LONDON – A five-year restoration project meant to ensure Big Ben is able to withstand the forces of Mother Nature is nearing completion in London as crews begin testing to guarantee the giant clock keeps up with time.
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The five-year restoration of the Elizabeth Tower involved extensive scaffolding, 500 workers and ended up running £51m over budget. The clock's iconic dials have been restored to their original colour - Prussian blue - after experts discovered the shade under layers of black paint.
It was covered up for renovation works in 2017, with the clock face only peeking out from a grid of grey metal. Now, we can finally see what that £80 million price tag was all about. After five years, the whole top of the tower can be seen free from scaffolding and Big Ben is out of its cocoon ready to be a butterfly.
“At the end of the day, you could say it is just a series of concentric stone shafts with a bloody great clock on top,” said Adam Watrobski, the chief architect of the tower's restoration, which cost 80 million pounds, or about $97 million.
In 2017, Parliament embarked on a full restoration of the clock, which was described as an architectural and technological challenge of unprecedented scale. The project was primarily aimed at repairing the damage done by German bombs during World War II.
The moniker Big Ben has been in use for over 150 years, and the nickname was originally applied only to the enormous bell inside the tower. The Great Bell received i's sobriquet in honor of Sir Benjamin Hall, the First Commissioner for Works, who raised Big Ben to its current place atop the tower.
1 September 1939: Although the bells continued to ring, the clock faces were not illuminated at night throughout World War II to avoid guiding bomber pilots during the Blitz. 10/11 May 1941: the clock was damaged during a German bombing raid, either by a small bomb or by a British anti-aircraft shell.
1716: The bell from the clock tower is recast and later hung in the South West Tower of St Paul's Cathedral. If Big Ben is ever unable to strike, the bell in St Paul's is heard instead.
Inside Big Ben and how to visitYou can visit Big Ben by booking a 90-minute guided tour that takes visitors up 334 stairs to see the clock mechanism room, behind the four clock dials and the Belfry, where the famous bell is located. Tours can be booked by visiting the official UK Parliament website.
The Elizabeth Tower is the clock tower of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. It contains the Great Clock, a striking clock with five bells. The tower is nicknamed Big Ben, a name which was originally applied only to the largest bell of the clock.