address was givern by Mayor Doorly. A Bronze Plaque which is affixed on the Northern facade was unveiled by Governor Chafee, Senator Pell, Congressman Fogarty, Congressman St. Germain, Mayor Doorly, Colonel Renier, and Mr. John E.C. Hall. Following the benediction by Reverend Bernard M. Kelly and closing songs by the 18thg Army Band, the public was invited to inspect the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier.

The Department of Public Works, under the direction of Lawrence P. McGarry, immediately authorized the following personnel - Joseph J. Campo, Joseph H. O'Rourke, Gerald F. Judge, Robert J. Quigly, James E. Conboy, Gommaine Domaige, Paul Esterbrook, and John Perry.

On December 28, 1966, an invitation to bid on a project protecting the steel members of the cooling water canal from corrosion was issued. A decision was made to use Galvanum to protect the steel. This innovative chemical, sold by Dow Chemical Company, was a newly patented alloy whose principal component was aluminum. The utilization of Galvanum on this project proved its potential as a method of preventing corrosion of steel and has been used often since the finishing touches were put on the cooling canal.

How does it work?

The operations of the Hurricane Barrier are in accordance with the regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Army. Today, when a a hurricane reaches the 38 Longitude, a hurricane watch is effective. The crew from the Department of Public Work gathers and the vehicular gates are closed. Once a storm enters the Narragansett Bay, the Barrier's systems are put to use in two ways - (1) The tainter gates are closed, providing a half mile long, 25 foot high barrier spanning from Allens Avenue to India Point Park so that high waters in the Bay do not enter the city and (2) as the river water behind the Barrier rises, the pumps are put into action. In order to take such actions, the crew must call the Narragasett Electric Company which then supplies power through underground cables. When first constructed, electricity was also supplied by the adjacent piece of property, then owned by Narragansett Electric. Today the property is owned by National Grid and all of the electricity is supplied from the Narragansett Electric station in Lincoln. The canal gates may be lowered electrically or manually, if necessary. It takes approximately 30 minutes to lower the gates which are essentially lowered by gravity. It takes about two hours to raise the gates. The pumps each require 11,000 volts of electricity to start the motors.