Conservation Web Cams

Camera 1: Engine Area

This camera watches over the mechanical treatment area of conservation laboratory. Right now online visitors can see Monitor’s vibrating side-lever steam engine. The engine is a composite artifact, meaning that it is composed of many different material types including wrought iron, cast iron, copper and copper alloys, rubber, and glass. Conservators will drain the engine tank in January 2010 in order to perform a condition assessment and corrosion monitoring. Camera 1 will be focused periodically on different artifacts, depending on what conservation activities are occurring in this portion of the lab. Visit the web cams again and you might see conservators working on Worthington steam pumps, ventilation engines, or sections of Monitor’s propulsion assembly.

Camera 2: Turret Area

Online visitors can always catch a glimpse of USS Monitor’s revolving gun turret. The 120-ton wrought iron turret is visible whether the tank is filled with 90,000 gallons of treatment solution or if conservators are inside the turret performing treatment activities. Conservators are currently using impressed current cathodic protection to halt corrosion of the iron structure as it desalinates. The submerged white PVC frames visible beneath the surface of the water are supports for the impressed current system. Visitors can also see other features of the turret. Note the 8-inch thick iron armor wall as well as the parallel iron beams in the center of the turret. These beams are sections of railroad iron used to reinforce the turret roof. 

Camera 3: Dahlgren Gun Area