Olsson is honored to have served on the project team that has added much-needed burial space at historic Fort Scott National Cemetery.

Located near the city of Fort Scott in eastern Kansas, the cemetery is one of the original 14 national cemeteries created in 1862 to serve veterans and their families. Fort Scott is the final resting place for 7,800 service members and their relatives.

To maximize space in one of the last undeveloped sections of the cemetery, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs planned to install 700 double-depth crypts. The special crypts provide space for two caskets, allowing veterans and their spouses to be interred in a single plot. Though the special crypts had been incorporated at other national cemeteries, this marked their first use at Fort Scott.

FourFront Design retained Olsson to provide construction inspection services for the project. Installing the crypts required substantial earth work and soil analysis to ensure the heavy structures would not move once they were set underground.

Olsson’s field operations specialists visually inspected the crypts for structural flaws or damage. Our team also monitored and documented soil replacement, which included installing geotextile fabric to bolster soil stability beneath and to the sides of the crypts. An Olsson technician also verified that each numbered crypt accurately corresponded with cemetery mapping documents.

After the tightly spaced crypts were set using a telescoping boom lift, pry bars, and laser levels, the spaces between the structures were filled with special-graded pea gravel. Then the crypt fields were covered with a layer of sand, followed by compacted soil, an irrigation system, and sod. At the time of a burial, cemetery staff will know exactly where to remove just two feet of material to access the crypts.

“It makes me proud to work on a project that honors those who served. A national cemetery is the kind of project you really want to be a part of,” said Nick Calton, Field Operations team leader.

Having the opportunity to serve those who served the nation is why Olsson felt especially honored to partner in the improvement of Fort Scott National Cemetery.