National Museum of the U.S. Army Collections Care
EverGreene provided specialized conservation treatments for multiple historic military artifacts for the National Museum of the U.S. Army at Fort Belvoir, VA, helping to preserve key physical remnants of World War II history. Among these were the Belgium Gate, a series of 12 steel C-elements originally constructed as part of Belgium’s defensive line against a German invasion, a concrete tetrahedron beach obstacle and a “Czech Hedgehog,” an anti-tank obstacle used to resist amphibious landings, including those during the D-Day invasion of Normandy.
The Belgium Gate, also known as Cointet or C-elements, had been relocated across Europe following the fall of Belgium and required careful treatment to stabilize the steel surfaces and prevent further corrosion. Each one of the twelve pieces was cleaned of accumulated soiling, treated with a corrosion conversion solution, dried, and coated with a custom wax formulation to protect against moisture incursion, while retaining the historic character of the metal.
The World War II Concrete Tetrahedron showed significant areas of material loss and corroding of the embedded steel. Conservators carefully cleaned the surface using non-ionic detergents, stabilized cracks and weakened concrete, and applied corrosion inhibitors to exposed steel. All interventions were designed to minimize visual impact while ensuring the longest-lasting preservation of the artifact.
The World War II “Czech Hedgehog” is a type of beach obstacle used to impede amphibious landings, including those overcome during the D-Day invasion at Normandy. The conservation treatment focused on stabilizing the ferrous metal components using methods that minimized visual impact while ensuring long-term preservation. The process included the careful removal of accumulated soiling and corrosion, stabilization of the metal surfaces, and the application of a corrosion-inhibiting wax coating to protect the structure from further deterioration.
Treatment were carried out at our EvereGreene’s conservation studio. For all projects, EverGreene prepared comprehensive reports detailing each treatment step, accompanied by thorough photographic documentation, reflecting EverGreene’s expertise in the conservation of complex historic military artifacts.
