Restoring Big Ben

[blackolive (Ste)]

Catching up with that telly programme about restoring Big Ben. Its amazing what scale everything is on, and quite proud that most of it has been entrusted to the Wastelands of the north for their engineering expertise. Didnt even know of the existence of the Ayrton light, that used to let queenie know when parliament were working overtime after dark. Guess its just not been used much nowadays

 

[Pete.]

A guy that I know has been working in there for months, doing the sructural steel.

 

[blackolive (Ste)]

Im in awe of the attention to detail

 

[Robotstar5]

I liked the bit about the guide books will now have to be re-written after they found more pieces of glass in the clockfaces than originally thought

 

[optima21]

went to a talk about 3 years ago by one of the guys that looks after the clocks in the houses of Parliament ( including Big Ben) was a bit of an eye opener at the time but have forgotten most of it now

And just before Covid I went to a local foundry for an organised tour and they were casting guttering and roof tiles for the house of Parliament.

Hargreaves

Yorkshire Cast Iron Foundry - Art, Architectural & Engineering Castings. UK’s Best Quality Cast Iron Rainwater Pipes Gutters Fittings & Drainage

www.hargreavesfoundry.co.uk

The Yorkshire foundry supporting Big Ben’s most complex restoration

Yorkshire’s connection to the Elizabeth Tower runs into the very fabric of the building

www.parliament.uk

the original gutters were about 3ft wide and made from cast iron. the replacement ones also need to be made of cast iron due to the originals being made of that material......to me it would make more sense to bend them from plate with additional welding where required. doing it this was you'd have a higher quality part that is cheaper to produce, and once fitted and painted you wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyway. They have to be made like for like.

 

[ronan]

Im in awe of the attention to detail

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Compared to the appalling rubbish thats built now. Architects trying to be cutting edge and designing awful eyesores.

 

[zeppelin builder]

i would have commissioned Fred Dibna with his knowledge

(TO FLATTEN IT )

toot toot did yer like that

 

[Kayos]

@optima21 its called conservation and sustainable development, also the reason that unless you have the unlimited budget of a government the reason many buildings end up being lost

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

The attention to details in the who palace of Westminster is astounding.
I was working for a company who were doing a staged fire alarm upgrade.

The bell known as Big ben is only being cleaned and the crack x rayed. The quarter bells were polished.
Even the submarine periscope was removed and rebuilt.

We uncovered a name signed into plaster work, it will remain and was fully documented.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

As I am a bit nosey I rang a friend who I used to work with.
Still working nights in The Palace Of Westminster.
Still having issues with cable ties.
Worse in some areas the old fire alarm equipment is being remove, restored to working conditions. Or having modern internals fitted. The old stuff being retained.

They are being very careful on all aspects. Even opening up the stone quarries were the original stones came from.

The fire alarm is 2 years behind due to delays in getting access or the archive team’s holdings contractors up.