47 years after being built for the 1958 World Fair, the 102 metre high Atomium – a billion-fold enlargement of an iron molecule – needs a fundamental overhaul.

The entire outer skin of the 18 metre wide globe will be replaced with corrosion-resistant steel plates. A Liebherr-crawler crane, model LR 1350/1-LN belonging to the Belgian crane and heavy transport specialists Sarens, is being used for the renovation of the topmost globe.

Originally the plan was to dismantle the Atomium immediately after the World Fair. But the good burghers of Brussels could not bring themselves to dismantle this symbol of their city, by now famous worldwide.