Materials Research

Eddy current testing methods were used to characterize model gilding layers on bronzes and to make measurements on gilded bronze objects in the Freer Gallery of Art.

The National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP) started in the early 1980s and has continued more or less to the present. At least parts of the program and resulting data have been inherited by the Materials Research Program of the recently established National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT) of the National Park Service.

A critical and long-standing challenge in the preservation field has been finding unmarked graves.

NCPTT’s materials research program hosted representatives from Hybrid Plastics. The company specializes in new resin and plastics based on a new chemical technology called POSS.

NCPTT’s Curtis Deselles, a graduate student in the Masters of Heritage Resources program at Northwestern State University of Louisiana, is developing a handheld metal tester using eddy current technology.

NCPTT and the City of New London will deliver the sixth annual New England Cemetery Monument Conservation workshop on October 7-9, 2008, in New London, Conn.

NCPTT is developing better strategies for the removal of graffiti from brick masonry buildings.

Molly McGath, NCPTT summer intern, is studying interactions between air pollution and limestone treated with commonly used chemical stone strengtheners.

More than $165,000 will fund research to protect America’s historic legacy as part of the National Center for Preservation Technology & Training’s PTT Grants program.

The National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT) and Northwestern State University seek a Ph.D. analytical, organic, or physical chemist to fill a joint-faculty position for two years, with an option for annual renewal pending availability of funds.

NCPTT and the City of New London will deliver the sixth annual New England Cemetery Monument Conservation workshop on Oct. 7-9, 2008, in New London, Connecticut.

Anna Johnson, a high-school junior at the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts, took NCPTT research to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, Atlanta, Ga. on May 11-16.

Stace Miller, a longtime undergraduate intern at NCPTT, received a B.S. in chemistry and an B.S. in Math from Northwestern State University of Louisiana on May 9.

NCPTT and the Department of Veteran Affairs, National Cemetery Administration has released the interim report entitled, Comparative Study of Commercially Available Cleaners for use on Federally-issued Headstones.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art recently provided a portable laser system to NCPTT as part of the National Center’s laser research facility.

This report is an executive summary of testing undertaken by NCPTT in partnership with the Cane River Creole National Historical Park (CARI) and Quality Finish.

NCPTT will host four interns in its materials research program this summer: Molly McGath, Catherine Arseneaux, Candida D’Avanzo, and Paige Isaacs.

The study tested a variety of limewash recipes for possible use on historic structures located in the Cane River Creole National Historical Park, located in central Louisiana.

Jason Church and Stace Miller presented results of NCPTT research at the annual meeting of the American Institute for Conservation in Denver Colorado, April 21-24.

$695 per participant. Topics Will Include: Condition Assessments, Conservation Ethics, Protection, Cleaning, Stone Loss Repairs, Bases and Resetting, Adhesion & Reinforced Repair, Consolidation.