Investigate · Paris 1878

Travaux du Palais du Trocadéro, 1878

2 clues in this photo

1Repair scaffold

The Trocadéro wrapped in scaffold

The engraving of the Trocadéro works shows a foreground colonnade with a damaged or unfinished ceiling and hanging fragments, stone columns and a rail track. Behind it the towers are wrapped in scaffold, with horse teams and about 30 workers.

The questionIs this new construction, or repair and refitting of an existing structure?

2Scale

Horse teams and about 30 workers

The visible crew is a few horse teams and about 30 workers in front of a palace-scale building.

The questionHow did crews of this kind finish a palace this size in time for opening day?

Photo: Smeeton-Tilly and A. Deroy · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

Paris 1878 Case file

Same kind of clue, elsewhere

#2Repair scaffold · Chicago 1893Scaffolding on a facade that already looks finishedIs this scaffold building the facade, or refinishing one that was already there?

#8Repair scaffold · Vienna 1873An open roof and a bare iron lanternIs the roof being closed for the first time, or reroofed?

#10Scale · St. Louis 1904Twelve men and a tripod to plant one treeIf one tree took this much effort, what did the palaces take?

Scale · London 1851Carriages for scale along the north-east frontAt that scale, what did the hauling and erection really require from a horse-powered city?

Scale · Philadelphia 1876Crowds give the scaleHow many stone-setters and teams would a hall like this need on the timeline recorded?

Scale · Paris 1889The Galerie des Machines at true scaleHow was a span that size raised for a single season?

All clues others missed →