Jefferson Davis Monument

The repair project of the Jefferson Davis monument, built between 1917 and 1924 in Fairview, Ky., has been awarded a 2004 Award of Excellence in the historic category by the International Concrete Repair Institute.

The monument is approximately 351 feet tall and was constructed as an unreinforced concrete obelisk with walls 7 feet 8 inches thick at the base and 2 feet thick at the top.

The monument walls were constructed with a base mix placed in 2-foot lifts with a form-board finish, covered with a 1-inch thick white cement face mix. Deterioration of the unreinforced concrete was caused by cyclic freezing and thawing of saturated concrete. 

The Commonwealth of Kentucky Depart-ment of Parks in Frankfort, Ky. rehabilitation project was prompted by the continuing deterioration of the exterior facade and the safety hazard posed by falling concrete.

The goal of the rehabilitation project was to repair the exterior concrete and reduce the rate of future deterioration. The primary objective of the repairs was to use materials and techniques that would be sympathetic to the existing facade, match the original concrete and perform well. 

The repair work was performed in two phases that included use of different types of access due to budget and schedule requirements. The repair work in Phase 1, at the top of the monument, used swing-stage scaffold supported by a steel bracket. The work in Phase 2, at the lower portion of the monument, used ground supported pipe scaffold with work platforms. 

The project included developing sample repair materials and procedures to match the original appearance. At least 50, 1-foot-by-1-foot samples were prepared using different proportions of gray and white cement and aggregate components, various forming techniques, and different finishing techniques.

One of the most difficult challenges involved creating inconsistencies in the formwork to reproduce the varied appearance of the original concrete. Concrete repair materials were placed using form and pour techniques, and were anchored to the original base mix concrete by embedded dowels.

During the sample and trial repair phases of the monument rehabilitation, procedures and materials were developed and adjusted to achieve a concrete repair that matched the adjacent original concrete. An important aspect of this project, as with any historic repair work, was the planned implementation of a review and approval process as part of the project.

Repair Contractor was Mid-Continental Restoration Inc. of Fort Scott, Kan. Others on the projhect included project engineer/designer,
Senler, Campbell Associates Inc. of Louisville, Ky., and concrete consultant was Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc. of Chicago.