AIArchitect

so informative, thanks to tell us.

How are you, I I stumbled upon your website on ask and browse pretty much all your other pages. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the amazing job. Looking forward to reading more from you in the future. You know, It just so happens, I really enjoy this website and the insight from everyone who participates. I find it to be refreshing and very informative. I wish there were more blogs like it. Anyway, I felt it was about time I posted, I?ve spent most of my time here just lurking and reading, but today for some reason I just felt compelled to say this.

Just so you're aware, the repair contract has been awarded:

https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&tab=core&id=de8ac12ff9ba4d8986397a1c39d802b4&_cview=0

If you're going to compare the Tomb of the Unknowns to the Liberty Bell, then let's follow national tradition and retire the Tomb to a museum and replace it. The Liberty Bell was REPLACED after it cracked. The Tomb of the Unknowns should be replaced because it is developing a shoddy appearance. Those that suggest that the cracks can be repaired are uninformed. The cracks have been expanding for decades, and a two year engineering study concluded that the cracks CANNOT BE REPAIRED. There's nothing tragic about replacing a monument that is defective. The soldiers who guard the tomb spend hours shining their shoes and pressing their uniforms, only to guard a tomb that is defaced by an enormous crack.

repair - don't replace.

unless determined to be structurally unsound, repair and maintain in it's present form. maybe the time and expenses allocated the for the assessment, should have been directed towards repair and maintenance.

maybe the bureaucrtats should look into other issues....like straightening all the markers in Copp's, Granery, and King's Chapel Burying Grounds.

repair - don't replace.

unless determined to be structurally unsound, repair and maintain in it's present form. maybe the time and expenses allocated the for the assessment, should have been directed towards repair and maintenance.

maybe the bureaucrtats should look into other issues....like straightening all the markers in Copp's, Granery, and King's Chapel Burying Grounds.

Replace it? Are you kidding me? Yeah, I'm sure that, if cracks were found any of the other memorials in D.C., there would be no effort spared in repairing THEM. Leave it alone.
Sounds like bureaucratic response to me...

Replace??? Why would that even be considered? I would think the question would be replace or leave as is. We need to appreciate the graceful aging of our structures and accept their "flaws" as beautiful. Repair what is not structurally sound and leave the rest for posterity!

Senator Daniel Akaka and Senator Jim Webb yesterday submitted Senate Amendment 2995 to the Defense Authorization Bill, which would provide a welcome reprieve for the historic Tomb of the Unknowns.

For more information, please visit www.nationaltrust.org

If it is enacted, Senate Amendment 2995 would stop the rush to discard the authentic monument and, instead, require a thorough re-consideration of repairing the monument’s cosmetic cracks. Here is the full text of the Akaka-Webb amendment:

SEC. 1044. REPORT ON PLANS TO REPLACE THE MONUMENT AT THE TOMB OF THE UNKNOWNS AT ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, VIRGINIA.

(a) Report Required.–Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly submit to Congress a report setting forth the following:

(1) The current plans of the Secretaries with respect to –

(A) replacing the monument at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia; and

(B) disposing of the current monument at the Tomb of the Unknowns, if it were removed and replaced.

(2) An assessment of the feasibility and advisability of repairing the monument at the Tomb of the Unknowns rather than replacing it.

(3) A description of the current efforts of the Secretaries to maintain and preserve the monument at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

(4) An explanation of why no attempt has been made since 1989 to repair the monument at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

(5) A comprehensive estimate of the cost of replacement of the monument at the Tomb of the Unknowns and the cost of repairing such monument.

(6) An assessment of the structural integrity of the monument at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

(b) Limitation on Action.–The Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs may not take any action to replace the monument at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, until 180 days after the date of the receipt by Congress of the report required by subsection (a).

(c) Exception.–The limitation in subsection (b) shall not prevent the Secretary of the Army or the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from repairing the current monument at the Tomb of the Unknowns or from acquiring any blocks of marble for uses related to such monument, subject to the availability of appropriations for that purposes.

I agree it would be a huge mistake to do anything other than repair it!

It would be a huge mistake to do anything except repair the monument. Replacement would be an insult to the brave men and women who rest in the most hallowed ground this nation has.

I have never seen a crack repaired that can't be seen as a repair. Leave it to weather to age gracefully like the soldiers should have.

repair the cracks leave the monument

Mary Oehrlein, FAIA, recently observed: “The existing monument can easily be repaired, as was done 17 years ago, using conventional conservation methods to re-grout the cracks. Once repaired, the fault lines would be virtually invisible from the public viewing areas. … The idea that a new piece of stone can be quarried that will not contain faults is unrealistic. The chance of quarrying three flawless pieces of stone is zero. It really is a question of how quickly the faults will appear when the replacement stone is quarried, carved or as the stone weathers.”

Eryl Wentworth, American Institute for Conservation, wrote: “A well-designed and implemented conservation treatment of the stone with color-matched fill materials can provide the Tomb monument with a visually pleasing and appropriate appearance that reflects the honor, dignity, and reverence for those whom it represents. The monument will not be unblemished or look as if it were carved yesterday. But it will honor the history of the ultimate sacrifices that servicemen have made since the end of World War I in 1918.”

You're right, Paul, they are horizontal. Correction made. And thank you.

FYI: I believe the cracks are horizontal.

Thanks for drawing attention to this issue!

Given it's historical significance, it should be repaired if at all feasible, not replaced. If Mt. Rushmore's cracks can be addressed as they have, this should be able to be done as well.

If the cracks are not structural and will not cause any damage to surrounding work (or life safety), then why do anything? No one is repairing the Great Pyramids of Giza! There should be no disturbing of the tomb in my opinion.

Is this not akin to the LIberty Bell? Repair the crack! Do not replace the monument.