Mathematical reconstruction of the rise of the Alexander Column

Abstract

The history of the engineering profession includes many events and achievements that raise doubts about their reality in modern people. These are the pyramids of Mexico and Egypt, megalithic structures in Peru, the Baalbek temple, etc. Aqueducts and viaducts, highways and bridges, fortifications and ships, the Greek fire and the Church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople — all this gives an idea of the capabilities and skills of ancient engineers. The questions of who and how built these objects and why modern technologies cannot repeat it will always excite the inquisitive mind of the researcher. The admiration of many architectural structures of the 18th-19th centuries raises the question of how this was possible to be done at that time, in the absence of knowledge about the power of steam and electricity. The objects built after the middle of the 19th century do not cause such questions — there were already many lifting mechanisms, photography documented the construction process, and the dug Suez Canal testified to the increased capabilities of mankind and strengthened engineering skills. No one doubts that the Eiffel Tower was built without the use of helicopters and the achievements of an antediluvian civilization. However, in relation to the unique creation of O. Montferrand — the Alexander Column in St. Petersburg, there is a clear distrust in the reality of the achieved result: the column that is more than 27 meters high, more than 3 meters in diameter and weighs more than 600 tons stands vertically on the end surface without additional supporting structures. This article, presented in three reports, is devoted to the attempt to mathematically justify the possibility of what was achieved at the level of knowledge, skills, mechanisms and technologies of the beginning of the 19th century. The first report is devoted to the formulation of the initial data for each stage of production, transportation and installation of the Alexander Column from the standpoint of the possibility of performing rigging work. The basis for the answers is an album of illustrations of the rise of the Alexander Column, made by the great architect O. Montferrand, who is also reproached for the lack of engineering training.