vessel was discovered some 20 feet below street level

In New York City, an even greater surprise awaited excavators at the World Trade Center site: On July 13, an 18th century sailing vessel was discovered some 20 feet below street level, the possible result of property owners using it as landfill to extend the edge of Manhattan Island during the 1700s. Given the accelerated rate of deterioration of the wooden structure now that it’s exposed to the air, archeologists worked with Corinthian Data Capture to scan the vessel using infrared lasers. The resulting data digitally depicts every detail and feature of the hull, enabling further study and future creation of a 3D model of the vessel.
Reuters provides the best images I’ve seen so far of the vessel and the site.
Even the Titanic is back in the news, with a team of scientists scheduled to launch an expedition to the wreck site on August 18 to determine the current state of deterioration of the legendary ship. State-of-the-art imaging technology will be used to map both the wreck itself and the large debris field, as one of the goals of the expedition is to “virtually” raise the doomed vessel for the public to see.
In the October issue of (mt), we’ll be delving into the use of laser scanning in the upgrading of existing vessels. Gerald Moore, of Daphne, Alabama-based Ship Architects, Inc., will share with us the work his organization is doing with Todd Pacific Shipbuilding Corp. to upgrade two Coast Guard ice breakers, the Polar Sea and the Polar Star. Using laser scanning tools to capture dimensional data on the vessels, Ship Architects, Inc. creates 3D, “as built” models of the ships, which can then be used to model sister ships less labor-intensively and more accurately.
It’s part of the October issue’s special focus on technology transfer and will include everything from 3D immersive virtual reality design tools to the ways in which the U.S. Navy’s Manufacturing Technology program is developing and transitioning enabling technologies to industries that support production and sustainment of Navy weapons systems.
We’ve grown accustomed to technology that enables faster, cheaper, and more accurate vessel design. But tools like 3D laser scanning give us the opportunity to capture and bring forward the past—and the present—and leverage that data, that learning, to visualize and build ships that otherwise might remain on the drawing board.