Washington Monument Shorter Than Previously Thought
Surveyors have determined that the Washington Monument is shorter than it has been believed to be for the past century:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Government surveyors have determined a new height for the Washington Monument that’s nearly 10 inches shorter than what has been thought for more than 130 years, officials will announce Monday.
The new measurement puts the monument at 554 feet, 7 and eleven-thirty-seconds of an inch, as measured from the floor of the main entrance to the top. Ever since the stone obelisk was completed in 1884, however, the historic height has been recorded at 555 feet, 5 and 1/8 inches. It’s a number circulated for decades on tours of the capital and in civics classes about the monument honoring the nation’s first president.
So could this be a case of an incredible shrinking monument? Has it sunk into the ground more than previously thought? No, not even close, said the chief scientist at the National Geodetic Survey, which conducted the measurement with accuracy to within one millimeter.
Modern international standards from the Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat – an official guideline for building measurements – call for a different base point than what was likely used in the 1880s, said Dru Smith, chief geodesist with the National Geodetic Survey. The standard measures from the lowest open-air pedestrian entrance to the building.
“The building didn’t change height because of anything; it is just where you start from,” Smith said.
The original measurement conducted in 1884 by Lt. Col. Thomas Casey is believed to have used four brass markers as a base for measurement. Those markers remain in place 9 inches below ground off each corner of the monument. It’s possible the markers were at ground level in the past. A new plaza was installed around the monument more recently, and “it’s clear that what was ground level has changed over the years,” Smith said.
Measurements from the brass markers to the top in 1999 and 2014 essentially reconfirmed the original measurement, showing the 1884 measurement was done with “incredible accuracy.”
The only observable height change was the pyramid-shaped tip had been rounded off over time. Surveyors in 1934 also noticed the peak had been rounded and believed it was due to frequent lightning strikes that melted the aluminum tip.
“Well, this time around, we took very careful measurements,” Smith said. “We were able to determine about 3/8 of an inch had been melted off from the very top.”
That means the original 1884 measurement, completed with much less sophisticated equipment, was within 3/4 of an inch of the findings from the newest survey, using the original brass markers as a base point.
Insert your shrinkage jokes here.
Thanks a lot, Obama.
It’s still the country’s greatest erection (as the joke went on our high school class trip).
So, Brian Williams has been lying to us about this too?
My wife has been telling me that for years.
Maybe if they trim the shrubs around the base it will help?
It’s hair is turning grey and falling out, too.
Always push the ruler in before measuring.
They really have to figure out a way to make it one color. It’s just shoddy craftsmanship.
Mmm, I think it’s just because it’s cold right now.
This is why we need Title IX in STEM education. Men always measure things a little on the long side.
I had a long ago, back in high school or earlier, memorized the height of Mt. Everest as 29028 ft. Sometime a few years ago I saw something about the height being 29035 ft. (Maybe on Jeopardy). After googling it I found that with newer measurement capability the ‘official’ measured height had been changed. So any long held measurements are apparently fair game. (Not that I ever had the slightest interest in knowing the height of the Washington Monument, though I do now the story about the changing color a about a third of the way up.)
They say that people shrink as they get older. Maybe it’s true of monuments, too.
@Moosebreath: Good joke, but I still maintain that’s Florida.
@rodney dill:
Apparently it’s still up for debate.
I learned it originally as 29,002. I was later told that this was a fudge — the original surveyor measured it as exactly 29,000 feet, but they knew nobody would treat that as a precise measurement, so they added 2 feet for ‘realism’. Apocryphal? Who knows.
@DrDaveT:
I thought Everest is still growing??? About 4mm a year.
Sounds godless to me. I sure Mike Huckabee will blame it on them
Embarrassing day for the Masons.
I want my money back from all the tours I took, time wasted waiting for the damned elevator…
They must have had women measure it this time. Guess they didn’t round up.
@Swami Bhut Jolokia: When I was young, a lot younger, we would walk up the stairs. Do they still let people do that ?
@rodney dill:
Everest is still growing, but not that fast (~4mm a year). If you’re 50, it’s grown about 5″ since you were in HS.