Honoring Veteran's Day: Atriax's Commitment to Excellency in National Cemeteries
At Atriax, we are privileged to support the National Cemetery Administration (NCA) in its mission to honor Veterans with final resting places in national shrines and with lasting tributes that commemorate their service to our Nation. Our work with the NCA reflects our commitment to architectural & engineering excellence, historical preservation, and sustainable design practices.
The Mission of the NCA
The National Cemetery Administration (NCA) administers 157 national cemeteries (plus 35 soldiers’ lots and monument sites) in 44 states and Puerto Rico, maintaining 4.11 million graves with 689,646 additional developed gravesites available.
To date, nearly 5.3 million people—including 4 million Veterans from the Revolutionary War through modern conflicts—are honored with burial or memorial in VA national cemeteries.
These sacred grounds serve both as final resting places and lasting tributes to the service and sacrifice of America’s Veterans.
Atriax's Role in Supporting NCA
Atriax has had the privilege of supporting the NCA through a variety of civil engineering and design services since 2017.
Our design team has delivered cemetery master plans, gravesite expansions, infrastructure improvements, and facilities such as committal shelters, restrooms, maintenance buildings, and caretaker residences.
Beyond the physical infrastructure, our work ensures that each project balances functionality, effective land-use, and the solemn purpose of these spaces.
The design team achieves this balance by working closely with the NCA to pinpoint priorities and purpose.
How the land is ultimately configured depends on factors such as:
- The capacity needed (e.g., numbers of columbaria, interment space available)
- Existing site conditions (e.g., abrupt grade changes, storm water management needs)
- Existing utility conditions (e.g., conflicts between proposed and existing systems)
- Findings from the site investigation complicating the project and possibly leading to increased construction cost (e.g., old or undocumented utilities, expansive clay soils)
Project Highlights
Some of our notable projects with the NCA include work at Santa Fe National Cemetery, Chattanooga National Cemetery, and Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, MO. These projects have involved services ranging from geotechnical investigations and surveying to full gravesite development on complex historical sites.
For example, at Jefferson Barracks Sylvan Springs, MO, our team captured drainage run-off, provided erosion control, demolished and relocated a sanitary sewer line, relocated overhead power lines and designed new roads to ensure the long-term success of the cemetery.
At Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis, MO, we redeveloped vacant VA medical center property—turning it into usable burial space with the same aesthetic as the developed portion with room for future growth.
Looking Ahead
Our dedication to the NCA’s mission remains strong as we integrate modern engineering and architectural practices with the sacred duty of honoring Veterans.
By addressing challenges such as topography, existing utility conflicts, and historical site considerations, Atriax ensures that every project contributes to the mission of the NCA—honoring service, preserving history, and providing lasting tributes for generations to come.
Ernest Davis, EIT, is a Civil Site Designer and Project Manager at Atriax Group for four years. Ernest holds a BS in Civil Engineering and a Masters in Business Administration. He has 19 years of overall professional work experience ranging from federal acquisition, construction management, environmental engineering, and civil engineering site design. Ernest was the civil designer on Mill Springs National Cemetery “Correct Facility Condition Assessment Deficiencies” and has reviewed multiple NCA projects Atriax has worked on. He is also a recent retired Army Reservist Master Sergeant who enjoys fishing and doing home renovations in his spare time.