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America's tallest beacon, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina is getting ready for its historic move away from the approaching ocean.
After years of debate and controversy, it appears the lighthouse will be moved on schedule, unless a Federal Judge issues an injunction, requested by some local officials, halting the move.
Sensors have been installed from the top to the bottom of the tower. The sensors will alert workers of any change or shift to a fraction of an inch in the tower. The sensors are connected to a central monitoring system. Signals are relayed to receivers worn by the movers and their team, whether they are on site, or thousands of miles away in their offices in Buffalo, New York. The unified jack system will be the first to react with an evening of pressure to adjust, should there be any change in the tower. Numerous backup systems are in place to keep the process running smoothly.
In the meantime, the granite entry steps have been removed, numbered and stored, to be replaced after the lighthouse is relocated. The brick walkways have also been removed, numbered and stored, and will be replaced exactly the same after the move.
By the time this issue reaches your mailbox, the Keepers Quarters will have been moved and placed in storage until the tower's move is completed. Each building of the light station will then be placed exactly at the same angle and distance from each other as they were on the original site.
International Chimney Corp. of Buffalo, New York, a company that has previous experience in moving other lighthouses, such as the historic move of Southeast Light on Block Island, Rhode Island, is the general contractor for the move.
According to officials of International Chimney, the move is actually a very simple process, said Skelly Hunt, site manager for the contractor. "Basically, we'll use a hydraulic lifting system," he said. "Pre-stressed steel beams will first be slid under the base of the lighthouse." Sometime in April, the lighthouse and beams will be slowly lifted by 100-ton jacks and lowered onto the steel beams. Steel rails will sit atop a track of 70-foot wide rollers, known as cribbing, that will help spread the load.
A second set of horizontally-mounted jacks will then push the tower along, inches at a time, and the rails will be leap-frogged from back to front as the tower is moved to its new location. It is estimated that the lighthouse will move anywhere from 25 to 100 feet per day, with the entire move expected to take six weeks.
To ensure security at the site during the move, fencing has been placed around the entire site and guards will be on duty around the clock.
This story appeared in the March 1999 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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