Fort Pickens Tour: Stop 13

Fort Pickens Self-guided Tour Stop 13

Quick Facts

Location:

Fort Pickens, Florida

Amenities

2 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Trailhead

Reverse Arch

There is a whole substructure supporting Fort Pickens. Hidden underfoot is a web of wooden beams and reverse brick arches.

Enslaved Black laborers broke ground on Fort Pickens in 1829. They began by digging into the island. They then installed a heavy framework of wooden beams called grillage. Using lumber from local Pensacola mills, the laborers installed grillage to create a foundation.

Engineers used arches to support the weight of the fort on this grillage foundation. Overhead arches spread the weight to the piers. The reverse arches distributed the weight across the grillage structure to limit settling.