US

Surveyors checking height of Washington Monument; first survey of its kind since 1999

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Dru Smith, Chief Geodesist of the National Geodetic Survey stands near a measurement device used to survey the height of the Washington Monument, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013, in Washington. Surveyors are checking to make sure that the Washington Monument is still 555 feet, 5 1/8 inches tall. The survey is being conducted by the National Geodetic Survey and is the first of its kind since 1999. Surveyors can only access the peak of the monument to check the height when it's covered in scaffolding. The monument is undergoing repairs after it was damaged during a 5.8-magnitude earthquake in August 2011. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (The Associated Press)

Dru Smith, Chief Geodesist of the National Geodetic Survey stands near a measurement device used to survey the height of the Washington Monument, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013, in Washington. Surveyors are checking to make sure that the Washington Monument is still 555 feet, 5 1/8 inches tall. The survey is being conducted by the National Geodetic Survey and is the first of its kind since 1999. Surveyors can only access the peak of the monument to check the height when it's covered in scaffolding. The monument is undergoing repairs after it was damaged during a 5.8-magnitude earthquake in August 2011. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (The Associated Press)

Dru Smith, Chief Geodesist of the National Geodetic Survey stands near a measurement device used to survey the height of the Washington Monument, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013, in Washington. Surveyors are checking to make sure that the Washington Monument is still 555 feet, 5 1/8 inches tall. The survey is being conducted by the National Geodetic Survey and is the first of its kind since 1999. Surveyors can only access the peak of the monument to check the height when it's covered in scaffolding. The monument is undergoing repairs after it was damaged during a 5.8-magnitude earthquake in August 2011. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (The Associated Press)

Surveyors are checking to make sure that the Washington Monument is still 555 feet, 5 1/8 inches tall.

A review last year at the base of the monument found that it had not sunk into the ground after a 5.8-magnitude earthquake damaged parts of it in August 2011. But surveyors want to make sure it's still the same height, and they can only access the peak of the monument when it's covered in scaffolding, as it is now.

Surveyor Dru Smith says he has no reason to believe the height of the monument has changed. Results of the new survey won't be available for several weeks.

The measurement is being done by the National Geodetic Survey and is the first of its kind since 1999.