This report details the Preservation Technology and Training
Grants Program activities from October 1, 2005 to October 1, 2006. The report
includes information on the 2006 and plans for the 2007 grants program.
As part of the Amendments to the National Historic Preservation
Act, Title IV (16 U.S.C.
470x-Section 405), “The Secretary,
in consultation with the Board, shall provide preservation technology and
training grants to eligible applicants with a demonstrated institutional
capability and commitment to the purposes of the Center, in order to ensure an
effective and efficient system of research, information distribution and skills
training in all the related historic preservation fields.”
Highlights of the 2006 PTT Grants program activities include:
-
NCPTT continued revisions to online, web-based application
system developed by Sean Clifford and a grant development team, including,
Andy Ferrell, David Morgan, Jeffery Guin, and Mary Striegel.
-
In all,
45
complete applications for funding were
received, requesting approximately
$1.5 million.
-
The proposals underwent a
three-tier review. First, NCPTT staff reviewed the proposals to insure
completeness and relevance to the PTT Grant program. Second, proposals were
assigned to a mini-panel of experts to evaluate and rank similar proposals.
Third, high-ranking proposals in each of the research priorities and in the
“other technologies” category were selected for panel review.
-
NCPTT held a national
panel review on April 12, in Natchitoches, Louisiana. The board
representative for the panel review was Suzanne Turner. NCPTT staff
overseeing the review included Mary Striegel, Andy Ferrell, David Morgan,
and Kirk Cordell.
-
NCPTT awarded
nine
grants, totaling
$282,700.00
in funding.
-
The awards represented a
funding rate of approximately 20 percent of the total proposals submitted.
This indicated a one-in-five chance of receiving funding.
2006 PTT Grants Awarded
1.
Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts, Philadelphia, Penn. $40,000.00
Architectural Records
Conference
The Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts will
develop and present a national conference, “Architectural Records: Preserving
and Managing the Documentation of Our Built Environment,” in spring 2007 in
Chicago for approximately 160 attendees. The goal of the Chicago Architectural
Records Conference will be to improve practices for preserving and providing
access to architectural records in museums, archives, libraries, and historic
sites throughout the country. The conference will address the training needs of
staff in small and large institutions on both the theoretical and practical
levels, through keynote addresses, lectures, case studies, and tours.
2. Harvard
University, Cambridge, Mass. -
$39,400.00
Development of a Rapid
Indicator of Biodeterioration of Historic Stone
Biodeterioration plays an important role in the degradation of
stone in historic buildings, monuments, and archeological sites. Microbial
biodeterioration occurs through the action of organic and inorganic acids
produced by biofilms. Detection of biodeterioration of culturally important
stone objects is difficult. The use of microbiological indicators of
environmental conditions is common (e.g., E. coli is a key indicator of fecal
contamination of water). The objective of this project is to evaluate the use of
a microbial indicator for early detection of stone biodeterioration. Microbial
indicators could provide a simple and rapid means for early detection of stone
biodeterioration.
3. Texas Tech
University, Lubbock, Texas-
$40,000.00
Digital Technology
Integration: San Antonio Riverwalk Documentation Pilot Project
This work will develop a prototype system for the integration of
digital technologies to create more efficient and accurate methods for the
documentation of historically significant landscapes that include historic
structures. The information gathered will be used for archival drawings and be
uniquely tied to a Geographical Information System (GIS) with structural and
landscape element data. This unique marriage of technologies provides an
excellent educational and interpretive tool. The methodology developed will be
translated into written format and provided to NCPTT. The resulting documentary
material will be provided to the Library of Congress for copyright-free
distribution to the public.
4. Kacyra
Family Foundation, Orinda, Calif.
- $40,000.00
High Definition
Documentation of Archaeology
Existing conditions documentation of archeological structures
can be cut by 60 percent and can improve the accuracy and fidelity of the
documentation by using scanning technology. This would optimize valuable human
and financial resources for archeologists and preservation specialists working
to save our ‘Vanishing Treasures’. This proposal will refine the development of
a high definition documentation system for archeology; utilize commercial
off-the-shelf digital technologies; and disseminate this method through training
sessions and workshops to park personnel. This method assimilates into the
archeologists’ work process, saving significant time at each site and increasing
the number of sites they record.
5. University
of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky. -
$36,990.00
Interpreting Infrared
Thermography and other Non-Invasive Technologies within the Context of Historic
Materials
Technical improvements in non-invasive evaluation methods of
infrared thermography has resulted in more effective and affordable hardware as
well as more versatile software. These technological advances are making
infrared thermography more accessible to preservationists and conservationists
when conducting historic building investigations, evaluations and
documentations. The main barrier to using this potentially very useful method is
the absence of a methodology for meaningful interpretation of the raw data
obtained with infrared thermography. This overwhelming barrier can be overcome
only by correlating the detailed physical characteristics of model architectural
structures in various environments with the data obtained from them by means of
infrared thermography. The work done in this project will establish this
correlation and offer it in the form of a library of calibrated data for the
immediate and meaningful application of infrared thermography to problems of
architectural restoration, conservation and preservation.
6. The
Association for Preservation Technology, Savannah, Ga. - $29,400.00
Investigation of Mechanical
Anchor Strength in Stone Masonry
Mechanical anchor systems are commonly used in historic masonry
materials despite the lack of design values for this type of base material. The
current lack of codes, guidelines or recommendations for pullout and shear
values of these anchors in historic masonry materials leaves the design
community to improvise the design and specification of these bolts. This work
will test each of the three commonly–used types of mechanical fasteners in both
limestone and sandstone for pullout, shear and a combination of pullout and
shear. The ultimate yield strength will be correlated to both compressive
strength and surface hardness of the sample stone.
7. Bryan Lang
Foundation, Woodbine, Ga. -
$12,200.00
Planning to Preserve Our
Coastal Heritage and Culture: Disaster Planning and Recovery for Heritage and
Cultural Sites in Coastal Georgia, Coastal South Carolina, and Northeast Florida
This grant funding will provide for developing and conducting a
disaster planning and recovery workshop for small to medium sized
heritage/cultural institutions in Coastal Georgia, South Carolina, and Northeast
Florida who might otherwise not be able to travel to larger cities to gain this
knowledge. This workshop will address fundamental disaster planning and recovery
techniques, address technologies such as digitization, cold storage, and storage
equipment used to mitigate damage and aid in recovery, and discuss lessons
learned from past natural disasters.
8. National
Gallery of Art, Washington, DC-
$13,300.00
Use of Rheoreversible Gels
for the Preservation of Cultural and Artistic Heritage
Solvents are used for removal of paint and oily dirt that
disfigure cultural and artistic heritage. To mitigate a serious drawback, rapid
infiltration via capillary action, they may be “encapsulated” into gels; these,
however, can be difficult to remove, requiring substantial washing and/or
physical action. This work will provide improved methods for cleaning by
designing and testing gels that become freely flowing on demand. Protocols for
making and using ‘rheoreversible’ gels using polyamine -CO2 and small molecule
gelator systems with several solvents and aqueous systems have been devised.
This work investigates their properties, removability, and efficacy.
9. The Timber
Framers Guild, Washington, Mass. -
$31,500.00
Vernacular Wooden Church
Steeples in the Eastern United States: Form and Restoration
Wooden church steeples range from modest 80 ft. towers to spires
reaching to 200 ft. Four monographs will identify characteristic forms and their
structural systems, delineated in drawings showing overall configuration,
transverse and longitudinal views, exploded joinery, and iron work if original.
The interaction of the steeple framing and the structure of the main body of the
church will also be made clear. A structural analysis will illustrate loads,
stresses and displacements of each. This study will promote better understanding
of the form and dynamics of the thousands of American wooden steeples from the
18th and 19th centuries still standing today.
2007 PTT Grants Call for Proposals
NCPTT continues with its established research priorities and
announces a new research priority with the 2007 call for proposals:
NCPTT will give preference to research and training
proposals that develop innovative techniques in dating, monitoring,
analysis, and remote sensing of archeological sites and artifacts.
NCPTT also continues a special initiative first offered in the
2006, and continued in the 2007 PTT Grants Call for Proposals:
Special Research Initiative in Mitigation of Storm Damage
The aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita has brought to light a need for
further research into mitigation of storm damage to cultural resources.
Thus, Special Initiative gives priority to research that develops or
advances technologies to preserve storm damaged cultural resources.
The 2007 call for proposals was posted to NCPTT’s website on
Sept. 18. The online web-based application form was also available on that date.
The deadline for proposal applications is Dec. 1, 2006. NCPTT plans to follow
the same three-tier review process as last year. First, proposals will be
reviewed by in-house staff to determine completeness and appropriateness of
applications. Second, proposals will be reviewed for technical merit by a series
of mini-panels composed of three to five technical experts within archeology,
historic architecture, historic landscapes, or materials conservation. Based on
the mini-panel review, about 25 proposals will be recommended for review by a
national panel convened in Natchitoches the week of March 1, 2007.
NCPTT asks the PTT board to appoint a representative willing to
observe the national panel review in Natchitoches the week of March 1, 2007.