The three-ton floor that surrounds the pier of the 40’ moves vertically to make
viewing and attaching equipment easier for the astronomers.
This is not the original floor; that one collapsed during one of E. E. Barnard’s observing runs
when a support cable snapped. No one was hurt, but the incident did cause a bit of a setback as you can
imagine. Some of the wood in the new floor is from the original; in fact, the design is the same except
stronger cables are now employed.
