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The first problem that had to be solved was to know what force the wind
would apply on the Atomium and its foundations. If the drag of an
isolated sphere is well known and can be computed, given the diameter
of the sphere only, it is not so for a group of nine spheres which are
relatively near each other and connected by tubes of an appreciable
diameter. Tests thus had to be made on reduced-scale models; these
tests were made in teh wind tunnel of the Ministry of Transport under
leadership of a consulting engineer, Mr. A. Joukoff. They lasted
several months, but we quickly had the total drag of the wind on the
nine spheres, acting in different directions, and we were surprised at
the relatively low value found. The spheres partially protected each
other from the effects of the wind.
These tests took place from June to September 1955. In October of the same year, the preliminary design work on the interior disposition of the spheres was being undertaken by the architects Messrs. A. & J. Polak. The difficult problem of a fast elevator which was to bring the visitors to the uppermost sphere at a speed of 16,4 ft/sec. was well on the way to being solved by an important European firm. An initial preliminary design of the steel structure of the Atomium was proposed by "La Construction Soudee Co. Ltd", Consulting Engineers, which were entrusted with the calculations. The use to which the spheres were to be put, and the circulation of the visitors, were of course serious problems. In the beginning, the idea of maximum utilization of the nine spheres of the Atomium seemed to prevail, but after due consideration and taking into account the llarge number of visitors which the Atomium could theoretically contain, it was deceided to open six spheres only to the public: the base sphere, the three lower spheres (the ones which are supported by the bipods), the centeral sphere and the top sphere.
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