Materials Research

Recent research reveals bacteria may be the biggest ally in the fight to preserve ancient artifacts from erosion and deterioration.

The topic is the use of eddy currents for identification of metals (ferrous and non-ferrous), measuring the thickness of corrosion, and the recovery of serial numbers and/or images beneath corrosion.

NCPTT is organizing a session on non-destructive testing in historic preservation as part of the American Society for Non-destructive Testing’s meeting on March 17, 2009 in St. Louis.

The conservation of the King Kamehameha I sculpture in North Kohola, Hawai`I demonstrates a dynamic of public involvement in conservation.

Limewash is enjoying renewed interest as a protectant for historic structures, thanks in part to research undertaken by NCPTT and its partners.

This project is about saving historic wooden artifacts in cemeteries. Cemeteries are important repositories of local and national history, valued not only for the stories they tell, but also for their emotional and civic connections.

Carol Chin has joined NCPTT as a joint faculty researcher in the National Center’s Materials Research Program. The position is held in partnership with Northwestern State University of Louisiana

NCPTT researchers, in partnership with masonry experts from NPS Historic Preservation Training Center, recently completed a study to develop treatments for use on marble monuments in Historic Congressional Cemetery.

The grant allowed for documentation of traditional language, foods, music and the cultural landscapes associated with the Timbisha Shoshone people in their aboriginal territories.

This six minute video explains how to prepare and apply limewash.

NCPTT was awarded the Oliver Torrey Fuller Award at the Association of Preservation Technology International (APTI) conference in October.

NCPTT’s held its sixth annual Cemetery Monument Conservation workshop October 7-9, 2008, in New London, Connecticut. Twenty-six registrants participated in a variety of hands-on sessions.

NCPTT has received the PTT grant product “Wooden Artifacts in Cemeteries: A Reference Manual,” submitted by the Historic Preservation Commission; the City of Aspen, Colorado, and Anthony & Associates.

NCPTT and the NPS Historic Preservation Training Center (HPTC) are partnering with the Veterans Administration’s National Cemetery Administration to complete cleaning treatment studies on the U.S. Arsenal Monument in Historic Congressional Cemetery. Based on research and training by NCPTT’s Jason Church, HPTC staff will undertake intermittent misting cleaning of the Arsenal Monument during November. This [...]

This report provides information and progress on the comparative study of commercially available cleaners for federally issued headstones.

Infestation by the eastern subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar), was found throughout the two ground floors of the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty National Monument.

There are only a handful of laboratories specialized in, and dedicated to, the study and analysis of cultural property.

Traditional thin-section analysis techniques such as tedious manual point counting are time consuming and require numerous measures. The use of visual estimation charts produce results of questionable accuracy.

n the interest of saving as much historic fabric as possible and not altering or scarring historic materials as a result of investigative probes, architectural conservators look to nondestructive testing methods for the evaluation and identification of materials, conditions and alterations made to structures over time. As the answers [...]

Phase 3 research interpreted test results, and developed a test protocol for analyzed coatings for treatments.