![\"\"](\"https:\/\/innovativepixel.com\/IGIN\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/monumental-job-2.jpg\")
Sometimes that meant all that could fit on the barge were a few concrete trucks or trucks filled with topsoil for the green roof or irrigation supplies, LoCascio says. That also sometimes meant coordinating with Central Turf and Irrigation in delivering the materials, as the trucks and their drivers would have to remain on the island for several hours until the barge went back out later in the day.<\/p>\n
The barges didn\u2019t come cheaply, either, at about $4,500 per day, according to Doug Fullerton, owner of Fullerton Landscape Architects of Succasunna, New Jersey, which was responsible for the ground- level landscaping and irrigation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a cheap operation when you\u2019re bringing trucks, equipment and dumpsters out there,\u201d he says. Anything that could fit in a wheelbarrow could be carried over on the public boats, which ran from 6:40 a.m. until 5 p.m. For the first two hours of each day\u2019s runs, the public boats brought over vendor materials, but that also included supplies for restaurants and other contractors.<\/p>\n
Working with the barges required a lot of communication, especially when Fullerton needed to find room to move equipment like a track loader or compressor on- and off-site, he says.<\/p>\n
When he was waiting for the right materials to show up to continue the job, LoCascio found other daily work to keep his crews busy. He did his best to stay ahead of the job by monitoring the used materials and projecting what he would need in the upcoming week.<\/p>\n
The island provided another limitation in that only equipment that could fit on a barge could be brought across to the job site. That meant LoCascio was only able to bring a small crane over to move material, instead of a larger piece of equipment that he\u2019d typically use for a green roof project. In total, the crane lifted about 600 cubic yards of topsoil to the site, brought in 1.5 cubic yard bags.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no room for a large crane,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you can visualize it, the crane could only get the material over to one corner of the roof. Then I would have guys wheel-barrowing out of that one corner to the opposite corner.\u201d<\/p>\n
LoCascio started actually laying the topsoil on the opposite side of the roof, a distance of about 50 yards away, and working back toward the loading point.<\/p>\n \u201cWe worked our way from far to closer,\u201d LoCascio says. \u201cSo every bit of topsoil that came, the distance shrunk a little bit.\u201d That\u2019s a little bit different from other rooftop projects he\u2019s been involved in, where there was more room to work and an island\u2019s accessibility wasn\u2019t limiting the available equipment. In most cases, he\u2019d be able to have the topsoil placed right on the roof where it was needed.<\/p>\n Maintaining a good grasp of logistics is key to a successful rooftop garden installation, LoCascio says. A contractor needs to know what type of equipment is necessary for the job and where load-bearing areas are. While an installation job on the ground can be more fast-paced, a rooftop installation means keeping track of how much material is available and scheduling deliveries to keep the job moving along steadily.<\/p>\n \u201cYou work your logistics differently,\u201d LoCascio says. \u201cInstead of \u2018push, push, go, go, go,\u2019 you work a little smarter.\u201d<\/p>\n Working on Liberty Island also meant being more exposed to the elements than usual. LoCascio\u2019s team was on-site during the summer, \u201cin the middle of July on a rooftop,\u201d he says. He talked regularly with his crew about working safely in hot weather, drinking water regularly and taking consistent breaks. He had a pallet of bottled water delivered to the rooftop so it was always available, and the museum\u2019s cafeteria provided ice cubes in coolers to help keep body temperatures in a safe range.<\/p>\n In many installations, either drip irrigation or sprinkler heads are used to manage the irrigation program. But in this case, both were installed to provide multiple options for both the green roof and the surrounding landscaping.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a duplicate system that\u2019s both drip and spray,\u201d says Fullerton. \u201cThe spray is supposed to be temporary, until the meadow reaches a certain height. Then it\u2019s supposed to be discontinued and the drip will take over.\u201d<\/p>\n The spray heads are less likely to be ripped out in daily weeding, so they act as backup to the drip irrigation, Fullerton says.<\/p>\n The plants, a meadow mix of native grasses and wildflowers for the region, were chosen to reduce the need for extensive watering and maintenance, says Fullerton. While it starts with particular varieties, it\u2019ll eventually pick up other regional varieties through carriers like birds. The grasses are meant to be relatively short, between 18 to 24 inches.<\/p>\n \u201cEventually, it\u2019ll turn into a north Jersey meadow,\u201d Fullerton says. \u201cIt\u2019s not to make it a horrendous weeding job. It\u2019s usually mowed once or twice a year.\u201d<\/p>\n Once the topsoil was down, LoCascio hydroseeded the entire green roof. The roof\u2019s design didn\u2019t call for any shrubs or trees that required extra attention or water. He included some annual oats that would come up quickly in the summer and visually kick-start the grow-in before black-eyed Susans came up in the fall.<\/p>\n \u201cThe annual oats, they popped up really fast, and we had the irrigation going three or four days a week,\u201d LoCascio says. The daily and overnight temperatures stayed in the right range to support the new growth, and within a few weeks, \u201cit was a beautiful grassy field.\u201d<\/p>\n The meadow mix itself will take about two years to grow in fully, which took some discussion with the National Park Service to reassure them that the plants would grow in fully and that some of the grasses weren\u2019t, in fact, weeds.<\/p>\n The island\u2019s history provided obstacles for the installation in a few ways. One of the toughest challenges was working with older irrigation systems that had been previously installed, Fullerton says. The plans for the existing irrigation from 10-20 years prior were missing. That meant that his team was digging up mains and retrofitting the system as it went, as well as finding connections that had the proper pressure on the island.<\/p>\n Beyond that, the possible preservation of history was a major part of the process, Fullerton says.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery hole you dig has to be checked out by an archeologist,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s a historic site, so everything has to be inspected for arrowheads or other things. They sifted a lot of dirt but didn\u2019t find anything.\u201d<\/p>\n The island provided another challenge with unreliable cellular service, a necessity to be able to send messages from sensors back to the mainland without regular physical visits. Initially, a cellular modem was used for the system, but trying to communicate over water was unreliable, says Armour. He and others worked with the museum to secure an Ethernet connection for the irrigation system through the museum itself.<\/p>\n \u201cNow they\u2019re able to remotely connect to the controller and get alarms and alerts of whatever\u2019s going on out there,\u201d Armour says.<\/p>\n The moisture sensors help protect the plants, which also deal with additional weather challenges due to being on the open water, with higher wind and wider temperature changes, Armour says.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s usually a cooler temperature out there,\u201d he says. \u201cThe nice part with having eight moisture sensors in different areas out there is that we\u2019re actually able to read soil temperature and moisture. And up on the green roof, they\u2019re getting sun all day long. So it was pretty important to set it up correctly so everybody\u2019s getting watered the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n Fullerton Landscape holds a five-year contract to maintain the island\u2019s irrigation systems across the ground-level and rooftop landscaping, with daily monitoring of sensors to check for issues. The system includes moisture sensors on each level, and the irrigation is adjusted to keep water usage efficient.<\/p>\n As the season starts up, Fullerton will be monitoring those sensors and starting pre-emergent applications for the grow-in. His team will also be reseeding areas as needed after public use with about 800 people coming to the site every 20 minutes on two boats.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re certainly proud to work on the Statue of Liberty,\u201d Fullerton says.<\/p>\n Working on the museum\u2019s landscaping had a personal connection for LoCascio, who remembers going to the Statue of Liberty for a sixth grade field trip, and looks forward to when his now two-year-old son is old enough to go on a field trip with his classmates.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery single school district in Jersey brings their children out to the Statue of Liberty. One day my son is going to go there,\u201d LoCascio says. \u201cThat\u2019s a forever building, and we had a hand in that.\u201d<\/p>\n Industry professionals add some green to a historic national site.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3187,"parent":0,"template":"","main-categories":[27],"class_list":["post-3180","features","type-features","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","main-categories-irrigation"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/innovativepixel.com\/IGIN\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/monumental-job-3.jpg\")
Growing in<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/innovativepixel.com\/IGIN\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/monumental-job-4.jpg\")
Working with the past<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/innovativepixel.com\/IGIN\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/monumental-job-5.jpg\")
This article originally appeared in Irrigation & Green Industry magazine.<\/em><\/h6>\n
Kyle Brown<\/strong><\/a> is editor-in-chief of Irrigation & Green Industry magazine and can be reached at kylebrown@irrigation.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"