Calverton National Cemetery

Carter van Dyke Associates was retained by the National Cemetery Administration Office of Construction Management to develop the schematic design, design development and construction documentation for the 98,000 grave expansion of the Cemetery in 2004.  CVDA was the prime consultant for this major cemetery expansion project.

 

The project included the design of a new Cemetery entrance on Route 25A, a new restroom building, columbarium courts, site furniture, signage, landscaping and irrigation system.  One feature of the project was 27,500 pre-placed crypts.  The project called for 45,000 pre-placed crypts however the number was reduced to keep the project on budget.  The project required coordination with a number of sub-consultants such as geotechnical, survey, traffic, electrical engineers, structural engineers and architects.

 

The project was redesigned in 2008 for 33,000 pre-placed concrete crypts, 4,836 pre-cast concrete niches and 500 in-ground cremains.  The project scope was expanded to include improvements and upgrades for the entire site.  The revised program included new signage, landscaping, roadway and drainage repairs and forest management.  In 1998 Carter van Dyke Associates was retained by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Cemetery Administration to design a 2,500-unit columbarium project in a new section of the existing Cemetery.

 

The concept of the design was to develop a series of garden courts that could be expanded in the future.  The courts are detailed with pre-cast concrete arbors.  The Columbarium structures were set into the grade to create a sense of privacy from the adjacent road.  The backside of the columbarium courts opens onto the existing woodlands.  Pre-cast concrete panels were used to face the Columbarium walls.

 

The entrances of the courts are accented by low stonewalls and were placed on axis to the precast trellis structure.  The landscape planting concept for the project was developed using the existing forest as a model.  The overall Cemetery is +/- 1145 acres.  This expansion project required the review of many sites within the Cemetery until design proceeded on this five-acre hilly section at the intersection of two existing cemetery roads.