Iron Man

The Iron Man remains a trace of the ingenuity of our ancestors. Its principle contributed, along with 85 other high points, to establish, in the 19th century, the map of Belgium using the principle of triangulation. The geodetic marker, affectionately nicknamed the “Iron Man”, is located at the southern tip of the Bois de la Houssière. After having been used to establish the country’s map, it served to clarify the calculations of latitude-longitude, altitude, gravitational force… The principle of the Iron Man A tower of about thirty meters was built on the marker that allowed for visibility of other elevated points, such as the Lion of Waterloo. It was then that, through reciprocal sightings and trigonometry, a true cartographic network was established. The result: an extremely precise map at the centimeter level could be produced.

Val et Oli