Statue of Liberty (New York, USA)
On mutual agreement, United States had to build the pedestal, and France – to create the statue and set it up in the USA. But on both sides of the Atlantic the lack of money was felt. In France charity donations together with different entertaining events and a lottery allowed to raise 2.25 million francs. In the United States theater shows, art exhibitions, auctions and boxing fights were held to raise the funds.
At the same time, Bartholdi in France needed some engineering advice related to the construction of such a huge copper figure. Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel (future author of the Eiffel Tower) was commissioned to design a massive steel framework and supporting structure to allow some motion of the statue’s shell but to keep it at the same time vertical. Eiffel entrusted detailed engineering design to his helper, an experienced engineer in complex constructions, Maurice Koechlin. It is interesting to note, that the copper used for the statue has its origin in Russia. It is also worth mentioning that the concrete base under the statue was made out of German cement. Dyckerhoff Company won the tender to deliver cement to build the foundation for the Statue of Liberty in New York, which was the biggest concrete construction of that time in the world.
The location for the statue of Liberty in New York Harbour, which was confirmed by the Congress Act in 1877, was chosen by General William Sherman at the request of Bartholdi himself on Bedloe’s Island, where a fort in the shape of a star was standing back from the beginning of XIX century.
Fundraising for the pedestal was slow, and Joseph Pulitzer (known for the Pulitzer prize) in his newspaper “World” sounded a call to make contributions for the project’s fund.
By August of 1885, finances were gathered for the pedestal, designed by an American architect Richard Morris Hunt, and the first stone was laid on August 5. The construction was finished on April 22 of 1886. Into the massive masonry of the pedestal two square fixtures of steel beams were built; they are joined together by steel ties, going upwards to become part of an Eiffel frame (resembling the frame of the Eiffel Tower) of the statue itself. Therefore, both the statue and the pedestal are one whole unit.
The statue was finished by the French in July of 1884 and was shipped to New York Harbour on June 17 of 1885 aboard French frigate “Isére.” For transportation, the statue was dissembled into 350 parts and packed into 214 crates. (Its right hand with a torch, finished earlier, had been already displayed at the World Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876, and then – in Madison Square, New York.) The statue was assembled upon its new foundation in four months. The dedication of the statue of Liberty, at which president of the USA Grover Cleveland spoke, took place on October 28 of 1886 in the presence of thousands of spectators. Just like the French gift, intended for the 100th anniversary of the American Revolution, it was ten years late.
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