Construction of 200 ft Cross in Louisiana 2

[plasgears]

In Bossier City east of Shreveport stands a 200 ft high cross on the grounds of Central AG Church. Curious about the details, I inquired at the church. The following site gives photos of construction and erection:

<crossonthehill.com>

In short, it is similar to box beam construction with longitudinal stiffeners, cross braces, and diaphragms. It is built in four 50 ft sections. The first 50 ft is double wall with reinf concrete in the annulus. The front and rear faces are not flat to the wind. The square sections are rotated 45 deg into a diamond. The base is approx 6 ft sq tapering to 4 ft sq on top. Illumination is in two planes parallel to the cross face, front and rear. Builder is Hedrick in Laurel, MS.

The impression at night is striking with bright lights illuminating the white cross. It is a landmark both from the ground and the air.

 

[abusementpark]

Is that what that cross is for?

I just assumed somebody really important had died along that stretch of the highway.

 

[plasgears]

Park,
Of course you know that the cross is a beacon to attract the eye and bring people inside the church. And it works.

 

[PaddyViet]

Would you be intrested in 200ft Bhuddas?

I only have one construction pic, but the scaffolding will make you wince.

 

[a2mfk]

Paddy- post it, I bet its in the Vietnam-Cambodia-Thailand area, they have some impressive temples and buddhas there. My favorite is the Reclining Buddha in Bangkok. They built the statue lying down (46m long by 15m high) and then built the building around it.

I wonder if it would be considered sacrilegious if a cell phone tower was buried inside of that cross. Sure would help defray the costs of such a worthwhile project. Those are the nicest things I could possibly say about that whole thing.

I guess that cross would be the perfect size for this statue, though they are kind of far away from each other:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-11-07-jesus-statue-poland_N.htm

These things have some interest to me as a structural engineer, especially those built before modern structural engineering. Do you think the French did a FEA of the Statue of Liberty and designed for ASCE 7 hurricane wind forces??

 

[IRstuff]

The Statue of Liberty's structure was designed by Eiffel, so it was certainly intended to survive a number of natural conditions...

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[TenPenny]

And wasn't Liberty originally going to be at the Suez canal?

Many of these old structures are pretty interesting accomplishments.

 

[a2mfk]

Unlike the Tower, the Statue of Liberty is more of a work of art than a structure. I know its arguable, and I like the tower and appreciate the state of the art at that time, but that's because I am a structural engineer I think.

If you've ever walked up to the crown and tried studying the steel framing (while watching your step and not becoming extremely claustrophobic), it can give you a headache. I saw a discovery special about when they redid some of the copper in the 1980s that they had to find and "import" several older gents from Europe that still have the artisan knowledge to work the copper to teach the modern metal workers how to do it.

Copper seems like it could cause you all kinds of structural connection problems...

 

[jenofstructures]

you can see a lot of structural innovation on Churches alone

like the use of flying buttresses in Church Reim
Using the Divine Proportion for Chartres Cathedral (also have a great blue stained glass)
And how Filippo Brunelleschi uses a kind of arrangement that made that Dome in France


Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree. engineers creates wonderful buildings, but only God can creates wonderful minds

 

[nackra]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_Knob_Cross

shorter version in Southern Illinois

 

[IRstuff]

@ a2mfk

While the Statue is a work of art, and yes, originally intended for Egypt, the framing of the Statue is extremely similar to that of the Tower. I vaguely recall that Nova, and one of the big issues was the thermal expansion difference between the copper and the steel structure

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[a2mfk]

good points Jen- like Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, which has been under construction since 1882. Saw something where its really starting to come along thanks to modern computer modeling and fabrication techniques, since its such a mixture of art, architecture, and engineering its so complicated, one of the reasons its been taking so long. That, and I think its the Spanish and Catalun way of doing things (too many fiestas)

 

[jenofstructures]

and Sagrada Familia's target completion date is on 2017, so much time spent since 1800s

but the real target completion date is in 2026 if I'm not mistaken, the construction became faster due to modern engineering solutions....but according to wikipedia, there's a problem regarding the stability of structure since there's a high speed underground train, it is a problem specially that the Church looks heavy. I don't believe at first that its a Catholic Church

Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree. engineers creates wonderful buildings, but only God can creates wonderful minds