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Hearing Held to Stop Construction
March 24, 1999
Cheryl Roberts
UPDATE
HATTERAS ISLAND, NC
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No word from Judge Boyle of the North Carolina Fifth District Federal Court
on the request for a stop-work order at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse worksite by the Dare County Commissioners and three
private property owners.
The initial hearing in North Carolina Federal District Court in Elizabeth
City at 11 am March 15th by Judge Terrence Boyle lasted about one and
one-half hours. The judge did not give a ruling from the bench but plans
to read all relevant materials and later announce his decision. Plaintiffs
include the Dare County Commissioners and three private property owners
north of the lighthouse. They have filed for a stop-work order to the Dept.
of the Interior and the National Park Service. A concern expressed by
Judge Boyle is that some issues in the injunction request filed by the
plaintiffs' include ones not concerned with the lighthouse and its
relocation.
The judge's ruling will be announced when available.
New Aquarium Underway
March 24, 1999
Michael Halminski
ROANOKE ISLAND, NC
North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke Island Director David Griffin shows Advisory Committee members the size of the Graveyard of the Atlantic tank by standing inside the structure.
Photos courtesy Michael Halminski
After an initial groundbreaking last November, the $15 million expansion project of the North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke Island is well underway. The new facility, constructed by T.A. Loving Company of Goldsboro, will be double in size of the old aquarium, to about 68,000 square feet. The centerpiece exhibit will be the 185,000 gallon "Graveyard of the Atlantic" tank that will house a variety of sea life including sharks, spadefish, cobia, drum, groupers, and sea turtles, as well as a replica of the Civil War ironclad shipwreck, USS Monitor. Visitors will see the tank through a large 5 1/2 inch thick curved acrylic viewing port.
The grand opening is scheduled for spring of 2000. The other two North Carolina Aquariums at Pine Knoll Shores, and Fort Fisher are also scheduled for expansions in the near future. As the most visited state facilities, the three Aquariums host about one million people each year. 80,000 of these are school children participating in educational programs and field trips.
Move Accelerates
March 4, 1999
Cheryl Roberts
UPDATE
HATTERAS ISLAND, NC
The first photo shows the steepened headline on which the Cape Hatteras
Lighthouse is perched today. The image was taken about noon March 3rd, and
the tide is almost exactly between high and the approaching low tide around
3 PM.
Photos courtesy Bruce Roberts
Workers are making good progress coring and mining the granite foundation
rock. This is a slow process involving the careful removal of the stone
foundation and replacement with temporary shoring (support).
The National Park Service reports that the movers have discovered
identification on one of the plinths (the eight sided, stepped granite
stones around the base of the lighthouse) marked in soapstone and still
evident from around 1868. This is approximately when the plinths would have
been put in place by crews of Dexter Stetson, foreman of construction for
the U.S. Lighthouse Service (then known as the Light-House Board). There's
brick rubble and mortar holding the stone together in the foundation, as
recorded in Light-House Board documents. The workers removed some of the
plinth stone yesterday, and very well-bonded rubble masonry was found
underneath. Movers are keeping the same numbering as the original builders
for this plinth.
Plinth one, below grade, will be removed and stored for resetting after the
move. Plinths 2-5 will move with the tower.
Photos courtesy Bruce Roberts
The second photo shows the Double Keepers' Quarters well on its way last week
down the move corridor to the relocation site.
And the third photo is an aerial looking West, showing you the cordoned-off
construction site, the cleared move corridor, and the Double Keepers'
Quarters at the new site, waiting for its companions. The double-wide
trailer in the right background is the temporary visitors center.
Photos courtesy Bruce Roberts
Not seen is the Principal Keeper's Quarters, endearingly called the "Pink
House," just out of the picture to the right. It is planned to be moved
during the week of March 7.
Note the fading sandbags in front of the tower, the only line of defense
remaining.
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Principal Keepers Quarters Moved
March 23, 1999
Cheryl Roberts
UPDATE
HATTERAS ISLAND, NC
The move continues with the relocation of the Principal Keepers Quarters
Tuesday, March 23, 1999. All that remains at the original site is the
tower. Mining and coring of stone has progressed well and shoring towers
continue to be put in place as support.
Photos courtesy Bruce Roberts
The entire process is phenomenal. You are seeing history in the making at
any point while the actual work is being done to prepare the tower for
moving and the move itself, as well as the lowering of the tower to its new
foundation.
The tower is planned to be lifted by the end of May. It
will begin its slide to the new site over the month of June and into July.
Plans are to have all buildings reset on new foundations around Labor Day.
There are many, many details involved:
- the removal of the remaining 50% of granite
stone foundation and replacement with shoring towers;
- placement of shoring beams on top of the shoring towers;
- threading of main beams (with the jacks that will lift the tower) between
the main beams;
- placement of cross steel beams;
- lifting of tower;
- placement of roll beams;
- laying of stepped steel mat downward to meet the roll beams;
- transfer of load to roll beams;
- activation of push jacks;
- actual roll 2,900 feet southwest to new site: estimated to take 50+ days
- lowering of tower onto new foundation;
- constant, many faceted adjustments to each of the above steps;
- resetting of all buildings at the same relative position to one another
and same angle to the sea
Shoring Up
March 15, 1999
Cheryl Roberts
UPDATE
HATTERAS ISLAND, NC
The first photograph from "underneath
the lighthouse" shows the process of building the support system well
underway. From bottom of picture to top:
Where the granite foundation stone meets the ground is the 1870 pine timber
mat. As room is opened up with two-foot cuts at a time, steel beams are
laid and welded together to make a solid steel mat to help spread the load
of the lighthouse evenly.
Photos courtesy Bruce Roberts
On top of the steel beam mat is oak cribbing; on the oak
cribbing are the base plates of the shoring towers with hydraulic jacks
pressing down on the baseplate to tension everything above against the
cutline of the tower.
The shoring towers are four steel posts with cross steel bracing and top
baseplate. Sitting on the top plates of the shoring towers are the shoring
beams...one of these strong shoring beams is sticking out past the edge of
the underside of the tower,
where the cutline appears are the face stones of the first plinth (usually
below grade). Above it covered in plastic and reinforced by strongback
beams are plinths 2-5 that will move with the lighthouse. Plinth 1 face
stones have been removed, identified and will be reset after relocation.
(lighthouse builder Dexter Stetson's markings are still evident on the
plinth stones, marked with soapstone)
Photos courtesy Bruce Roberts
In the second image "workers putting in shoring towers" International
Chimney Inc. and Expert House Movers workers are securing the cross bracing
of the shoring towers. One worker is kneeling on the steel beam mat that
covers the 1870 pine timber mat.
The Principal Keepers' Quarters is expected to move to its new location
Tuesday and the only remaining structure at the site is the tower. 40% of
the foundation stone has been cut and approximately 25% of the stone has
been removed and replaced with temporary support.
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