“Evolution of the Conservation Treatment for the 17 Ton Hull Section from the RMS Titanic”

Association for Preservation Technology Delaware Valley Chapter, History of Iron & Steel: Part II, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 2005.

Speaker: Patty Miller

ABSTRACT

At 6:18pm on 10 August 1998, a heavily encrusted piece of iron wreckage was raised 2 ½ miles from the RMS Titanic wreck-site debris field in the North Atlantic. “The Big Piece” as it is referred, weighed nearly 20 tons and measured approximately 27′ x 20′ when it was recovered.

After over eight decades on the ocean floor, the wrought iron plate construction had significant surface corrosion and was also the home to colonies of “rusticles,” the fetid and voluminous by-product of microorganisms that feast on iron.  Bronze elements, such as portal windows and frames, were found to be in excellent working condition, even retaining original paint.

Conservation Solutions, Inc. (CSI) worked closely with the lead Titanic recovery conservation team — LP3 Conservation of Semur en Auxois, France and Conservator Stephane Pennec — to develop a conservation treatment plan.  The plan included the desalinization of the piece using sacrificial anodes and soaking it in a sodium carbonate solution. Over the course of 18 months that the piece was soaking it traveled to display venues in Boston, St. Paul, and Atlantic City.

In 2000,  “The Big Piece” was fully conserved in the studio of CSI. Testing and analysis was conducted to determine the level of surface cleaning that would be necessary to stabilize the artifact without compromising its desirable patina.

Nearly three years after the initial treatment, numerous cross-country trips, and storage and display in non climate controlled environments, the conservation treatment began to show signs of wear. Some of the problems observed included the localized detachment of surface accretions and the development of small areas of salt-bloom around some of the rivet heads. Considering the unfavorable conditions that the artifact has been subjected to and its lack of maintenance over the three-year period, the treatment has performed very well.

In 2004, CSI performed a second complete treatment of “The Big Piece”. This presentation will discuss the test methods used to evaluate the condition of the piece prior to conservation treatment and the development of a new conservation treatment strategy.