Malouf Construction worker Bobbie Johnson completes the finishing touches on a solid concrete tube that will be used as a security point to anchor the USS Cairo canopy upon its completion.(The Vicksburg Post/MELANIE DUNCAN)

[02/01/02]The new canopy protecting the remains of the Union gunboat Cairo should be complete this summer and the Louisiana Monument could be repaired by the end of 2002.

The Cairo, the only “city class” ironclad warship in the world, has been a fixture of the Vicksburg National Military Park for more than 20 years. Near it, a museum also displays artifacts recovered when it was raised from the Yazoo River in 1963.

The vessel earned its place in history in December 1862 when it and other Union vessels steamed up the Yazoo to clear the area north of Vicksburg of mines. The Cairo struck one of the devices and became the first vessel to be sunk by an electrically detonated mine, called a torpedo at the time.

The Louisiana Monument, built in the 1920s, was struck by lightning in 1999, at which time park officials dismantled most of it to prevent it from collapsing.

The obelisk rose from one of the highest points in the Civil War battlefield, a preserve created by Congress in 1899 to honor those who struggled here in 1862 and 1863.

Within a short time after the Cairo went on display under a canopy to protect it from the elements, park officials discovered problems. The canopy provided ideal roosting and nesting places for numerous birds and their droppings accelerated deterioration. By 1992, it was obvious something had to be done.

The actual work on the new canopy began in June 2001 with the removal of the old canopy. Work on installing new supports and anchor points to support the new, fabric canopy have been proceeding since then with Malouf Construction Co. of Jackson in charge.

“They are about a month behind,” Park Superintendent Bill Nichols said Wednesday. “They are about finished with the tie-backs.”

He said the new canopy is similar to a tent. It should go up in March.

“I think they put the poles up first and then they lift the canopy up,” he said.

Not only will the canopy be larger than the original one, it will be lower. Those two factors, Nichols said, should offer more protection from the weather. There are no cross braces under the canopy to provide roosting or nesting places.

Nichols said the budget on the canopy project was $3.1 million but there have been two change orders totaling about $150,000 and several items that did not cost as much as anticipated. He hopes the final cost will be close to the budgeted amount.

The plans and specifications on the restoration of the Louisiana Monument are nearly ready, Nichols said, and he hopes the project can be placed under contract later this summer and be finished by the end of the year.

“We will have to take the rest of the monument down,” he said, explaining that soil borings discovered instability in the foundation.

Before the monument is reassembled, the foundation will be stabilized with four, 60-foot concrete piles driven into the soil. Once reassembled, lightning rods will be installed to protect it from further strikes.

Nichols said Congress allocated $960,000 for the work and estimates are for the project to cost about $790,000.

The steel arch bridge over Jackson Road is another park project.

The Warren County Board of Supervisors ordered Jackson Road closed in December after members learned from park officials one of the four supports had failed and the bridge could collapse. Since that time, some 17 Vicksburg Warren School District buses and others have had to use alternate routes.

Nichols said there is a difference of opinion between the Federal Highway Administration and some National Park Service officials on whether removing the bridge is an emergency. Until the disagreement is resolved, nothing can be done to the bridge.