Lincoln Memorial by Jay Sacher

Author:Jay Sacher [Jay Sacher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chronicle Books LLC
Published: 2014-04-11T04:00:00+00:00

Side chamber inside the Memorial

Although much of the exterior and interior architectural elements of the memorial were complete by 1917, work slowed on the outer landscaping and embellishments as the country entered the First World War—with both workers scarce and transportation of materials more difficult to procure.

One of the unexpected architectural challenges arose regarding the walls and terraced approaches surrounding the monument. The finished monument rests atop a circular hill, which, once the foundations were in place, needed to be created. Throughout 1916, approximately 150,000 cubic yards of earth were deposited around the exterior edge of the building. Later, more earth would be required to finish the landscaping, some 500,000 cubic yards in total. The terrace walls on either side of the building’s front stairway, sort of retaining walls and a decorative element, which surround the approaches to the monument, were conceived along with the entire layout early in the design process. It was originally thought that the exhaustive and costly process in which the building itself was anchored to bedrock would not be necessary for the terrace walls, which would need only simple slab foundation with the expectation that there would be some “settlement” into the loose landfill they were built on. By 1919, however, architect and engineers alike could no longer be assured that the “settlement” would stop. As the slippage continued over the course of the construction, the Lincoln Memorial Commission chairman—former President Taft—wrote to the secretary of the Treasury, informing him that “no prediction can be made that it will stop with a year, and that while these approaches and the steps and wall which are a part of them will safely stand the present year’s settlement, it would not be wise to permit the settlement to go on indefinitely.” Although the building itself was in no danger (since it was not structurally connected to the terrace), the new concrete strut and underpinning were proposed and paid for with a new appropriation, and the dedication of the monument was pushed to May 1922 (from an already oft-delayed date of 1920) so that the work could be completed.

The reflecting pool, such an integral element to the entire design of the monument, was always part of the plan for the site, but it was not completed until 1923. The official architectural overview of the site from the 1920s notes that “the pool was contemplated in the park plan of 1901. It was suggested because of the beauty and dignity of the waterways and canals in Versailles, France, and the reflecting basins of the Taj Mahal in India.” The final pool is about 2,027 feet long with a maximum depth of 3 feet. Architecturally, it was seen as a link between the memorial and the Washington Monument to the east. The pool, restored and updated in 2009 to withstand erosion and remove stagnant-water build-up, now immediately borders the World War II Memorial (built in 2004) on its eastern edge.

The exterior ornamentation of the park, from landscaped terraces and stairs

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