TMOP - Chapter 10 - The Shot Tower

[David Morris]

The shot tower is on the Stolyarny Quay, Fontanka River.

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Fontanka

Fontanka River is a left branch of the river Neva flowing from Lake
Ladoga  through the city of Saint Petersburg. Its length is 6,700
meters, its width is up to 70 meters, and its depth is up to 3,5
meters. The Fontanka Embankment is lined with private residences of
the Russian nobility. This river, one of 93 river Rivers and channels
in St. Petersburg, was once named Anonymous Creek .  In 1719, the
river received its present name, because water from it was taken for
fountain Fountains of the Summer Garden Summer Garden

Photos of the Fontanka River:
http://petersburgcity.com/city/photos/rivers/fontanka/

Stolyarny Quay:

Raskolnikov, the fictional anti-hero of Crime and Punishment may have
lived on nearby Stolyarny Lane.

A "quay" is a structure built parallel to the bank of a waterway for
use as a landing place.

I have been unable to locate any "Stolyarny Quay," since Stolyarny
Lane doesn't seem to run into the Fontanka.  But it does run into the
Groboyedova Canal, which is roughly parallel to the Fontanka, but much
smaller.  Also, it seems a highly unlikely place for the industrial
facility of a shot tower, being at the heart of the city in a place of
"private residences of the Russian nobility."

.A "shot tower" is a tower designed for the production of shot balls
by freefall of molten lead, which is then caught in a water basin. The
shot is used for projectiles in firearms.

In a shot tower, lead is heated until molten, then dropped through a
copper sieve high up in the tower. The liquid lead solidifies as it
falls and by surface tension forms tiny spherical balls. The partially
cooled balls are caught at the floor of the tower in a water-filled
basin.[1] The now fully cooled balls are checked for roundness and
sorted by size; those that are "out of round" are remelted. A slightly
inclined table is used for checking roundness.[2] To make larger shot
sizes, a copper sieve with larger holes is used. However, the maximum
size is limited by the height of the tower, because larger shot sizes
must fall farther to cool. A polishing with a slight amount of
graphite is necessary for lubrication and to prevent oxidation.