The largest thermometer in the world ( Eng. World's tallest thermometer ) is a landmark of the settlement ( San Bernardino County, California , USA ), located on the I-15 highway [1] . It is an electric sign (technically) in the form of an electronic thermometer (actually) [2] .
Content
Description
The mass of the structure is 34,841 kilograms, the height is 40.8 meters, 96 m³ of concrete were spent on the foundation. The cost of the construction amounted to 700-750 thousand dollars. The work was performed by . The owner is the Herron family. The maximum temperature available for fixation with this thermometer is 56.7 ° C, since it is precisely this, the highest in the world in the history of meteorological observations, the temperature was recorded on July 10, 1913 in the nearby Death Valley . The height of the structure in feet is equal to this record temperature in degrees Fahrenheit - 134 [3] [4] .
History
Businessman Willis Herron has been hatching the idea of creating a huge thermometer since the mid-1960s. In 1990-1991, his dream came true: 33 tons of steel and almost 5,000 light bulbs for light indication of air temperature from three sides took to create a thermometer. However, a few months after the completion of the work, the building was thrown by a strong wind, destroying the gift shop under construction at its foot. Herron did not despair, but restored his thermometer, but this time he spent almost a hundred cubic meters of concrete on his foundation, and as a result, the world's largest thermometer was turned on October 9, 1992.
In 2007, Willis Herron died, and five years later, without proper care, the thermometer stopped functioning, the gift shop closed and was covered with graffiti [5] , and the complex was put up for sale for $ 1,750,000 [6] . The person who bought it said that he would not repair the device, since the thermometer consumes too much electricity (the bill was about $ 8,000 per month [2] ) and does not pay for itself [7] . Therefore, in 2014, the widow and daughter of Herron bought this building, repaired and restored, which cost them another 150,000 dollars [2] . The device was restarted on October 11, 2014 [3] (according to other sources, July 10, 2014 [8] ).
See also
Notes
- ↑ For more information, see
- ↑ 1 2 3 Wendy Lee. World's tallest thermometer could light up again on March , March 26, 2014
- ↑ 1 2 World's Tallest Thermometer ( roadside ) at roadsideamerica.com
- ↑ Lee Benson . Hot spot is a cool pit stop on , January 6, 2003
- ↑ Wendy Lee. World's tallest thermometer in Baker is busted on scpr.org , November 22, 2012
- ↑ Phil Willon. Baker's giant thermometer is up for sale on latimes.com , January 3, 2013
- ↑ Phil Willon. Baker's giant thermometer, long on the blink, is taking heat on latimes.com , December 24, 2012
- ↑ Veronica Rocha. World's tallest thermometer in Baker shines bright again (lat.) On latimes.com , July 12, 2014
Links
- Wikimedia Commons has media related to The World's Largest Thermometer
- Official website