The 12 bongs from the Great Bell - the origin of the name Big Ben - that will mark the turning of the year will be powered by an electric motor.
The floral emblems of the four parts of the United Kingdom - the thistle, shamrock, leek and rose - have been repainted in the colours of Charles Barry's original design for the tower, which was renamed after Queen Elizabeth in 2012. "When you stand on the street it's a really nice nod to the past." Sturge said an early watercolour showed a blue colour scheme, which was confirmed by paint analysis that discovered the first coat was Prussian blue. The dials' hands, numerals and other details have been repainted bright blue rather than the black long familiar to Londoners. The restoration includes replacing all of the panels on the clock faces using and-blown glass, Sturge said. "The roofs will be fully visible along with the four clock faces."īig Ben, the largest and most accurate four-faced chiming clock when it was built, is a symbol of London and Britain's parliamentary democracy around the world, as well as being one of the most photographed sites in the city. "By New Year people will start to see a big difference they'll start to get their tower back," he said.
Nick Sturge, project manager for Sir Robert McAlpine's special projects, said removing the scaffolding was a "massive milestone" in the 79.7 million pound ($107 million) project. The clock tower of Britain's Houses of Parliament has been hidden for three-and-a-half years while hundreds of craftspeople repaired masonry, replaced metalwork and repainted and regilded in the biggest restoration since it was built in 1859. LONDON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Big Ben's dials will emerge from a shroud of scaffolding in time for the world famous clock to perform its most important annual role - ringing in the New Year for thousands on the streets of London and millions more watching on television.
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