A Sightseer's Guide to EngineeringNational Society of Professional EngineersNational Engineer's Week
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The outer shell of the Statue of Liberty was created out of copper, because it had to be lightweight and easy to take apart and reassemble. The copper was analyzed in 1985 by Bell Laboratories of New Jersey and traced to the Visnes Copper Mine in Norway, which operated in the 1870s under the direction of Charles Defrance, a French mining engineer.


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NEW YORK Printable version
Statue of Liberty National Monument
1 Liberty Island
New York City, NY 10004
212/363-3200
Web Site
Ride a ferry (info: 866/STATUE4) to the island. View inside the Statue through a glass ceiling. 
Hours of Operation: Open daily, except 12/25. Seasonal hours. Time passes needed to enter monument. Need a map?
The tallest statue of modern times, the Statue of Liberty was given to the U.S. by France to commemorate the two countries' alliance during the American Revolution. Designed by French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, the statue was reduced to 350 pieces and packed into 214 crates for transit to the U.S. in 1885. French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel devised the interior support system, using a network of steel girders. General Charles P. Stone was the chief engineer in charge of constructing the foundation and pedestal (designed by Richard Morris Hunt) as well as reassembling the statue, which was dedicated in 1886.
 
Who Made It: Frederic Auguste Bartholdi and Alexandre Gustave Eiffel in France; Richard Morris Hunt and General Charles P. Stone in the U.S.
 
Photo Credit: NPS Photo