Page 45 - The Tale of Two Fountains

THE TALE OF TWO FOUNTAINS
and Mr Pankaj Joshi, the Architect and Consultant for the project and Executive Director of the Urban Development Research Institute (UDRI). We also met the Contractor for the Fitzgerald Foun- tain Restoration Project, Mr Harshad Madhani of Skyway Infra Projects Pvt. Ltd during our visit in February 2020.
We were informed by the team that some 580 parts of the structure were missing or broken and had to be cast to complete the assembly process. It is remarkable to note that the total cast iron structure weighs 18 tons of which 7 tons is new castings. The whole structure had to be dismantled, the cor- rosion had to be treated and every piece had to be checked for its durability and missing parts had to be assessed and cast. The structural stability of the column had to be assessed before its erection. Then the whole structure had to be bolted together like a ‘Meccano set’ following the same order in which it had been dismantled. The Project Team used photos and whatever information available in the form of drawings of the original Northampton fountain from the British National Archives and web images, to make casts for the missing parts. The Project Team was complemented by a further 150 people working on the project in various capacities. We can but applaud their efforts. The whole project was being carried out with a lot of precision, passion and commitment to see this iconic piece of history preserved for future generations.
Front elevation of Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum
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