove them senseless.
Removing the crabs was rendered very difficult by the lead which had been poured into the mortices
in the pedestal while molten. The angles of the dowels of the crabs had notches in them (see Plate vi), and
the bottom of the mortice was larger than the top. These were devices of the Roman engineer to prevent
the removal of the crabs, and they were very effective. The process of lifting the obelisk, already described,
* The contract for this work was sublet by John A. Roebling's Sons to the Phoenix Iron Works of Trenton, to which all credit
is due for its admirable execution.
their own fashion. Arab Mohammedans and Maltese and European Christians formed the majority of the
men employed. The former spent Friday, their Sabbath, in a rational manner, sleeping during the early part
of the day, attending services at the mosque at noon, and devoting the afternoon to social intercourse and
amusement. The Christians, almost to a man, would devote the thirty-six hours from Saturday evening to
Monday morning in drinking, gambling, fighting, and other excesses, and return to work drunk, sleepy, and
bruised.
By December 2d the turning structure had been placed in position, and so admirably were the several
parts fitted that it was not even necessary to ream out a bolt hole/ The process of lifting the obelisk clear of
the pedestal and disengaging the metal supports or crabs occupied us until the evening of December 5th.
With the bolts that clamped the trunnions together loosened so as to allow the obelisk to pass freely up
through them, levers inserted in the turn-buckles of the tie-rods were turned simultaneously with the nuts on
the upper and lower ends of the tie-rods. Some anxiety was caused by the buckling of the heel-beams, due
to imperfect bearing against the bottom of the obelisk. After this had been provided against by wedges
driven in the vacant spaces, the lifting was successfully and easily accomplished. The operation of lifting,
here briefly described, will be made clear by referring to Plate ii, where the turn-buckles in the tie-rods C are
shown inside of the steel towers, about midway between the trunnions Z?, and the heel-beams ZT And on
Plate iii the ends of the tie-rods are seen through the brackets on the trunnions and also through the ends of
the heel-beams.
Before turning the obelisk horizontal the steel wire-rope truss yf, shown on Plates iii, vii, and viii, was
placed in position and tightened by means of screws and nuts to an estimated strain of sixty tons ; thereby
relieving the section of the obelisk through the point of suspension of this amount of the weight of the ends,
and insuring it against fracture when it was horizontal. Plates vii and viii also show a stack of timber piled to
receive the upper section of the obelisk should the tackles that were provided to keep control of the turning
unexpectedly give way. These tackles were led from a strap round the bottom of the obelisk to posts led
into the masonry towers. They were, theoretically, capable of raising fifteen tons. New rope and blocks of
the best quality obtainable in Alexandria were purchased expressly for the purpose. The rope previously
purchased had been so treacherous, and had parted so many times with inadequate strain, that it was deemed
prudent to provide a safeguard against the obelisk revolving past the horizontal. The upper section was
known to have a preponderance of three and a half tons of weight, given it to facilitate the operation of
turning.
TURNING THE OBELISK.
On the morning of December qth an attempt was made to pull the upper end of the obelisk over by
means of tackles. This attempt failed, owing to the further bending of the heel-beams, which caused the
bottom of the obelisk to bind against the top of one of the crabs. The impression prevailed that the turning
structure had settled and was therefore of inadequate strength to sustain the weight. Several engineers and
others strongly advised abandoning the attempt to place the obelisk horizontal in the manner proposed ; and
letters were received protesting against the destruction of so valuable a monument by any further attempt to
remove it. These expressions did not affect in any way the confidence I felt in a speedy termination of this,
the first stage of the work, although they caused me great chagrin, and aroused every one associated with me
in the work to an extra exertion in order to prove them senseless.
Removing the crabs was rendered very difficult by the lead which had been poured into the mortices
in the pedestal while molten. The angles of the dowels of the crabs had notches in them (see Plate vi), and
the bottom of the mortice was larger than the top. These were devices of the Roman engineer to prevent
the removal of the crabs, and they were very effective. The process of lifting the obelisk, already described,
* The contract for this work was sublet by John A. Roebling's Sons to the Phoenix Iron Works of Trenton, to which all credit
is due for its admirable execution.