Masonry Magazine August 2002 Page. 26
Pentagon The Phoenix Story
SERIES
They came to the conclusion that the damage was severe enough to warrant removing all five floors of the three outer rings between corridors 4 and 5.
Fire, water, and impact damage had made these areas unreliable, a much greater area than initially thought. Another decision was to use poured reinforced concrete for the wall instead of the original brickwork.
Fromboluti, the architect, was part of this team. "When we rebuilt Wedge 1, the original wall was masonry with a limestone façade. We reinforced that wall with steel. Another big difference is that this is a cavity wall, whereas in the original construction the limestone was attached right to the masonry so there was no cavity. We had to redesign the limestone wall to look like the old, non-cavity wall. That presented quite a challenge."
Craig Morgan, a senior associate working with Fromboluti, adds, "We worked with Masonry Arts to get the details done right. Usually the architect does a bunch of drawings, the job goes out to bid, everybody gripes about it. Then you get shop drawings and you fight over it. That process takes a long time. This job was different. We all worked on it together. That's why it went so fast-we're all on the same page."
They started pouring the Phoenix area on the southern corner. "They wanted the 'E' Ring done as fast as possible so we could put the blast windows in and get the stone process started as soon as possible," Bartram says. "That front wall was done three months earlier than anybody expected it to be done. When they were still pouring the last section of the 'E' Ring wall on the far North side, we were already up three or four floors with stone on the South side."
With all the trades gathered, with the speed of the Project at the forefront, the construction site started to take on the usual look of confusion. "When we first started, it was very difficult," admits Bartram. "The concrete crews were stripping forms, concrete trucks were coming and going, they had pump trucks set up in front of the building right in the center of the Phoenix area. Logistically, it was very difficult coordinating everything and moving around. Everyone wanted to occupy the same space at the same time."
But this was no ordinary site. This was The Phoenix Project, more emotional, more enthusiastic, more everything. As Bartram explains, "It got a little crazy once in awhile, but everything went a lot smoother than anybody thought it would. You have to give the credit to Allyn Kilsheimer. If it weren't for Allyn, none of this would have been possible. He doesn't have 'quit' in his vocabulary. If someone tells him he can't do something, you better believe it's going to be done. Allyn never looks backward; he just goes forward.
On June 11, 2002, a memorial piece of limestone from the damaged section was placed to cover a dedication capsule in the new wall.
Once the demolition was completed and the area cleared, work began immediately on the restoration.
September 11, 20
24 Masonry
August 2002
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