London Celebrations: engineering feats to help public festivities

Originating in 1856, The Engineer just missed the Great Exhibition of 1851 and Joseph Paxton’s great Crystal Palace that showed off the engineering and technological feats of the British Empire at its height, for good or ill. No doubt if the magazine’s founder had swung into action a few years earlier, the Crystal Palace would have had pride of place in its pages. And while we have sometimes been criticised for being too London-centric, the capital has throughout its history – and ours – been the natural location for some of the country’s greatest celebrations; and from the Coliseums and stadia of history onwards, the venues for great public happenings have been feats of engineering. Here, we collect some of the most notable engineering feats connected with celebrations and gatherings that have featured in our pages.

The twin towers of Wembley, although in truth slightly stumpy, formed an iconic backdrop for many a sporting event and concerts including 1986’s Live Aid, not to mention the 1948 Olympic Games. In a five-page feature in 1923, The Engineer detailed the amazing six month project to clear the site in north London and build the stadium in time for that year’s FA Cup final, culminating in military exercises to test the new structure. By contrast, the stadium’s replacement took four years to build.