St. Joseph Cathedral in Manchester had a problem: How does one go about replacing the eroding bolts in a 123-year-old church bell, about 90 feet above street level, without dropping 4,300 pounds of bronze through the steeple floor, into the lobby and pews below?

The solution involved keeping the bell on its stand to help distribute its weight, while changing out the head bolt — a huge screw that connects the bell to the surrounding frame and supports its weight — for new, steel hardware rated to last another hundred years.

Two relatively less heavy bells, at 2,100 and 1,200 pounds, also needed replacement head bolts. Some older churches don't use their bells anymore because it strains the equipment, and the heavy instrument can severely damage the building if it fails.

St. Joseph isn't

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