CHC documenting the Alamo's changes throughout the years

Digital models of the [Alamo] (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qea02) , a shrine in Texas’ battle for independence from Mexico, are being created by Bob Warden, director of Texas A&M’s [Center for Heritage Conservation] (http://chc.arch.tamu.edu) , and [Master of Architecture] (http://dept.arch.tamu.edu/graduate/master-architecture/) students at Texas A&M.

Warden and his students are scanning and recording imaging data with sophisticated equipment that yields highly-detailed 2- and 3-D models when it’s entered into computer-aided design software.

The database will help Pam Rosser, the Alamo’s conservator, keep track of preservation work and maintenance issues at the San Antonio site, where in 1836 a small group of Texican revolutionaries garrisoned in the former Spanish mission were defeated by a much larger Mexican army.

The models will also be useful in future studies, such as the Alamo’s erosion from rainwater and the effects on the structure from heat and cold.

They’re also creating digital models of the Alamo as it existed in 1836, the year of the historic battle, 1885, when the city of San Antonio became the site’s custodian, and 1961, when detailed [drawings] (http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Drawing:%20tx0035&fi=number&op=PHRASE&va=exact&co%20=hh&st=gallery&sg%20=%20true) of the site were created by the [Historic American Buildings Survey] (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/) .

“We’re using texts, drawings and photographs, if they’re available, to create the models,” said Warden, who will return with students to the Alamo in June, August and the fall 2013 semester.

Students and faculty from Texas A&M University-Kingsville, the University of Texas and the University of Texas at San Antonio are also involved in the project, which is being funded by the [Texas General Land Office] (http://www.glo.texas.gov) .