Great progress was made at the beginning of the month on the port carriage! The wrought iron side plate AND the wood inboard part were removed from the gun support. Here are some photos… The side plate being pushed by two hydraulic jacks. It worked but the plate was still tight at the bottom (see [...]

As mentioned on July 8th, several unsuccessful attempts in the removal of the wheels led us to plan B:  Disassemble the side plates by removal about 30 bolts… Fortunately, we have not had to remove every single bolt (yet), but by using Ridgid screw extractors we’ve made a great start! Removing only the bolts around the wheels released enough [...]

This week conservators are installing improved impressed current cathodic protection anodes on the Monitor’s gun carriages.  The anodes are flexible wires supported on removable frames made of PVC pipes.  Josiah designed and built the frames which allow the anode wires to protect the metal parts of the gun carriages from corrosion during wet conservation treatment.  [...]