Making Progress at the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument

LERA has been working with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to provide Historic Preservation services for the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Manhattan's Riverside Park. Tasked with providing an assessment of and recommendations for the century-old structure in need of extensive repairs, our team has been busy conducting surveys of the current condition of the plazas and monument exterior and interior, as well as the retaining wall and foundations. Part of our services also includes running non-destructive tests to better understand the monument and its defects, aging and erosion. Such tests include ultrasounds, ground penetrating radar, infrared camera scans, CCTV exploration of interior drains and material testing.

The project has posed difficult challenges to the survey team in its inherent uncertainties and limited accessibility. To overcome these difficulties, the surveyors used a personnel lift to access the top of the monument, from where they rappelled down the sides to survey and record exterior damage. For the interior of the tower, the team piloted a drone equipped with a hi-definition camera, a nifty way to assess the far reaches of the structure while limiting the risk of causing further damage.

Check out the amazing progress our Historic Preservation team is making below!