LIGHTHOUSE LINKS:

Automatically Register!
Free Coupons!
Winners will be selected
by drawing and contacted.

Automatically Register!
Mailing List!
Join with a click for coupons and discounts.

"What is driving things now is the schedule",
says Joe Jakubik of International Chimney Corp.

After six weeks of separating the lighthouse from its foundation, the weight of this 4,800 ton structure has now shifted to the orange colored shoring towers. These metal shoring towers, equipped with hydraulic jacks, have been steadily replacing the foundation. Each jack is precisely placed in its location with the aid of a surveyor. There are twice as many jacks than needed used in the moving plan.

According to Jerry Stockbridge of Wiss, Janey, Elstner Associates of Chicago (the company responsible for the sensor system), there are two independent and separate jack systems. One entire system could fail and it would not affect the move. The Park Service says that the location plan is over designed in every way.

Removing the foundation from under the beacon to install the shoring towers has been exhausting work. Two shiffs are now working every day, nearly 24 hours a day, on this part of the project. Three more ICC employees, who were working on the Tybee Island Lighthouse restoration in SC, have been transferred to Buxton to help meet the dead-line. The work night lights shine so brightly that the black and white stripes are discernible at night as far away as south Avon. Even on Easter evening, workers steadily chipped away at the 129 year old foundation.

It was thought at one time that the center of the foundation would be full of rubble, easier to separate. Now that International Chimney Corp. is past the center pin of the lighthouse, that theory has been abandoned. The middle of the base is built equally as strong as the outside. In fact, the equipment used in breaking apart the foundation is wearing out.

New hydraulic splitters and drills have been flown in to complete the cut. It is estimated that the separating process will be finished by the end of this month. Then begins the process of lifting the tower. ICC estimates that it will take 2 weeks to lift the structure 5' up. The move will begin sometime in mid to late May.

The instrumentation that has been installed by WJE is designed to send out an alert if the lighthouse varies as little as a half of a degree in vertical tilt. Although they were both false alarms, the sensors have sent out warnings on two separate occasions. The first event happened in March when a piece of protective plastic blew off the brick during a storm and hit a sensor. The second time was April 5. The computer, which is located inside the tower, had just been reprogrammed but the sensitivity level was set too high. In each event, red lights flashed, sirens screamed and by modem, 4 people were instantly notified.

WJE constantly monitors the vertical tilt, the stress (which is measured in pounds per inch) and vibration. It is amazing that with all the excavation and drilling that is taking place on and around the structure there haven't been more false alarms. "It is in the flutter of the instrumentation, " said Jerry Stockbridge. The instrumentation has indicated that there has been no widening of any of the cracks in the lighthouse.

Rumors that the lighthouse is leaning" has been spreading through the villages. According to Bob Woody of the NES, the sentinel is temporarily tilted less than a quarter of an inch. At this phase of cutting, the lighthouse is in the process of shifting its weight from the foundation to the shoring towers. This tilt was expected to happen.

The final chapter has been written concerning Dare County's efforts to stop the moving of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. Qn April 2, Federal Judge Terrence Boyle denied the county its request for a stop work injunction. At the time when the ruling was handed down, half of the tower's foundation had been severed and moved away.

In his ruling, Boyle cited the significant amount of progress that hadbeenmade. Hewrote,"Ifthis court enjoined the relocation of the lighthouse, defendants would lose not only the time and money already invested in the move, they would presumably have to invest further time and money in returning already-moved structures to their original sites and reattaching the lighthouse to its foundation."

Dare County has always opposed the moving of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in favor of installing a fourth groin. In a bitter court hearing on March 15 , a no nonsense Judge Boyle berated the county's attorney, Bryan Graham of Raleigh, about the lateness of the county's lawsuit when they had a decade to prepare for the eventual relocation. Dare County, in a lawsuit that was only filed on Jan. 22,1999, stated that moving the lighthouse would cause further erosion of Hwy. 12 due to abandoned maintenance of the beach in front of the black and white structure. They also claimed that the Park Service had failed to meet environmental study requirements. The federal judge was not convinced by the arguments presented by Graham. Boyle felt, at this point in time, it would be in everyone's best interest if the move would continue as planned.

In a closed session conducted on April 5, the County Commissioners voted not to appeal Judge Boyle's ruling. Astop work injunction at this point would not be worth the additional cost.

Now that all the other buildings and cisterns have been moved, International Chimney has started working on the new foundation for the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. The new foundation will be drastically different from the one that has faithfully served our beacon for 129 years. A 60' by 60' square pad will replace the 45' octagonal one. When it is completed, the new base will be about 11 feet thick. The bottom most layer will consist of washed stone, which will be about 1' thick. The next layer will be 4' of concrete.

Pouring this concrete will be a slow, continuous process which will take about 24 hours. Pouring the concrete continuously will make the pad seamless. The concrete will have special hardeners added to help accelerate the curing process. Specially made epoxy-coated rebarrs will be part of the concrete pad. The lighthouse will end its journey atop this concrete pad. The tower will be resting on the moving platform when it reaches this point. Then the final stage of building the new foundation will begin.

The plinths will be reattached and more concrete will be added to fill in the area between the lighthouse and the bottom concrete pad. Gradually, the moving platform will be removed. When done, the spiral beacon will simply be resting on the foundation with just its weight and 2" of high-tech grout keeping it in place. Before the concrete can be poured, workers and pumps are furiously working to dewater the area. The freshly dug pit that will become part of the new foundation is partially filled with water.

The fact that this area is 2' higher above sea level than the old area only seems to be compounding the problem. The water level is only a couple of feet below the ground. The surrounding woods are puddled with standing water that has been pumped from this area. At one point, the road to Cape Point had water racing across it forcing the water pipes to be turned in a different direction.

Leading to the new foundation is the path that the lighthouse will travel upon. This travel road is a critical element in the relocation process. A sink hole of any size could critically harm our sentinel during the journey. So much care is being taken to remove all trouble spots.

A proof roller has recently arrived to help find any weak areas. It is a simple piece of equipment that consists of 4 large tires that are evenly spaced left to right. The hull is filled with gravel and pulled by a bulldozer. So far, only 2 holes have been discovered. The holes were dug out and then analyzed as to why it was unstable. Appropriate measures were taken to repair the weak spots. This will be a continuing process over the next few weeks.

The new site is taking shape. The Museum and the Primary Keepers Quarters are in their final destinations. The smaller brick building is almost fully attached to its new footers.

The Museum still has a couple of weeks worth of work before it will be completely attached. The original brick piers are being reformed to make new footers using old brick which has been time consuming work. The foundations on these two buildings are drastically different. Shortly, work will begin on digging the holes to install the three cisterns. Before long, the little brick oil house will be the only building left to be placed. It was the very first to move and will be the very last to be placed due to its close proximity to the lighthouse. For now, it rests patiently upon its platform and awaits the arrival of its old friend, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. The wait is almost over. Sometime in mid to late May, the main event will begin. The original site has started to look barren.

Front Page || Page 1 || Page 2 || Page 3 || Page 4 || Page 5 || Page 6 || Page 7
Page 9 || Page 10 || Page 11 || Page 12 || Page 13

---

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