Hidden Treasure

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treasure

by Ted Bartelt
 

Occasionally, an opportunity comes along in my engineering career to be a part of a truly inspirational project, a structure that sparks my creative energy and offers something special and unique to the people who will use it. These projects capture my imagination from the beginning and hold a place in my memory long after they are completed.

Ebenezer Chapel is one of those projects. It was born of my friend Mark Boone's vision to build a chapel on his property in Raleigh, NC. This is not simply a sweet gazebo or family chapel with a basic seating and floor plan. Mark’s vision is to create this chapel completely underneath a massive granite outcropping that will last thousands of years. Think of the pyramids of Egypt, but with a focus on sharing history, worship and peace.   

Ebenezer Chapel, bird's-eye view - architect's rendering

Architect's rendering of the entrance to Ebenezer Chapel

Ebenezer Chapel interior, 80 feet below ground - architect's rendering

The chapel will be 80 feet below the ground with an 800-foot entrance ramp at a 5% grade on a small triangular piece of property. Building this chapel will require expert mining techniques, an understanding of the granite, and the will to take it on.

Honestly, I'm in awe of the various elements and skills sets Mark has brought to this venture. The chapel, as a start, is being called a mine. And this brings up interesting and unique challenges that make me wonder about the ways ancient structures - now relics - were built.

Recently, I have been fascinated by “The Curse of Oak Island” series on the History Channel. Who would go to the extent to hide treasure with cryptic clues and booby traps, considering the engineering involved?

Who would think of digging a pit, hundreds of feet below the surface, installing oak platforms at 10-foot levels, placing a coded message on a stone tablet 90 feet below, creating flooding tunnels to the shore, and going to a depth of more than 200 feet with very basic tools? As an engineer, I have been captivated, because this is work! I imagine what it would take and shake my head.

People have been trying to unearth this treasure for more than 200 years. Even President Franklin Delano Roosevelt once took part as a curious treasure hunter. More recently, seekers have used modern equipment and scientific methods to try to "crack the code" and get their hands on this elusive prize. Millions of dollars have been spent with no results. 

President Franklin D. Roosevelt is thought to have explored the money pit on Oak Island with friends in 1909.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt is thought to have explored the money pit on Oak Island with friends in 1909.

So what is it? And why bother?
There are rumors that it is treasure from the famous Captain Kidd. And there are rumors that it's a collection of religious artifacts that that pre-date Christopher Columbus, brought from Europe by the Knights Templar and hidden away for safe-keeping.

As a student of the Bible, the possibility of this secret bounty turning out to be King Solomon’s treasure or the lost Ark of the Covenant adds even more intrigue to the  mystery. It also leads me to other thoughts about hidden treasure and the need to search for something of value.

There are earthly treasures and there are heavenly treasures. Earthly treasures are fleeting and temporary, but heavenly ones are eternal. 

The Bible is a Christian's map filled with clues and prophesies regarding the treasure in heaven. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." (Matt 13:44) The whole Bible points to the Messiah who came to this earth in the human flesh of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the key that opens the door to heaven’s treasure. Seek him. Knock, and the door will be opened.

As an engineer for Ebenezer Chapel, my hope is that it will lead people to discover God’s eternal treasure for the next thousands of years.

The project is in its infancy and a key milestone is on the horizon. Coring the rock is needed to determine the quality of granite on the site. Once the quality and depth of sound granite are known, we will know how deep to set the chapel floor. 

Stay tuned as the project unfolds. We hope to give you the perspective from the engineers and architects point of view as we unravel the challenges of designing and constructing the Ebenezer Chapel within a mass of granite to last for 3,000 years or more!

Ted Barelt, PE, is founder, president and structural engineering principal of Alpha & Omega Group. 


 

 

Ebenezer Chapel-A Stone of Help

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architect drawing of the underground Ebenezer chapel to be built along the Richland Creek greenway near Ebenezer church road

architect drawing of the underground Ebenezer chapel to be built along the Richland Creek greenway near Ebenezer church road

Alpha & Omega Group is thrilled to be part of the engineering team for an exciting project in North Raleigh – an underground chapel, cut from a deep layer of granite. Ebenezer Chapel is the dream of project developer Mark Boone, who believes that God works miracles. He ponders the future and loves to study history. As the founder of the Raleigh-based Markus Group, Ltd., a contract manufacturer of medical and consumer goods, he has more than 40 years of business experience and traveling the world.

The underground Ebenezer Chapel will be on Ebenezer Church Road in Raleigh, along the proposed Richland Creek greenway trail. "Ebenezer" means "stone of help," as referenced from 1 Samuel 7:12.

Xavier Vilalta, of Vilalta Arquitectura, is the lead designer. As a distinguished international architect, he specializes in combining technology with local resources and culture to create contemporary designs that suit their environment. His design for the walkway into the chapel spirals downward, "like the cochlea of a human ear," descending into granite and leading to a space that can hold 250 people. "We want visitors to breathe in, find places to stop and think, pray and feel closer to God," reads the text on the project website. 
 
Mr. Boone's hope is that the chapel will endure for thousands of years. Alpha and Omega Group typically designs bridges that we hope will last 100 years, so we are inspired and awed to consider a structure being built in the 21st century that will stand the test of time like the pyramids of Egypt, the Great Wall of China, or the oldest cathedrals of Europe. When we look at those structures now, we consider the people who designed and built them. We ponder their culture and marvel at their creativity and their advanced engineering abilities. We speculate about their motivations. Similarly, Mr. Boone wants to leave something for people 3,000 years from now to understand us.

  • What mattered to us?
  • What was important day to day, generation to generation?
  • How were we similar despite the plurality of "us?"
  • What were the things that took up our time, inspired us, worried us, fueled our creativity and touched our humanity?
  • People in 5016 are likely to know us just as we know those who lived 3000 years ago: by studying the architecture that remains.     

Bringing the Ebenezer Chapel from dream to reality will require the creativity and skills of many people of different disciplines. Pastors, architects, sociologists, artists, lighting experts, and horticulturalists will be involved. Alpha & Omega Group will support the project by providing structural engineering services. The plan is being developed, but funding is needed. To learn more about the vision for this project, we invite you to visit the website. 

 

History of Transportation Infrastructure Maintenance Needs

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Construction of a Federal Aid Road Act bridge in about 1920 in Person County, NC

The earliest half of the twentieth century in the United States ushered great growth in technology and transportation. Newly constructed highways and bridges, built under the Federal-Aid Road Act of 1916, allowed people and goods to cross the nation with unprecedented speed and efficiency. Later, President Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration and President Eisenhower's  Interstate Highway System expanded our transportation infrastructure even more. Eventually, however, new construction slowed, and existing structures began to age. With fatal infrastructure catastrophes such as the 1967 Silver Bridge collapse in West Virginia and the 1983 Mianus River Bridge collapse in Connecticut,  public concern grew over the safety of our nation's bridges, tunnels, dams and other structures.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation, following the Federal Highway Administration's National Bridge Inspection Standards, has implemented an aggressive inspection program, employing private engineering firms around the state to assess the structural stability of our transportation infrastructure and to make recommendations for needed repairs.

An A&O bridge inspector “sounds the element,” tapping lightly against the bridge structure to identify deficiencies in the concrete. 

Each of North Carolina's 18,000 bridges and culverts of 20 feet or longer must be inspected every two years. If the inspectors discover a safety concern, the NCDOT  may  post a weight limit, make repairs, or even close a bridge until repairs can be made. Regular inspections help the NCDOT prioritize the urgency of repairs and to manage the cost to taxpayers.  (To be continued)