The Washington Monument will remain closed indefinitely because of damage from last month’s earthquake. Even though the National Park Service held a news conference Monday to discuss repairs to one of the city’s most iconic landmarks, officials said they do not know when the work will be finished and the monument will reopen.
“We recognize that everyone lives in an instantaneous world,” National Park Service spokesman Bill Line told The Washington Examiner. “But the Washington Monument is a timeless piece and does not have a timeline.”
Line said what is most important is to do the job right.
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</p> <p align=”left”><span class=”BodyCopy”>”It’s like writing a dissertation,” Line said. “Some people take months.”</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>Engineers have completed a preliminary inspection of the famous obelisk’s exterior and found multiple cracks and chips that were caused by the 5.8-magnitude quake that rocked Washington on Aug. 23. Bob Vogel, superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks, said that though although the monument remains structurally sound, assessments are ongoing.</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>During an earthquake, stone masonry structures such as church spires tend to remain stable at their base but not at the top. Most of the damage to the Washington Monument occurred in the pyramidion atop the 555-foot structure, Vogel said.</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>”One-and-a-quarter-inch-wide cracks developed in the pyramidion through stone and mortar joints,” Vogel said. Parks Service officials emphasized that most of the stone fell from this point of the structure.</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>”On the inside of the building we had a lot more stone that came down, particularly in the top part of the monument in that pyramidion level,” said Jennifer Talken-Spaulding, cultural resources planning manager for the National Park Service. “We had mortar that came out, you can see daylight through.”</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>The monument’s elevator also suffered damage to its weight system and rails. Vogel said the elevator is in limited working condition but the park service is making further repairs to ready it for inspection and full operation. Engineers have used the elevator to haul their 600 pounds of equipment up the monument.</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>Starting at 8 a.m. Tuesday, four engineers from Wiss Janney Elstner Associates Inc. will rappel from the top of the monument to inspect outside damage. Though the engineers will exit from the observation deck windows, they will be anchored from an access hatch located at the top of the monument. They will also inch their way up to inspect the pyramidion.</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>Visitors on the Mall on Monday said authorities shouldn’t rush to reopen the monument.</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>”As long as they keep it safe, I believe that they’re doing the right thing making sure it’s structurally sound,” said Stefano Santoro of Winchester, Mass.</span></p>
