Project Description:

One of the original 5 squares laid out by William Penn, Washington Square is the final resting place of between 5000-15,000 people, including an estimated 5,000 Revolutionary War soldiers.  The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is guarded by a bronze statue of George Washington with the inscription "Freedom is a light for which many men have died in darkness" on the wall behind him. Washington Square was called a place to "melt a heart of stone" by John Adams.

We were commissioned by the City of Philadelphia to rebuild the eternal flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington Square.  This flame had been extinguished several years before and numerous attempts had been made to fix it.  During demolition, we discovered that the previous system had been completely destroyed by water intrusion which required that we install a completely  new system.

Our commission stated that the project would be complete by July 4, 2005 in time for the festivities.  Further complicating the matter is that the Tomb and Washington Square are world famous tourist attractions and would remain open for viewing, albeit through a chain link fence. Current affairs in Philadelphia also called for an unusually high degree of decorum and sensitivity in our interactions with the general public around the site.  Local veterans had built a candle shrine to maintain an eternal flame until the gas system could be brought on line.  Since the public was not allowed inside the construction fence, the construction team took it upon themselves to keep the candles lit.

The effect consists of a custom burner with a single flame (15,000 BTUH) centered in a stainless steel inverted bowl. The bowl is surrounded by a stainless steel cage, on which are engraved the names of the thirteen original colonies. The system is natural gas with an intermittent pilot. The system is monitored for flame presence and automatically relights in the event of flame failure.

We are honored to have been part of the team that brought back the eternal flame to this place of eternal rest for so many of our soldiers.

Team:

City of Philadelphia - Capital Projects Office - Project managers

Burns Mechanical - Gas, electrical and general supervision

Philadelphia Gas Works - Gas suppliers

RADCO, Inc. - Third party listing agent