Clemson University, Duncan-Parnell and Trimble's Most Advanced Technologies Are Helping Preserve Historic Fort Sumter

More than 180 years after its construction, and 150 years after the famous shot that started the U.S. Civil War, Fort Sumter is once again at the forefront of a battle. This time around, the enemy is nature, and the loyal troops defending the fort aren't depending on cannons and masonry walls. Instead, they're relying on highly-sophisticated 3-D scanning and surveying technologies from Trimble and Duncan-Parnell, as well as decades of experience and extensive data processing.

The "soldiers" in this battle are surveying professionals from Clemson University, and their mission is to help preserve one of America's most significant historic landmarks. The methodology they have chosen for this effort may ultimately establish a new standard for monitoring sensitive historic and archeological sites.

A storied history.

Sitting on a man-made island of granite and sea shells at the mouth of the Charleston, SC harbor, Fort Sumter originally had walls 8 to 12 feet thick and 50 feet high. On April 12, 1861, Confederate batteries fired on the fort from the surrounding shorelines. The next day, the Union garrison occupying the fort surrendered, and the U.S. Civil War was underway. Later, in August 1863, a Federal bombardment began that ultimately reduced the massive walls to rubble. By the time the war ended, Fort Sumter was in ruins.

In 1898 the Spanish-American War produced a renewed interest in the site, and a huge concrete battery was constructed in the center of the old fort, where it remains today. During World War I a small garrison manned the battery's two twelve-inch rifles, and during World War II, two antiaircraft guns were installed, although by then the fort was primarily a tourist attraction. In 1948, Fort Sumter became a U.S. National Monument administered by the U.S. National Park Service.

A national treasure threatened.

Because of its location and construction, Fort Sumter National Monument is subject to many natural destructive forces. The island is known to be slowly sinking, and the fort's walls now sit barely above sea level during high tide. The fort's northern flank faces the Port of Charleston's main shipping channel, where frequent traffic generates moderate wave action. The tides and wind also work together to keep much of the exterior wall surface perpetually damp. For historians, archeologists and preservationists alike, these threats to Fort Sumter are serious matters. (continued on page 2)