Washington Monument Quake Repairs Expected To Last Into2014

WASHINGTON -- The National Park Service expects to keep the earthquake-damaged WashingtonMonument closed to visitors into 2014 as repair work continues at the iconic obelisk on the NationalMall.

The Washington Post reports that the repair work will require exterior and interior scaffolding, plusthe possible temporary removal of some benches and flagpoles from the monument's plaza.

The Washington Monument was one of a handful of structures in the nation's capital that sustaineddamage from the Aug. 23, 2011, 5.8-magnitude quake centered in Central Virginia's Louisa County.Others include the Washington National Cathedral, Union Station, Sherman Hall at the ArmedForces Retirement Home, two buildings at the Catholic University of America and Arlington Houseat Arlington National Cemetery.

The monument, once the world's tallest structure, was shaken and sustained damage, will involveinstalling 31 metal brackets in the pointed pyramidion to strengthen exterior slabs, the Post reports.The NPS is interested in using the decorative nylon scrim -- which illuminated the monument duringexterior work 12 years ago -- depending on cost.

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In this Sept. 29, 2011 file photo, Dan Lemieux, manager of the Washington Monument inspection

project, holds a loose chunk of marble off the monument damaged by an earthquake Aug. 23earthquake. A billionaire history buff has stepped forward to donate a $7.5 million matching giftthat's needed to start repairing cracks near the top of the Washington Monument caused by lastsummer's East Coast earthquake.

David Bruce Crockett, a geodesist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) National Geodetic Survey uses an instrument to measure elevation on the National Mall,with the Washington Monument in the background, Tuesday, March 13, 2012, in Washington.Government surveyors are collecting data around the Washington Monument and other sites on theNational Mall that will reveal whether it has sunk or tilted since last year's earthquake.

Eric Duvall, cartographic technician, left, and Jeff Olsen, geodesist, both with the National Oceanicand Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Geodetic Survey, measures elevation on theNational Mall, with the Washington Monument in the background, Tuesday, March 13, 2012, inWashington. Government surveyors are collecting data around the Washington Monument and othersites on the National Mall that will reveal whether it has sunk or tilted since last year's earthquake.

In this Aug. 24, 2011 file photo released by the National Park Service, a crack is seen on the westside near the pyramid top of the Washington Monument after a 5.8 magnitude struck theWashington area on Aug. 23. Researchers in a nationwide study of earthquakes will soon place newinstruments in Georgia and other eastern states as they seek to learn more about what causes themand where they might strike. Scientists involved in the study say the recent earthquake in Virginia,which cracked the Washington Monument, has led to a renewed emphasis on trying to understandmore about what lies below the Earth's surface in eastern states.

In this Sept. 28, 2011, file photo, Dave Megerle, a member of Wiss, Janney, Elstner, Associates (WJE)"Difficult Access Team," attaches ropes to the top of the Washington Monument, on the NationalMall, in Washington, from which four people will rappel down the sides to survey the extent ofdamage sustained to the monument from the Aug. 23 earthquake.