Engineers, conservationists work on lasting fix for Watts Towers From
a distance, the Watts Towers rise as a beacon of pride in a community
that has struggled for years with poverty and crime. But up close, tiny
cracks are tearing through the historic sculpture. One particularly
nasty fissure starts thin at the base of the 99-foot center tower, then
widens and snakes over colorful tiles, branching like a network of veins
from an artery. Decorative ornaments — pieces of glass, seashells and
pottery that artist Simon Rodia painstakingly affixed — are falling off,
bit by bit. The towers have been deteriorating for years, prompting
quick patch jobs that did little long-term good. A worker with
binoculars would spot a crack, panic and rush to seal it over with
cement and other materials. But the cracks always came back. Now, a team
of engineers and conservationists have descended on Watts to try to
discover the root problems for the decay and come up with a more lasting
fix. UCLA engineer Robert Nigbor said he's approaching the problem like
a doctor in search of a diagnosis: "Is it the wind? Is it the sun
heating the structure? Is it temperature or earthquakes that are the
main cause of the cracks?" Concerned about the towers' frail state, Los
Angeles' Department of Cultural Affairs contracted with LACMA in 2011 to
help with maintenance and restoration. "For 50 years, the committee has
been trying to get to this point," said Janine Watkins, a member of the
group that has fought for decades to keep the towers. Using funds
raised by LACMA, Preusser and four full-time museum employees keep daily
tabs on the towers. In December, UCLA engineers joined the effort to
perform structural tests. So far they've spent $2 million but say much
more will be needed to stabilize the landmark. On a recent day, LACMA
employee Sylvia Schweri-Dorsh stabilized a wobbly column that had
separated from the foundation. Another employee, Blanka Kielb, patched a
gaping hole with mortar. Nigbor checked on a newly installed wind
sensor — painted blue to conceal it against the sky — that measures how
wind gusts affect the vibration of the structures. Data collected so far
point to a monument that mimics a living organism: cracks contract and
expand as if the tower is breathing. And the structures tilt to the
north when the sun rises and return to their original position when the
sun sets. It's this flexibility that helped the towers survive the 1994
Northridge earthquake, engineers said, but the constant movement is also
why past restoration efforts were short-lived. "My diagnosis of the
past failures is that they repaired the cracks with a very rigid
material," Preusser said. "And they used five or six materials, but they
were all rigid because they were only thinking about corrosion." Heat
causes the cracks to open and close, but the fissures never return to
their original size, Preusser said. Debris gets lodged inside, and the
cracks get longer. The team is slowly getting closer to determining the
best way to repair the cracks and reattach artifacts after testing
dozens of mortars, crack fillers, adhesives and water repellents.
Besides the towers' daily movement, Mother Nature is also contributing
to the slow deterioration. A 2003 hailstorm brought down glass,
seashells and tile ornaments. But Preusser's team is finding that
howling winds are causing the most damage. "A Santa Ana wind produces
about the same force as a moderate earthquake on the structure," Nigbor
said, adding that he hopes planting tall cypress trees may serve as a
windbreak. Still, two years into what was slated as a yearlong project,
the team is more certain than ever about one thing: The towers will not
topple, a long-standing fear. rya
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