Editing Statue of Liberty (section)

====Design====
[[File:Leslie Liberty.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper]]'', June 1885, showing (clockwise from left) [[woodcut]]s of the completed statue in Paris, Bartholdi, and the statue's interior structure]]

The foundation of Bartholdi's statue was to be laid inside [[Fort Wood (New York)|Fort Wood]], a disused army base on Bedloe's Island constructed between 1807 and 1811. Since 1823, it had rarely been used, though during the Civil War, it had served as a recruiting station.{{sfn|Moreno|2000|p=91}} The fortifications of the structure were in the shape of an eleven-point star. The statue's foundation and pedestal were aligned so that it would face southeast, greeting ships entering the harbor from the Atlantic Ocean.<ref name=stats/>
In 1881, the New York committee commissioned [[Richard Morris Hunt]] to design the pedestal. Within months, Hunt submitted a detailed plan, indicating that he expected construction to take about nine months.{{sfn|Khan|2010|p=169}} He proposed a pedestal {{convert|114|ft}} in height; faced with money problems, the committee reduced that to {{convert|89|ft}}.<ref name=stal/>

Hunt's pedestal design contains elements of classical architecture, including [[Doric order|Doric]] portals, as well as some elements influenced by [[Aztec architecture]].<ref name=TV /> The large mass is fragmented with architectural detail, in order to focus attention on the statue.<ref name=stal/> In form, it is a truncated pyramid, {{convert|62|ft}} square at the base and {{convert|39.4|ft}} at the top. The four sides are identical in appearance. Above the door on each side, there are ten disks upon which Bartholdi proposed to place the coats of arms of the states (between 1876 and 1889, there were 38 of them), although this was not done. Above that, a balcony was placed on each side, framed by pillars. Bartholdi placed an observation platform near the top of the pedestal, above which the statue itself rises.<ref name=Bartholdi62/> According to author [[Louis Auchincloss]], the pedestal "craggily evokes the power of an ancient Europe over which rises the dominating figure of the Statue of Liberty".<ref name=stal/> The committee hired former army General [[Charles Pomeroy Stone]] to oversee the construction work.{{sfn|Harris|1985|pp=71–72}} Construction on the {{convert|15|ft|m|adj=mid|-deep}} foundation began in 1883, and the pedestal's cornerstone was laid in 1884.{{sfn|Khan|2010|p=169}} In Hunt's original conception, the pedestal was to have been made of solid [[granite]]. Financial concerns again forced him to revise his plans; the final design called for poured concrete walls, up to {{convert|20|ft}} thick, faced with granite blocks.{{sfn|Sutherland|2003|pp=49–50}}{{sfn|Moreno|2000|pp=184–186}} This Stony Creek granite came from the Beattie Quarry in [[Branford, Connecticut]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Branford's History Is Set in Stone |url=https://connecticuthistory.org/branfords-history-is-set-in-stone/ |publisher=Connecticut Humanities |access-date=July 3, 2013 |archive-date=November 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131129175802/https://connecticuthistory.org/branfords-history-is-set-in-stone/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The concrete mass was the largest poured to that time.{{sfn|Moreno|2000|pp=184–186}}

[[Norwegians|Norwegian]] immigrant [[Civil engineering|civil engineer]] [[Joachim Goschen Giæver]] designed the structural framework for the Statue of Liberty. His work involved design computations, detailed fabrication and construction drawings, and oversight of construction. In completing his engineering for the statue's frame, Giæver worked from drawings and sketches produced by Gustave Eiffel.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.structuremag.org/article.aspx?articleID=1484|title=STRUCTUREmag – Structural Engineering Magazine, Tradeshow: Joachim Gotsche Giaver|date=November 27, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121127045537/https://www.structuremag.org/article.aspx?articleID=1484|archive-date=November 27, 2012}}</ref>