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History of Lighthouses Powerpoint History of Lighthouses Who needs ‘em? 2 Costa Concordia, 2012 3 4 The main purpose of lighthouses is as an aid to navigation. 4 5 6 History of Lighthouses Light sources: an evolution of technologies. 7 Lighthouses started simply 8 Early Eddystone Light 9 Pan and Wick 10 11 Wick Lamps Incandescent Oil Vapor (IOV) Lamp 12 Auto-changers 13 DCB-224 Aero Beacon 14 Umpqua River 1895 15 Point Loma LED Installation: $4.60 a day to 0.48 per day to operate 16 History of Lighthouses Ancient Roman Medieval Modern Era United States California History of Lighthouses Ancient Times Before lighthouses • Hard for us to appreciate the night time darkness of Ancient Times • Beacon fires on hilltops or beaches - guided mariners and warned of dangers • Earliest references made in 8th Century BC in Homer’s Illiad and Oddyssey Phoenicians • Phoenicians traded around the Mediterranean and possibly as far as Great Britain • Routes marked with “lighthouses”- wood fires or torches • After 1st century: candles or oil lamps enclosed with glass or thin horn panes Colossus of Rhodes Ancient wonders: Colossus of Rhodes (Greece) • Bronze statue of Helios, Greek god of sun • In 292 BC the statue was completed • Took 12 years to build • 100 feet high on island in harbor of Rhodes • Reported to have fires inside the head visible through its eyes • Destroyed by earthquake in 244 BC Pharos • On the island of Pharos in Alexandria, Greece • Completed in 280 BC • Estimated height 400 feet • Three levels • Square level 236’ high and 100’ square • Octagonal story 115’ high • Cylindrical tier 85’ high • Brazier with fire on top • Spiral ramp to the top • Fine quality stone cemented together with melted lead • Ptolomy II, Macedonian ruler of Egypt and architect, Sostratus of Cnidus • Damaged in 641 AD when Alexandria fell to Islamic troops • Destroyed by earthquake in 1346 • Ruble used in Islamic fortress in 1477 • (Lighthouse in French is phare and faro in Spanish) History of Lighthouses Roman Times Roman Empire • Romans also used lighthouses as they expanded their empire. • From the Black Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, as far north as Dover, England • By 400 AD about 30 Roman lighthouses •Style was short and sturdy towers with fire on top Dover Lighthouse from Roman times • Built in 1st century AD • Octagonal • 29 feet tall Dover Boulogne Lighthouse, France • Built 40 AD • By deranged Emperor Caligula to commemorate his victory over Neptune • 124 feet high • Reputedly restored by Charlemagne in 800 AD. • Finally fell into the sea in 1644 - Collapsed because of erosion La Coruña: This is the world's oldest working lighthouse, built about 100 AD. It was renovated and altered in 1682 and again in 1778. It is the only Roman lighthouse in working order. Coal fire replaced by Fresnel Lens and olive oil lamp in 1847. History of Lighthouses Medieval Times •Monks tried to assist mariners by lighting fires in church towers. • Dark ages halted construction until 1100 AD • Italy and France were most advanced • Mentioned often in travel books after 1500 • By 1600, 30 or more major lights were in use • Most were similar to ancient ones • Burned wood, coal or open torches; sometimes candles or oil lamps Laterna of Genoa • 1st built in 1139 • About 200 feet high • Rebuilt 1544 after being damaged in fighting, still in use • Keeper in 1449 was Antonio Columbo, uncle of Christopher Columbus • 1544 version had square foundation, with 2 stone tiers stacked above La Laterna, Genoa, Italy Cordouan, France Cordouan: This is the oldest lighthouse in France, and the first in the world to be built on the open ocean. It was extended in height and renovated 1786-1790. On the • New tower lit 1611 first floor, there is a chapel, and • Took 27 years to build because there is a room in the tower called it kept sinking into the island the "King's Bedroom," included in • When finished in 1611 island case there was a visit from King was totally submerged Louis XIV. This was the first • 135’ in diameter at the base, lighthouse in the world to use a 100’ high Fresnel lens (1823). • A magnificent achievement for the day • Elaborate interior of vaulted rooms, decorated with gilt, carved statuary & arched doorways St. Catherine’s Oratory Isle of Wight 1348 Hanseatic League • Commercial trading organization along Scandinavia and Germany • Established and maintained a trade monopoly over the Baltic Sea. Mutual protection against pirates. • And to a certain extent the North Sea, and most of Northern Europe • 16 lights established by 1600 • Best lighted area of the time • Extensive use of Church towers • Church towers also used Great Britain Riga church History of Lighthouses Modern Era 1) Winstanley's Tower lit 1698 2) Rudyard's Tower lit 1709 Eddystone Lights, off Plymouth, England 3) Smeaton's Tower lit 1759 (lasted 123 years) 4) Douglass's Tower lit 1882 England's Eddystone Light • The current tower is the 4th built on this site. • The 3rd lighthouse was Smeaton's Tower • Perhaps the best known of the four. • Influenced modern lighthouse design. • Importance in the use of concrete [4] Douglass’s Lighthouse Lit 1882 Still in service Built with Robert Stevenson's upgrades of Smeaton’s technology (Stub) Helipad, Automated 1698-1709-1759-1882 38 Eddystone Lights: England's Eddystone Light is probably the most famous lighthouse in the world. The first Eddystone Light was the first lighthouse anywhere to be built on an exposed rock in the open ocean. Its builder, Henry Winstanley, died at the lighthouse when it was destroyed by a storm in 1703. The 1759 tower was dismantled stone by stone and stands today at Plymouth Hoe as a monument to its builder, Winstanley's Tower - lit 1698 • 120 feet wooden tower • 12 iron stanchions grouted into hard red rock • Lasted until 1703 • Swept away in a severe storm • Its builder Henry Winstanley - died at the lighthouse in the 1703 storm Smeaton's Tower - lit 1759 •Used dovetailed and interlocking blocks • Smeaton was professional engineer. • Curved hyperbolic profile became classic lighthouse design – like an oak • Modified to solid cylindrical base to break the waves • Replaced in 1882 by Douglass tower • The tower was dismantled stone-by-stone and stands today at Plymouth Hoe as a monument to Smeaton •Note the chandelier Bell Rock: This lighthouse was designed by Lighthouse Engineer Robert Stevenson. Went into service in 1811. Scotland Bell Rock, • Stevensons were a family of Scotland lighthouse engineers • Same family as Robert Louis Stevenson (RLS) • Built upon Smeaton’s design to put lighthouses on off shore reefs and other difficult places • Scotland’s coastline became one of the best lit in the world •Began as a charitable guild of good samaritans in 12th century. Trinity House •First official record was a royal charter granted by Henry VIII in 1514 to a fraternity of mariners called the Guild of the Holy Trinity “so that they might regulate the pilotage of ships in the King’s streams.” “Trinity” is believed to refer to the Holy Trinity. •James I in 1604 gave Trinity House rights regarding compulsory pilotage of shipping and exclusive right to license pilots in the Thames. Trinity House was the pilot authority for most major port until 1987. Gibraltar •TH is the general lighthouse authority for England, Wales, Channel Islands and Gibraltar. Did not have a monopoly until 1836. Before that, private lighthouses could be erected and charges, called “light dues”, levied by customs officials on ships entering or leaving port were paid to the lighthouse owners. Trinity House bought all the private lighthouses by 1841, and lightkeepers were employed by Trinity House, and financed by the “light dues” •It has also been a charitable organization for the relief of mariners and their dependents, financed by income from the “light dues” and bequests. Trinity House Now available for weddings Trinity House Operational headquarters, Harwich History of Lighthouses United States Boston Harbor Light Little Brewster Island, MA Boston Light was America's first light station (1716) and the last to be automated (1998). It is still staffed by the Coast Guard. The first lighthouse was destroyed by the British at the beginning of the American Revolution in 1776; the present lighthouse was built in 1783. Boston Light was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964. Little Brewster Island is now part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. Sandy Hook New Jersey Constructed 1764 The lighthouse, which is the oldest lighthouse tower in the U.S., reopened to the public on June 10, 2000 after a $600,000 restoration that took eight months to complete. Sandy Hook Light is within the Gateway National Recreation Area. The lighthouse is managed by the National Park Service. The active optic is still maintained by the Coast Guard, and the New Jersey Lighthouse Society conducts tours. Sandy Hook Light is a National Historic Landmark. Cape Hatteras North Carolina The present lighthouse was constructed in 1869-70 at a cost exceeding $150,000. Well over one million bricks were used to construct the 208-foot tower, which is the tallest in the United States. The lighthouse was set on a “floating foundation” (two layers of pine beams placed crossways below the water table), which remained perfectly preserved for well over a century. On June 17, 1999, the lighthouse was raised six feet off its base and carefully moved, in five-foot increments, along a roadway constructed for that purpose. It arrived safely at its new location on July 9, 1999, and was relit on November 13. Cape Hatteras, North Carolina •The Civil War saw Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in the center of conflict.
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