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The raising of the column
From Montferrand's book
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Panoramic view of the lifting constructions
From Montferrand's book
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On 1 July 1832 the monolithic column arrived at the
landing-stage located between the Winter Palace and the Admiralty.
Using capstans the stone was moved across a wooden platform onto the
embankment by the palace from the windows of which Nicholas I, Empress
Alexandra Fiodorovna and courtiers watched the operation. A tent was
erected over the column and inside masons began to trim the stone.
Then the monolith had to be rolled to the lifting point along a specially-built
construction. The first part of this - a sloping ramp 150 metres long
- was located alongside the western facade of the palace. After the
monolith had been rolled up the ramp from the embankment to a height
of 10.6 metres it ended up on a horizontal platform placed at the
right angle to the ramp and parallel to the southern facade of the
palace. Here the column was placed on a sledge on rollers and moved
onto the platform above which the scaffolding for lifting the column
was fixed. |
