Rebuilding the Old Man

By Trish Anderton on Tuesday, May 7, 2002.

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Almost as soon as New Hampshire's Old Man of the Mountain collapsed, people began talking about rebuilding the stone profile. But the Old Man's mountain perch isn't an easy working environment. As NHPR's Trish Anderton reports, experts say reconstruction would be costly and difficult.

ALMOST AS SOON AS NEW HAMPSHIRE’S OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN COLLAPSED, PEOPLE BEGAN TALKING ABOUT REBUILDING THE STONE PROFILE.

BUT THE OLD MAN’s mountain perch ISN’T AN EASY WORKING ENVIRONMENT.

AS NHPR’S TRISH ANDERTON REPORTS, EXPERTS SAY RECONSTRUCTION WOULD BE COSTLY AND DIFFICULT.

THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN WAS REMARKABLE IN MANY WAYS.

FIRST, he commanded THE TOP OF FRANCONIA NOTCH.

He seemed to defy GRAVITY.

HIS JUTTING FOREHEAD AND SHARP CHIN HUNG UNSUPPORTED IN THE AIR.

FINALLY, HE WAS FORMED FROM SO MANY SEPARATE PARTS – A JUMBLE OF ROCKS THAT MIRACULOUSLY ADDED UP TO A FACE.

EVERY ONE OF THESE FACTORS THAT MADE THE OLD MAN UNIQUE ALSO WOULD MAKE HIM HARD TO REPLACE.

21 127 doing something right up where the old man was wd be from tech and eng view very difficult

IF ANYBODY KNOWS WHAT A RECONSTRUCTION EFFORT WOULD BE LIKE, IT’S BRIAN FOWLER.

FOWLER DID AN ENGINEERING STUDY OF THE GRANITE PROFILE IN 1976.

That’s WHEN OFFICIALS WERE WEIGHING PLANS TO WIDEN THE HIGHWAY THROUGH THE NOTCH.

HE SAYS THE LOCATION AND SHAPE OF THE GRANITE PROFILE PRESENTed SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGES.

one fo the probls we had was the entire rock mass was overhung and cliff drops away almost 1k feet to highway, and bec of steepness theres no way to build platforms or scaffolding for staging men and equipment

THE LOCATION ALSO GUARANTEES PLENTY OF FOG, WIND, AND STORMS.

the weather is horrendous. the notch has a way of funneling northern and southern inds right thru the narrow part of the notch. I rememeber many days when we cdn’t work bc wind was blowing too hard

THEN THERE’S THE MATTER OF MATERIALS.

UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE GEOLOGIST WALLY BOTHNER SAYS THE OLD MAN CAME BY HIS RUGGED, CRAGGY APPEARANCE NATURALLY.

THE CONWAY GRANITE THAT MAKES UP THE MOUNTAIN IS DEEPLY FRACTURED.

ITS filled with cracks that have been part of its history. I think the rock will be found to be instensely unstable.

So it would be DIFFICULT TO CARVE INTO THE ROCK OR ATTACH ANYTHING TO IT.

And HEAVY EQUIPMENT WOULD LIKELY DAMAGE THE REMAINING ROCK.

JAMES WERMUTH HEADS THE CONSERVATION TECHNOLOGY GROUP IN NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.

His company SPECIALIZES IN RESTORING MONUMENTS.

stone is very subject to vibration. repeated vibration from drilling or pounding of any sort tends to weaken the stone.

DESPITE ALL THESE PROBLEMS, EXPERTS SAY, THE OLD MAN COULD BE REPLACED.

GUSTAVO ARAOZ IS THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE U.S. OFFICE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON MONUMENTS AND SITES.

49 29 with the technology we have anything is possible. usually the limitations are financial.

And in this case, those FINANCIAL DEMANDS COULD BE QUITE STEEP.

SPECIALISTS SAY RATHER THAN carving INTO THE FRACTURED ROCK, IT MAKES SENSE TO BUILD An old man REPLICA AND ATTACH IT TO THE MOUNTAIN.

RESTORATIONIST JAMES WERMUTH SAYS HIS CHOICE WOULD BE A METAL STRUCTURE COVERED WITH A THIN LAYER OF CAST STONE.

44 154 the metal armature wd be fastened deeply into bedrock and then the casting would attached on top.

WERMUTH SAYS SUCH A STRUCTURE MIGHT RUN BETWEEN 600 AND 800 THOUSAND DOLLARS.

AND THAT DOESN’T INCLUDE THE COST OF INSTALLATION.

ON THE OTHER HAND, THERE could be POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO RECONSTRUCTION.

THIS WOULD BE THE LARGEST AND MOST DIFFICULT PROJECT OF ITS KIND EVER ATTEMPTED.

THAT COULD PROVE TO BE QUITE A TOURIST ATTRACTION.

AND SOME PRESERVATIONISTS ARGUE THE STONE FACE IS SO MUCH A PART OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, THE STATE SIMPLY Won’t BE THE SAME WITHOUT IT.

VINCE MICHAEL IS THE DIRECTOR OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION AT THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO.

the Eiffel tower, washington monument, you need to put them back even if there’s very little of the original material left, because they’re part of identity of place. I think old man is one of those things.

BUT SOME PEOPLE ARGUE AN ARTIFICIAL OLD MAN COULD NEVER REPLACE THE ORIGINAL.

IN THE END, THE KEY QUESTIONS MAY BE: CAN A NEW OLD MAN FILL THE GAP LEFT BY THE OLD ONE?

AND HOW MUCH ARE GRANITE STATERS WILLING TO PAY?

FOR NHPR NEWS I’M TRISH ANDERTON.