Scaffolding Across The World
What do we use scaffolding for?
Scaffolding is used to form a solid structure and provide buildings and workers alike, a solid, stable, and safe platform. Scaffolding today is a huge part of any construction project. Whether it’s a small extension to your kitchen at home or a series of high-rise buildings being built, you will find scaffolding being erected. In London alone, there are currently over 20,000 construction projects ongoing. With such a huge market, there is plenty of reason to believe that scaffolding will be around for many, many years to come. But where did it all begin?
Early Birds
Historians have traced the concept of scaffolding all the way back to the Paleolithic era, roughly around 2.5 million years ago to 10,000 B.C. It is believed that some of the cave paintings from the time would have needed some kind of platform due to the height of the cave walls. It goes without saying it would not have looked anything like the scaffolding you see in all major cities today but the concept and usage are very similar. As you can imagine, there were no health and safety laws back then, no health and safety executive to ensure guidelines and laws were upheld.
Ancient Egypt Scaffolding
It is also widely known that the Ancient Egyptians used a form of scaffolding when building the Giza Pyramids. The bricks used were really heavy so to help raise them to where they needed to be, scaffolding was essential. Even ancient Asia and Europe will have used various forms of scaffolding and some of the structures they used it on will still be around today.
Scaffolding In Europe
As time went on and medieval times began, Europe was beginning a new era of building lots of beautiful new buildings, including religious buildings (cathedrals, monasteries and churches). These will have been wooden-built structures as this was the most reliable material available at the time.
The Jones Brothers
At the beginning of the 20th century, brothers Daniel Palmer Jones and David Henry Jones were at the forefront of scaffolding as they realised a solution to the slippy metal poles. They patented an invention of a fastener system ‘Tube & Fittings’ (T&F), which fixed the poles together and created a more secure structure. The brothers then had the honour of being commissioned to rebuild Buckingham Palace in 1913.
This prototype design became the norm for a number of years until 1919 when Daniel Palmer Jones patented the Universal Coupler, which quickly became the new industry standard. Despite lots of refinements and improvements over the years, this design is still used by the vast majority of scaffolders in London and the rest of the world. However, other materials are still used in other parts of the world for scaffolding. For example, bamboo is still used in Hong Kong.
Modern Era Scaffolding
Post World War II, lots of cities in Europe had been reduced to rubble. This meant there were a lot of repairs and rebuilding to be done to many of the biggest cities on the continent. Building systems were in need of much improvement due to the number of structures that needed working on. There came a large construction boom and many scaffolding companies got their start around this time. Modern-Day Scaffolding was born.
If you would like to learn more about the scaffolding services that we offer in North London, East London and West London simply contact us today. Additionally, check out our blog! Full of useful information like How to Maximise Safety When Working With Scaffolding, and answering the question: Can You Work on Scaffolding in the Rain?