At the heart of Charleston's historic Mother Emanuel AME Church, a powerful tribute is taking shape—one that not only honors the nine lives lost in an unimaginable tragedy but also showcases the extraordinary collaboration and engineering ingenuity required to bring such a sacred space to life.

The Emanuel Nine Memorial design features marble fellowship benches arcing around a fountain focal point bearing names of the nine. The scale and intricacy of the design presented immense logistical and technical challenges. Yet, through steadfast teamwork and groundbreaking problem-solving, Balfour Beatty and our project partners turned obstacles into opportunities, crafting a memorial that is as technically remarkable as it is emotionally resonant.

Projects often present unique challenges, but it is the constant collaboration and innovative ingenuity of our teammates and partners that consistently allow us to overcome them and achieve success. Our Emanuel Nine Memorial project stands as a powerful testament to this very spirit of partnership.

The memorial at the Mother Emanuel AME Church features a courtyard designed with two fellowship benches facing one another. Their high backs arc upwards like sheltering wings, creating a space for reflection. These benches, which are constructed from individually sculpted marble pieces, weigh between 7,000 and 10,000 pounds. From the outset, the project presented two significant challenges: how to move the delicate custom marble pieces and navigate the tight site constraints of the courtyard.

“Due to the fragile nature of the marble, the team quickly realized we needed to take any potential mechanical error out of the equation when installing the marble,” says Operations Director Nick Wegener. “One small error could harm an individual on-site or damage a piece of marble. Plus, we are working in a tight project site that typical hoisting equipment simply can’t access. Faced with these hurdles, our team, alongside our brilliant subcontractors, collaborated to devise a truly unique and innovative solution.”

To overcome this, the team designed an intersecting set of tracks that dynamically adjust to guide materials precisely where they need to go, much like a miniature rail yard. Delivered to these tracks by forklift, each delicate piece of marble is then gently transferred to a specialized railcar, allowing for its slow and controlled journey directly to the gantry crane.

Working with material like marble demands more than just skill, it requires an extraordinary blend of precision, patience and pioneering engineering. When precision is paramount and a single misstep is not an option, innovation rises to the challenge.

As Nick explains, “Due to the sub 1mm install tolerances we must achieve, the marble pieces must be controlled during placement operations in a way that a traditional crane cannot manage.”

To meet this demand, the project team and subcontractors engineered a dual gantry crane system connected by a horizontal traverse beam. This custom solution was designed not just to lift the extremely heavy marble pieces, but meticulously guide each masterfully sculpted bench into its exact position. This system, which is operated by hand, allows for unparalleled control and synchronization that ensures flawless installation and, most importantly, the safety of everyone on-site.

The dedication and innovative solutions demonstrated by our team and subcontractors ensure that this memorial will stand not only as a profound tribute to the lives lost but also as an enduring legacy of what can be achieved when challenging obstacles are met with brilliant problem-solving and an unwavering commitment to work together.