From its construction in 1858 until its
decommissioning in 1916, the Southwest Reef Lighthouse stood
vigil at the shallow waters south of Atchafalaya Bay,
Louisiana. This unique metal sheathed lighthouse was then
left neglected until 1989, when the Town of Berwick acquired
salvage rights to it for creation of a Lighthouse Park.
GSE Associates, Inc. was commissioned to
design and coordinate the restoration of this historic
structure under 4 separate construction contracts.
The lighthouse had several original
innovative design aspects, including use of piling screwed into
a shell reef for a foundation, a substructure of extensive
cross-bracing tensioned with large turnbuckles, and the main
riveted metal cast iron plate structure.
GSE Associates first created a new pile
foundation on the bank of the Atchafalaya River in Berwick.
Then with the assistance of original drawings acquired
from the National Archives, GSE Associates designed replacement
pieces to match the original components that were missing or
could not be salvaged. This included the architecturally
detailed cupola and lantern housing, the originals having been
lost in a storm. Finally the lighthouse was given a new
red coating to mimic the original red lead paint coating for
which the lighthouse was known.
