A noted engineer from Jacksonville, Florida is giving hope to the Sturgeon Bay Historical Society that the Potawatomi State Park tower can be saved. Dr. Dan Tingley, Senior Engineer and Wood Technologist with Wood Research and Development, spoke to the public at the Door County Community Foundation this past Tuesday and shared information on the current condition of the Potawatomi tower. He says there are enough good components in the current tower to warrant restoring it.
Dr. Tingley says advances in technology in the past two decades have made it possible to understand timber structures and know how to find what he calls the “bad actors” before it causes failure in the tower. The findings from Dr. Tingley will now be studied by engineers contracted with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to ultimately determine if the tower can be repaired or replaced. You can listen to the entire interview with Dr. Tingley below.
