I spent my last week attempting to collect all the
information tossed onto my plate. The course was led by appetizers of budget
spread sheets, piping hot FBMS familiarization, and a hearty introduction to
travel policy and hiring authorities. My servers were the administration staff.
I have to commend the staff for doing such a great job handling human relations
and tightening budgets for not only Antietam Battlefield, but also Monocacy
Battlefield. Despite being crisscrossed between trainings and vacation
preparation, my supervisors were fantastic in keeping me on track in my task
book goals. I found myself within quite a busy week at Quarters One, but really
look forward to heading back soon.
ANTI conducted structural firefighting training midweek.
The training consisted of how to identify an extinguishers specific use, where extinguishers
should be located, how to manage park extinguishers, and proper usage of a fire
extinguisher. Each staff member at the workshop extinguished a controlled
propane flame. This workshop pretty much closed the door on making acquaintances
within the battlefield’s staff, now it’s time to start putting names to all of
those friendly faces! Having everyone together for the workshop encouraged some comradery
within divisions and was a real blast to be a part of.
After the structural fire workshop, I met with the
engineer working on the rehabilitation of Burnside Bridge. He took me on site
and explained the engineering analysis that showed the serious damage within
the bridge. In a nutshell, the bridge did not have proper drainage in place and
was crumbling due to freeze-thaw damage within its footings, piers, and cement
mortar. The two phased project proposed was to dam Antietam Creek in order to
correct the space and stagnate water within the footings and to platform those
footings down onto bedrock. Phase two of the project, and the phase currently being
carried out is correcting the bowed wall to be in line with the arches of the
bridge. Further drainage was engineered to increase longevity of the design,
such as inverting the road crown for natural drainage toward the bank,
stainless steel drains to spill runoff back into the creek, and sloped cement wall-tops
to eliminate puddling. The project is so time intensive and challenging because
the workers must organize the stones correctly in order to maintain historical
integrity. It was absolutely out of this world to see a million dollar preservation
project in the flesh. The team carrying out the work is resuscitating a 180
year old bridge to endure another 150 years of wear…Amazing!
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| Burnside Bridge Footing & Pier Rehabilitation |
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