Engineers Prepare to Rapel Down Washington MonumentReuters
The Washington Monument may remain closed in 2014, the National Park Service told the Washington Post.
The 555-foot marble and granite was damaged last August following a 5.8-magnitude earthquake. The monument has been closed since.
Officials told the paper that repairing the monument would require that its exterior and part of the interior be covered in scaffolding. The cost is estimated at $15 million and a part of the granite plaza could be temporarily removed.
National Park Service spokeswoman Carol Johnson told the Washington Examiner that work will begin September and that the repairs could take between 12 and 18 months.
