When I was climbing the stairs to the top of Montauk Point Lighthouse, I quickly snapped a couple of photographs of two windows on my way up. There were other people on the stairs so I didn't take much time to quickly frame my photographs. Looking at these photographs now I am kicking myself that I didn't try and carefully estimate the thickness of the walls of the lighthouse! Look how thick the walls are between the stairs and the windows! This is one of the lower windows - you can see the American flag faintly.
In this photograph, taken from one of the upper windows, you can see I am much higher up. At the right hand edge of this window, you can see a small part of the inner wall, so the thickness of the wall is less than it was at the lower window. I am guessing that the depths were maybe four or five feet thick at the bottom. If I had taken the time, I could have gotten a pretty accurate thickness, but it never entered my mind, sorry to say. Next time! I should say that there are four windows from top to bottom and they are all on the land facing side of the lighthouse, one above the other.
1 comment:
From your two photos, it appears to me that there are an average of at least five bricks laying end to end making up the wall thickness. Common bricks today are 7 5/8" long and then figure close to 1/2" of mortar per brick. So lets say 8" x 5 = 40". However, bricks made around the time the lighthouse was build could have been larger than common bricks today. Plus some additional length would be needed for the window casement. I did notice some half bricks in place making up courses, which affects my calculations. All in all this was a strenuous project for me to help take some pressure off your shoulders for not hanging around long enough to arrive at a more accurate answer for wall thickness. I will sleep soundly tonight, I hope you will too!
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