Restoration Techniques
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| Base camp, Fort
Jefferson |
Solar panels for power and an awning system were installed for
shade over the base camp. WM Brown Co., a walk-in cooler business,
constructed nine special, walk-in, air-conditioned shelters to house the crew.
Solar power and two bio diesel-powered micro generators with Italian engines
were used to power a reverse-osmosis water filtration
system that supplied drinking and bathing water. The freezers and refrigerators
were also also solar-powered. Supplies arrived from Key West via a local
fisherman, Adam Disson, and our construction crew received cnsiderable support
from Key West locals thanks to Adam.
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| The scaffold is
standing on custom made aluminum platforms that have down-riggers
that set on the bottom of the 2 to 6 feet deep moat. |
Because a moat surrounds the fort, specially made aluminum
platforms were floted up to the side of the 40-foot-high scarp walls in order to provide an area to work wthout endagerintg the structure.
We are tasked with removing 800-lb. armor blocks that
were originally built into the side of the fort for protection
from cannon fire. Removal of these armor blocks is hard work that
requires extreme ingenuity and skill. In keeping with the spirit
of the fort’s
original design, we use a special natural cement made of local sand
and lime putty with salvaged brick to rebuild the fort’s
failing walls.
Preservation Trades Company is working with the firm that reopened
a natural cement mine in Rosendale, New York, because natural cement
is less harmful than Portland Cement and does not cause the formation
of tri calcium silicates or salt crystals that destroy the brick and
mortar. The
fort was built with natural cement from Rosendale, and the current
trend within the National Park Service is to use original materials
in historic restorations.
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