Ford Engineering, Inc. was awarded First Place in the 2007 Texas Council of Engineering Companies Engineering Excellence Awards Competition. FEI's project titled "La Salle County Courthouse Restoration" secured one of two gold medals awarded to Ford Engineering in the competition.
Ford Engineering, Inc. was approached by the architectural firm, Killis Almond & Associates (San Antonio, Texas), to assist in the preservation and restoration of the La Salle County Courthouse. Some of the items that needed to be dealt with in order to have a successful restoration was the problem of water settling next to the courthouse, years of sedimentation buildup around the courthouse, American Disability Act (ADA) updates, reproducing the old town site in order to re-create the courthouse boundary and locating possible sites of historical building ruins for archeological purposes.
Ford Engineering, Inc. used the Global Positioning System (GPS) in conjunction with conventional survey methods to establish the boundary of the courthouse. The survey had to be spread out into the surrounding town area in order to find the monumentation of the original layout of the subdivision to aid in establishing the monumentation of the courthouse square itself. The Coast and Geodetic Survey established the Triangulation Station named "Cotulla" on the courthouse grounds in 1935. The North American Datum of 1927 was used to map the Cotulla monument in 1935 and that generally satisfied the lower order survey requirements for engineering and mapping purposes. However, Ford Engineering, Inc. was able to update that information using the 1983 Datum in which a new reference ellipsoid, a new mathematical figure that most nearly matches the actual shape of the earth, is utilized for a more accurate measurement. By utilizing this triangulation station and GPS technology, FEI was able to update this area to current GPS standards.
A topographic survey of the courthouse square, including the parking area behind the courthouse, was performed to locate areas where current American Disability Act (ADA) standards were not being met. The topographic survey was also going to be used to determine the original grade of the courthouse in order to remove years of sedimentation buildup against the terracotta exterior. The grade of the courthouse will be used in order to correct the drainage problem in which rain water settles next to the building and damages the exterior of the building. Some leakage into the building has occurred and this causes great concern because of the threat of flooding in the basement and years of records being lost or damaged. Aside from records being lost, structural damage can also occur and this can prove lethal to this historic monument.
Our country was founded on the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and these ethics and principles are upheld by our government. Texas County Courthouses represent the cornerstone of these civil liberties and their legacy must be protected and preserved in order for future generations to appreciate them. Ford Engineering, Inc. is proud to have been a part of this historical preservation.
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