cf-banner.jpg
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Final Push Friday for Cape Hatteras #33576 07/08/99 09:39 PM
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 13,047
Webmaster Offline OP
Saint
OP Offline
Saint
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 13,047
I certainly wish I could have had the opportunity to see Cape Hatteras moving.

However, according to Bob Woody, Public Information Officer for the project, the final push will take place on Friday, July 9, in front of a mass of media and lighthouse lovers. Here's his comments from the National Park Service:

Quote:
LATEST LIGHTHOUSE PROJECT UPDATE

Thursday, July 8, 1999:

There was no movement of the lighthouse today; the lighthouse sits at the edge of the steel mat, ready for its final approximately 80-foot push to the center of its new foundation. Today's activities centered around the preparations necessary to make the final push - cribbing, roll beams, etc.

Barring any unexpected contingencies, the lighthouse will rest over its new foundation by sunset tomorrow, Friday, July 9, 1999.

A special press/media conference/tour is scheduled for Noon, Friday in Buxton NC. Credentials needed. Visitors welcomed in the public viewing area.

Have we done the right thing? Some say we have destroyed history. I prefer to let our visitors to the site 100 years from now answer that question. What we have done has been for them and for the preservation of our nation's great maritime heritage.

— Bob Woody, NPS/CAHA PIO


John Willis, a professional videographer from Raleigh, will be at the site tomorrow taking still and video images for use at the website and in Harbour Lights publications.

"Well Done" to Bob Woody, Expert Movers, and International Chimney.

The Buzz is they are going to try to have the lighthouse open this Labor Day and the re-lighting will still be Memorial Day 2000.

Re: Final Push Friday for Cape Hatteras #33577 07/08/99 10:00 PM
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 13,047
Webmaster Offline OP
Saint
OP Offline
Saint
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 13,047
In reviewing the NPS Cape Hatteras web site, I think they deserve special credit for allowing us to follow the progress of this project from anywhere in the world. And WITN-TV which provided the web cam and great coverage.

Each day, A summary was available at the site of what went on the day before. Now you can read all these updates in one place. It makes very interesting reading:

http://www.nps.gov/caha/prog.htm

Re: Final Push Friday for Cape Hatteras #33578 07/08/99 10:01 PM
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 1,155
R
Rod Watson Offline
Saint
Offline
Saint
R
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 1,155
Even MSNBC has a big news story on the light today, with live feed from the site.
Rod Watson
[This message has been edited by Rod Watson (edited 07-11-99).]

Re: Final Push Friday for Cape Hatteras #33579 07/08/99 10:23 PM
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 452
R
RMau Offline
Wacko
Offline
Wacko
R
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 452
Here's another page at the National Park Service site for the move.

www.nps.gov/caha/lrp.htm

And one that has a very nice panoramic view from the top of the CH tower. You need QuickTime to see and pan the picture. You can get it at the site.

http://www.cgphoto.com/pano1.html

Rick

[This message has been edited by RMau (edited 07-08-99).]

Re: Final Push Friday for Cape Hatteras #33580 07/09/99 12:13 PM
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 1,042
LamarB Offline
Member
Offline
Member
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 1,042
Thanks for the link to the panoramic view Rick. REALLY neat! If you visit this site check out the other panaromas, too. Especially The Battery in Charleston.

------------------
Keepin' the flame

[This message has been edited by LamarB (edited 07-09-99).]

Re: Final Push Friday for Cape Hatteras #33581 07/09/99 02:14 PM
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 135
Augie K. Offline
Member
Offline
Member
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 135
Hopefully an event like this will generate more interest in Lighthouses and the preservation of these wonderful landmarks that we have. I would like to give a BIG job well done to all who are involved in this project .

Keep The Light Burning


The Flame


[This message has been edited by TheFlame (edited 07-09-99).]

[This message has been edited by TheFlame (edited 07-09-99).]


Augie K.
NELL Member
Re: Final Push Friday for Cape Hatteras #33582 07/09/99 02:46 PM
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 254
A
Al and Kathy Offline
Member
Offline
Member
A
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 254
Thanks to all of you for keeping the rest of us up-to-date. We didn't have to take the time to look up the sites we needed, you did it for us. The panoramic view is fantastic.

Kathy

Re: Final Push Friday for Cape Hatteras #33583 07/09/99 02:51 PM
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 198
JohnL Offline
Wacko
Offline
Wacko
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 198
I agree with TheFlame. We need to preserve these landmarks for future generations. I remember the feeling I had when I used to visit Montauk Point when I was younger. Glad to hear that everything is going smoothly with Hatteras.

John


Wave after wave will flow in the tide and bury the world as it does.
Re: Final Push Friday for Cape Hatteras #33584 07/09/99 06:25 PM
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 8,949
WackoPaul Offline
Saint
Offline
Saint
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 8,949
Cape Hatteras has landed on it's new pad.

http://www.wral-tv.com/news/wral/1999/0708-lighthouse-arrives/

Saint WackoPaul '
Keep the Flame


Onward to The Land of the Midnight Sun!
Re: Final Push Friday for Cape Hatteras #33585 07/09/99 10:11 PM
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 13,047
Webmaster Offline OP
Saint
OP Offline
Saint
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 13,047
Great site and summary of the move, thanks Paul. And looks like I had things turned around - lighted on Labor Day, opened on Memorial Day 2000.

Re: Final Push Friday for Cape Hatteras #33586 07/10/99 12:40 PM
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 1,673
Weasel58 Offline
Super Wacko
Offline
Super Wacko
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 1,673
Hey Saint John and everybody else,

The Greensboro, NC News and Record, has a picture on the front page showing the Hatteras light "shinning" for the first time since March 1. There is also an article on the move and how they did it. the Article can be read online at "www.the depot.com"
However the picture is not online.


Eric
Re: Final Push Friday for Cape Hatteras #33587 07/12/99 10:23 PM
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 13,047
Webmaster Offline OP
Saint
OP Offline
Saint
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 13,047
Here's another update from Cheryl Roberts -

Quote:
Hello, everyone,
We've been doing research at the National Archives in Washington, DC. We're getting this news out a bit late, but we thought you would like to see a few images concerning the move. Another update is coming Friday. The attached images are courtesy the National Park Service.

At 1:22 PM Friday, July 9, 1999, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse reached home. The National Historic Landmark now hovers over the new foundation that will become its permanent residence for the next century and beyond. Joe Jakubik, project manager for International Chimney, comments that the move
has progressed well and movers, including the Matyiko brothers of Expert House Movers, are very happy with the accomplished engineering feat.

On Monday, movers will begin to pull the support steel and reinstall the shoring towers. In about two weeks bricklayers will begin to build the permanent support columns that will conjoin the underside of the lighthouse with the concrete pad to form the strong, new foundation.

The Park Service is working on details to relight the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse during this upcoming Labor Day weekend. Watch for details on www.nps.gov/caha We will also keep you posted as we receive information here at the Outer Banks Lighthouse Society.

The tower is planned to be reopened for climbing Memorial Day, 2000.

In the first photo, you get a look from the summit of the tower. A gorgeous view of the ocean awaits future visitors. In this image, you are looking back at the move corridor and the original site.



In the second photo, a view of the new light station's relocation site can be seen; when visitors climb the lighthouse next year, a beautiful view of the Pamlico Sound, beyond the new site, will complete the panoramic view of Hatteras island, the sound, and the Atlantic Ocean.



In the third photo, the Hatteras Lighthouse nears its final destination. Legend has it that the movers got a speeding ticket for running a stop sign posted at the midpoint near the visitors center. The last message received reports that the movers were excused for this oversight.




Jerry Allegood, Raleigh News & Observer's journalist, wrote an excellent article in Saturday's, July 10, newspaper "Lighthouse safe at home." Jerry begins, "Defying critics who said it would crumble and crack, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse safely ended its half-mile journey about three weeks
early Friday, with its tower intact...Jubilant workers cheered as the
spiral-striped landmark slid into place over a concrete pad 2,900 feet away from the old site near the ocean's edge. The landward retreat to protect the lighthouse from erosion took just 22 days...'All right!' said mover Jim Matyiko as the lighthouse slowly rolled to a stop. 'It feels good.'"

In an earlier News & Observer article by columnist Susanna Rodell, Tuesday, June 29, "N.C. can take heart from a symbolic move," Rodell makes observations on the move while she visited Hatteras. "What I was watching was a mammoth act of human will, a huge, unusual effort being made to save something solely because of its place in our emotions, in our collective history. It was, and is, an enormous act of love. All these humans, from the guys in hard hats drivimg the forklifts to the members of all the
historical societies to the engineers to the Park Service folks, working their hearts out...It does the heart good to know that here in the late 20th century people are still willing to put all this collective wisdom and energy--not to mention millions of bucks--to work to save something that's
really just a symbol, not religious, not political, just something tall and grand and old that has stood there all those years delivering the purest gift imaginable: light."

For a look at an archive of move updates over the past several months from the OBLHS, see ecnews.outer-banks.com

Outer Banks Lighthouse Society
Next update Friday, July 16

Thanks to all of you sending words of thanks and encouragement. Keep those comments and suggestions coming. You may reserve a copy of the new book CAPE HATTERAS: AMERICA'S LIGHTHOUSE, hot off the press, from Cumberland House by Thomas Yocum, Bruce Roberts, and Cheryl Shelton-Roberts. Bruce and I will sign copies at the Christmas Shop in Manteo, NC, this Thursday. You
may reserve a signed copy by calling 252/473 2838 and the Christmas Shop will ship it to you.



[This message has been edited by JChidester (edited 07-12-99).]

Re: Final Push Friday for Cape Hatteras #33588 07/17/99 06:35 PM
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 13,047
Webmaster Offline OP
Saint
OP Offline
Saint
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 13,047
Another update from Cheryl Roberts - Outer Banks Lighthouse Society on Cape Hatteras:

Quote:
Hello, everyone,

We were on site at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse several days this week and
watched the lighthouse poised over its new foundation. The process to lower
the tower and fill in the brick foundation is in progress.

While on site each time, some of the most enjoyable parts of our visits are
the opportunities to talk with the "guys" of the move. Mike Landen of
Expert House Movers talked with us while signing hard hats on this last
visit. These hats will be auctioned for funds for exhibits at the Keepers'
Quarters in the near future. Mike said, "I've been waiting for this (move)
for fifteen years. I did the SE Block Island move and loved it and this
move has been fantastic."

Sean McLaughlin handled much of the hydraulics work and the push jacks
throughout the move. Sean expressed that no one person gets credit for this
move because it was a big team effort. Everybody did a lot. And it moved
this lighthouse.

Jerry Stockbridge of Wiss, Janny, Elstner Associates, Inc., was on site to
take us into the lighthouse. He is part of a team of restoration architects
who tested the historic building materials to set parameters to what forces
they could withstand during the move. A triangle of brick was removed from
the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse before the move, and it was subjected to
pressure testing to determine the pounds per square inch the brick could
withstand. Never during the move did the stress even approach a small
percentage of the limits.

Stockbridge's firm also installed the computers and sensors to monitor the
"round" of the walls, deflection of the plinths (stepped granite stone at
the base of the tower), verticality, etc. There are even sensors to measure
the temperature of the black and white stripes. Thermal heating can change
the angle of verticality of the lighthouse; the lighthouse is a dynamic
object at all times, reacting to various elements including wind and solar
heating. The tower's flexibility increased its movability.

In case of a power failure, a plumb line is rigged in the center of the
tower with a suspended weight on a paper with concentric bull's-eyes;
deviation of the weight from the center is the manual way of measuring
verticality; Dexter Stetson, builder of the lighthouse in 1868, would have
used the same device to determine the roundness of the walls as bricks were
laid.

After a move, Stockbridge's firm inspects for any changes in the historic
buildings and comes up with the drawings and specs for any needed
restoration work. "We'll have little if anything to do after this move,"
Jerry comments, "because these guys have done such a good job in moving
these historic buildings. Even the old crack in the tower from lightning,
(reported by the lighthouse keeper on April 17, 1879), has had no change.
This is a great job."

A brief explanation of the lowering phase follows. Referring to the first
image, "at the new site" you can see: As the tower neared the concrete pad
at its final destination, oak cribbing was stepped down to meet the roll
beams upon which the tower glided. Since having arrived at the relocation
site July 9, movers have begun the "lowering phase." The goal is to remove
the support steel and transport system and put the lighthouse at its final
elevation on shoring towers.

In the second image, "jacks and cribbing" you are standing under the
lighthouse. Shoring steel is on either side of the main beams. The jacks
within one main beam are depressurized, leaving some of the steel
suspended. This steel is removed and the jacks are reset. This process is
repeated for each main beam, until all jacks are reset at the same height
and the tower is then lowered by the unified hydraulics jacking system in
small increments at a time. The process is repeated until the tower is at
about four feet, and then the shoring towers are reinstalled. Joe Jakubik,
site manager for the International Chimney team of movers, predicts the
lighthouse will be at elevation sometime this evening.

Once this is accomplished, bricklayers will build brick columns for infill
to conjoin the lighthouse base with the concrete pad. The shoring towers
are removed and the brick infill is completed.

Earthmovers have already smoothed over the old site, leaving the original
1870 pine timber mat intact and covered with water for preservation.

At the new site, earth will soon cover the concrete and brick infill and
the first plinth, restoring the lighthouse to ground level appearance at
the new site.

For a look at an archive of move updates over the past several months from
the OBLHS, see http://ecnews.outer-banks.com (note no "www")

Other interesting sites concerning the move:
www.outer-banks.com/lighthouse-society (be sure to look at the entire web
project also)
http://ecnews.outer-banks.com (no www)
www.nps.gov/caha
(livecam there also, two views)

The National Park Service announced that a relighting ceremony has been set
for Saturday, September 4, beginning at 7 pm. This gala event will mark the
beginning of a celebrated future for this historic light station. Watch the
NPS website for details on this event. The U.S. Coast Guard will take part
in this event at the light station. It will be the beginning of a tribute
to the old U.S. Lighthouse Service and the keepers who kept a light for
mariners. The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse represents this tribute.

The Annual Keepers Dinner will be held Sept. 11 at the Ramada Inn in Kill
Devil Hills. Keynote speaker, Joe Jakubik, International Chimney Corp.
Project Manager for the Cape Hatteras Relocation, will give a presentation
of images and narration on "How We Moved the Lighthouse." Join us for a fun
evening of celebration with the Keepers Bar opening at 5:00 pm. Bett
Padgett will provide entertainment, singing from her new CD "If a
Lighthouse Could Speak." Move artifacts will be auctioned for funding of
exhibits at the Keepers' Quarters at the relocation site. Tickets are
$29.00 per person, $55 for two. No children's plates are available. You may
email Betty Parrish, OBLHS Membership Director, at web3755@charweb.org
Tickets are now available to all interested, and with limited seating,
please order soon. Betty will be away for the next week, but will return
your email message beginning July 26. Ticket orders will be taken in the
order in which she receives payment by postmark. You may mail your ticket
requests and money to her at 6625 Candlewood Drive, Charlotte, NC 28210

See you there!

Thanks to JB Ruffin and Associates for providing the website and list
server for the OB Lighthouse Society.

Comments/suggestions are welcomed.

Outer Banks Lighthouse Society

Re: Final Push Friday for Cape Hatteras #33589 07/18/99 07:18 PM
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 107
D
dwood Offline
Member
Offline
Member
D
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 107
Thanks for all the info. I got to see Cape Hatteras last summer, and when I got home from the trip, the hurricane struck and they were showing everyone evacuating the Outer Banks. I thought I had seen Cape Hatteras just in time! I'm really glad it's being moved and will be there for generations to come. It really is a big event.


Moderated by  PFC 

Forum Statistics
Forums39
Topics16,978
Posts184,640
Members2,579
Most Online10,155
Jan 14th, 2020
Who's Online Now
0 registered members (), 1,414 guests, and 2 spiders.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Newest Members
SafeHarbor, Toots, Bluffhill, phtate, TexLight2022
2579 Registered Users
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.2