Why Nobody Can Enter Statue of Liberty's Torch

This is Liberty Island near Manhattan, New York, and here is our hero, the Statue of Liberty. It's 150 feet tall. It's like 10 giraffes sitting on each other's necks. Compared to the size of a person, you'd have to stand on the shoulders of your 25 friends to reach the torch in its right hand. The concrete base and pedestal make the statue even taller, 305 feet from the ground to the very top. The weight of the statue can be compared to the weight of an empty Boeing 737. But this is only the outer skin of the statue. The metal construction inside, that is stairs, pylons and supports, weigh another 125 tons. It's like a small train locomotive, and the concrete base underneath weighs an impressive 27,000 tons. That's like a fleet of 11,000 heavy SUVs, or 180 of the largest blue whales. And this is what the statue looked like 135 years ago. Yes, its color is very different. It's the same color you'd see if you cut through an electrical wire, because the entire statue is made of copper. About 20 years after it was installed, it turned completely green. That's because the air and the frequent rains gradually oxidized the metal. And that metal is extremely thin. Designers could have made those sheets of metal thicker, but then the statue would have been even heavier, and it would have fallen under its own weight. A little thinner, and the severe oxidation and corrosion of the metal would have made holes in the statue. The sculptor had thought well about the construction of the statue, and it took more than 10 years to build it. But it all started with this model, made of clay. It was only 4 feet tall, so you'd probably be taller than this mini Statue of Liberty, even with its hand raised. The next model was made of plaster. By increasing the size, the sculptor could add and refine the details of the statue. For example, a detail that you would never be able to see from Liberty Island, or even from the pedestal, it's the shackles. It looks as if the statue had thrown them off, symbolizing freedom. The next model was 33 feet tall, or the length of a school bus. That's about a quarter of the statue's actual size, and it was the maximum size the sculptor could fit in his workshop. Then, the sculptor proceeded to create the full-sized pieces, the head and the right hand holding the torch. The other hand held a stone tablet with the Roman numerals embossed on it, signifying July 4, 1776, the day the United States signed the Declaration of Independence. Another symbolic detail is the crown. The seven rays on it represent the seven seas and seven continents. In other words, the entire world ocean and the entire landmass. So, it was time to build the final version of the Statue of Liberty. The constructors needed absolutely all the parts of the statue made of plaster first. Here it's head. They took sheets of wood, parallel to each other and pushed them against the model. The edges of the sheets were then shaped so that they perfectly replicated the shapes and curves of the statue. In other words, it was a cast. Then, the wooden structure was placed on the floor and covered with a sheet of copper. All that was left was to shape the sheet of copper into the curves of the statue with hammers and a press. The sheets were then reinforced on the inside with iron straps. This procedure was repeated 350 times. That's how many separate sheets of copper make up the Statue of Liberty. But if you put it all together, it would simply collapse under its own weight, or be blown away by the wind. And that's where Gustave Eiffel comes in. Yes, this is the French engineer who later built the most famous metal structure in the world, the Eiffel Tower. Gustave Eiffel designed the iron pylon that would serve as the spine of the statue, and then smaller metal structures were added around it. Later, all 350 copper plates of the Statue of Liberty would be attached to it, and here you can already see the shape of the future statue. The metal structures repeat the shape of the torch, head, and the tablet in the left hand. Even though this metal structure weighs over 100 tons, it's still quite flexible, so even now the fully assembled Statue of Liberty sways a bit. In a strong wind, it can swing four inches at the top. It took about ten years to finish the work. The head of the statue was exhibited in a museum in New York, and its hand with the torch in France. It was to raise money for this project. Even then, visitors were allowed inside the head and torch. Now it was time to send the finished statue to New York. So all the sheets of copper and metalwork were disassembled, packed into 214 boxes, and shipped from France across the Atlantic Ocean. It took the workers another four months to fully assemble the statue on the finished pedestal. The statue is connected to the pedestal so it can't be lifted separately, and the entire metal structure inside can be seen through the glass ceiling of the pedestal. Although interior work was still in progress, you could already see the statue in all its beauty. There's the star-shaped base on the ground. It's the remains of the former Fort Wood on the island. Next comes the granite pedestal, which has its own observation deck and the statue itself. Now let's look inside the structure and try to get to the top. We have to go through the doors of a star-shaped base. Then you have a choice, take the elevator up to the observation deck, or go up the 192 steps. And there are stairs for tourists to go up and another staircase to go down, to avoid the crowds and traffic. The stairs take you to the height of a six-story building, right up to the observation deck. To get to the crown of the statue, we need to go to the seventh floor, where we see a double helix stairway. It runs right inside the Iron Pylons, the spine of the Statue of Liberty, and this stairway is double because there's a separate section for going up and the other section for going down. There's also some space where you can rest if you get tired while going up. There's also an elevator, but it holds a maximum of three people and is only used in emergencies. As you climb, you can see exactly how the metal sheets were attached to the metal frame, And you can also distinguish specific details of the statue, like the folds of the dress and even locks of hair. So, 354 steps done. Congratulations, you've reached the observation deck in the crown of the Statue of Liberty. It's pretty small and only fits a couple of people. You can look out over New York Bay through 25 glass windows. They symbolize the gems of our planet. And there are powerful lanterns behind you that light up the glass. They turn on at night so that passing ships can see the statue's crown glow. Well, actually, entry to the torch is not allowed for tourists, but just for you, we'll open it up for a minute. To get up there, you have to go down. Yes, about to the neck of the statue. There's a hatch that leads through a narrow passage into the right hand of the statue. Then you have to go up the stairs to the wrist, and then another ladder will lead you to the handle of the torch. Open the cylindrical door, and voila! You're on the highest observation deck of the Statue of Liberty. For many years now, only workers have been allowed access here. There's gold in the metal the torch is made of, but if you look closely at it, you can see it's not the original torch that was brought here from France. About 100 years after the statue was installed, in 1986, frequent rains and leaking water damaged the torch, and it had to be replaced. At first, the old torch was displayed as a museum piece just inside the pedestal at the entrance. But recently, a new museum was built on the island, and the torch was moved there. There's a myth that says the Statue of Liberty is a gift from the people of France to the United States to celebrate 100 years of independence. But money for the statue was raised on both sides of the ocean, and the sculptor himself was inspired to build it in Egypt by the statue of the Colossus. Plus the statue was five years too late for the 100th anniversary of independence. Other rumors say that Thomas Edison once wanted to make the statue speak. He wanted to put a huge phonograph in it, the sound of which could have been heard even in Manhattan. Good thing he didn't, because then it would have been unbearably noisy on the island, and it would have looked creepy.