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Since mid December, International Chimney Corp. has been on a mission to move the Cape Hatteras Lightstation. Up until now, most of the effort has been in preparation of moving the black and white spirat beacon. Here in mid June) the final countdown has begun. The Lighthouse will start her historic journey at the end of this week. Thursday, June 17th or Friday the 18th are the probable dates told to us by the National Park Service. The community is holding its breath, awaiting that first step".

All of the 4' long square oak cribbing pieces that had been piled high in many areas near the work trailers have found their way underneath the Lighthouse. The grounds look conspicuously empty without the cribbing stacked everywhere. On June 4th, Expert House Movers started raising the 208' tall structure. This process took five days to complete. The jacks would lift all 4,800 tons a small distance and then the cribbing would be stacked up to reach the Lighthouse. Then they would jack some more and put more cribbing in place. This procedure continued until the tower was standinq almost seven feet taller. For the people who regularly travel Hwy 12, a lot more of the tower could be seen. In some places, maybe it was a window that was suddenly in clear view or perhaps another stripe. There was no doubt that the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse had undergone a growth spurt.

Most of the orange colored shoring towers have been removed for they were no longer needed at the old site. The shoring towers now sit 2,900' to the southwest and will be used again when the Lighthouse is being placed on her new pad.

As moving day nears, Joe Jakubik stated, "I think we have anticipated everything." Three of the seven travel beams have been placed. The Hilman rollers are being installed with guides to keep everything perfectly in line. A total of 100 rollers will be used in this phase. The push jacks are also starting to be installed on the end of the travel beams. The Hilman rollers and the push jacks stayed in Virginia Beach until the last moment. The ocean air causes metal to rust and rust is not welcomed on this equipment.

Initially, ICC estimated it would take 58 days to move the Lighthouse to its new home. Being a design build project, the engineers have had the freedom to improve the plan as it progresses. Due to some modifications, the speed of the move will double. The Lighthouse may move as much as 100'perday. The moving process is much different than it was originally planned. The spiral tower will move in 5' increments, which is the extension length of each push ram. The Lighthouse will stop moving when it has traveled 5'. Then the push jacks will be reset and will push the structure once again in unison. Earlier, the thought was to continuously push the Lighthouse: four jacks would push while the other three would be reset. Then three jacks would push while the tour would be reset. The travel beams will be leapfrogged. The amount of time it takes to move the beams, the push rams and all related items is about twice the amount of time it takes to just move the Lighthouse.

This increased rate of travel will place our black and white guardian at the new locaUon around July 15th. If something is not placed right during the moving process, the Lighthouse will back up and the correction will be made. Then forward motion will continue. Falling is not even an issue for the crew.

Tropical Depression Arlene is churning on the other side of Bermuda with speeds hovering around 60 mph. "There is a concern for a storm," said ICC's Joe Jakubik, answering questions about the biggest challenges associated with the move. To date, the highest wind speed registered atop the tower has been 110 mph. That is almost twice the strength ofT. D. Arlene. Wind is atill not an issue if a hurricane comes close during the next few weeks, but rather the shoreline closeness 800' down the moving path. In the event of a hurricane, there is a contingency plan in place. "I will feel good when it goes 800', past the shoreline exposure, stated Jakubik.

Will it be noisy when the structure is being moved? Probably not. The new guide system is rather quiet. A dry lubricant, probably soap, will be used under the Hilman rollers. The power pack, the engine that runs the push rams, wWl create some hum. When the Lighthouse first starts moving, the wood cribbing may creak a little as the load changes. Some people may have visions of loud, screeching sounds, as metal rubs on metal. But the men working on the move don't expect that to be the case. While the Lighthouse is moving, there will be spouers, experienced personnel walking around the structure, looking and listening for any unexpected sounds.

The dry and rainless weather conditions have had their effect even on the Lighthouse relocation project. The dusty conditions are not much more than a bother However, the final work is being completed on the moving path and water is used to pack the sand in the last stages of grading. As little as six weeks ago, an over abundance of water was more than an in-convenience to the job sight. Now, when water is required, a well point was dug. There wasn't even enough water in the pond to get the lob done. Ironically, the dewatering pumps that remove ground water from under the tower are still being used.

A final decision has been made concerning the new foundation upon which the Lighthouse will rest when it sits on her new concrete pad. Special bricks will be made to go under the beacon and to support the weight. Brick can easily be laid while the structure is resting on shoring towers. The mortar will dry quickly. Concrete piers and a continuous concrete pour were the main two ideas being explored to serve this purpose. Concrete can shrink or crack overtime. If a continuous concrete pour idea was implemented, then the drying time would become an issue. Reinforced brick seemed to be the most logical choice when all the options were explored.

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The Hatteras Island News will be documenting each and every move the lighthouse makes, from ground level and also from the air.

The Hatteras Island News is a free By-Weekly Publication by the Hatteras Monitor. It arrives in our mailboxes twice a month.

Publisher
Richard Jones
Anne McDermott

Printing
Curtis Cromwell

P.O. Box 364
Frisco, NC 27936
252-995-5378