Brad Singletary of Boh Brothers Construction prepares concrete reinforcement for the support of the new foundation of the Louisiana Monument in the Vicksburg National Military Park Friday.(C. Todd Sherman The Vicksburg Post)

[7/12/03]Lightning struck the Louisiana Monument twice in 1999, but stone carver Tim Johnston has seen monuments hit three times.

He and fellow stone carver Vince Martorana, both part of a carving and restoration team from Virginia, did patchwork Friday morning on pieces of the Louisiana Monument scattered along the ground where it once stood.

They are patching up the granite lost from the lightning and when it began leaning years ago. The patchwork will be scars to the monument’s own history.

“With time it’ll be overlooked,” Johnston said of the patchwork.

The two said they will be at the park until Monday but plan to come back later to work on bigger pieces they can’t move themselves. Johnston also said some pieces would break if patched now, so they’ll wait to patch them up when putting them back up,

The federally funded contract with Keystone Restoration Inc., from Palm Beach, Fla. will cost $679, 713. With time, the restoration will not be evident to park visitors. They won’t know the monument was ever on the ground.

Keystone site superintendent Lane Thomas was busy directing concrete and steel into the appropriate spots while the carvers worked. Thomas said work has been ahead of schedule. They dug four 45-feet deep holes, 4-feet in diameter with a boring machine Friday. They will fill the holes with reinforced steel and concrete, providing extra stability for the monument.

This time around, the monument will have lightning protection at its base.

“It deflects the lightning charge into the ground to neutralize it,” said Bob Archer, site manager for the New Orleans- based BOH Bros. Construction Company, a subcontractor for Keystone.

Thomas said putting the reinforced steel and concrete into the 45-foot holes took all day Friday. The base will be laid at the beginning Monday.

Park Historian Terry Winschel said the monument is on the highest point in the county, 397-feet above sea level, on what was the longest and most formidable fort for the Confederate defenses. He said the cost of the original monument was $35,000 to $40,000.

The park documents and preserves the scenes of the siege of Vicksburg during Civil War in 1863. It was created by Congress in 1899. Organizations from other states also erected monuments and memorials to soldiers who fought for both Union and Confederate forces.

The monument began leaning due to rifts in its base after being struck by lightning twice in May 1999.

Park officials decided to take all the segments down and the dismantling process began in July 1999.