Chattanooga National Cemetery, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Chattanooga National Cemetery was created to commemorate the battles fought there during the U.S. Civil War. Since then, it has become the only national cemetery in which foreign POWs from both WWI and WWII were reinterred. Integral to its design, the late 19^th century monumental masonry archway would have originally functioned as the formal entrance. It is one of five southern national cemeteries to feature this structure.

The arch, in addition to significant stone deterioration and loss throughout the monument, was experiencing 100% joint failure in the attic and cornice area, and 60% failure in the lower portions. The attic and arch base had also accumulated thick biological soiling in addition to the atmospheric soiling on the limestone. The attached iron gates showed failed and inferior previous weld repairs.

Conservation Solutions, Inc. was contracted to perform the stone cleaning, repairs, and re-pointing, and work with a subcontractor to fix and refinish the iron gates. Through testing, an effective but sensitive process was developed to provide a general cleaning, as well as to handle the carbon soiling, tar, and paint. Failed mortar joints were re-pointed, using a closely-matched mortar, and all skyward-facing joints in the attic and cornice were weather-capped to protect against deterioration. Stone repairs were performed through grout injection into existing cracks, and by patching areas of significant deterioration/ loss. Previous weld repairs on the iron gates were grinded down and re-welded, and missing or bent hardware was replaced, while the gates were in situ to mitigate against damage.

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