Tours of the Washington Monument are not expected to resume before mid-September as work is done on the structure's elevator/NPS

Repairs to the elevator at the Washington Monument are taking longer than expected, with officials not expecting it to be up and running before mid-September. Down the road, a nine-month closure of the iconic Washington, D.C., destination is expected to allow for modernization of the elevator.

The monument has been closed since last Wednesday, when the compensating cable broke loose from the bottom of the elevator cab. That closure followed two others earlier in the week, prompting the National Park Service to close the monument to perform a thorough evaluation of the elevator to understand the reasons for the recent service interruptions. Work presently being completed includes inspection and cleaning of the hoistway; checking the integrity of the circuit breakers using thermal imaging; inspection of and completing any needed repairs to the fans on top of the elevator car; and cleaning of and work on the lighting in the stairwell.

Information gained in the course of the current evaluation will also provide important data for the project to modernize the Washington Monument elevator. The National Park Service is currently developing schematic design (SD) options so decisions can be made as to which components of the elevator system need to be replaced. After the SD phase, construction documents outlining all necessary repairs will be prepared for contractors to use in submitting bids.

When a contact is awarded and the project reaches construction phase, the Washington Monument is expected to be closed to the public for approximately nine months while the work is completed. There is no timetable for when that closure might occur. The modernization of the elevator is expected to cost between $2-3 million. The National Park Service is committed to completing the work as promptly as possible while ensuring that visitor safety is a top priority.