The reason as to why the bricks in the washington monument are two different colors is because they were produced by different brick companies.
Washington monument two different shades marble.
Government took over and completed the upper two thirds of the structure by 1884 using marble from a different quarry.
The effect has grown more dramatic over the years and today the two sections are quite apparent.
According to the city plan drawn up by pierre l enfant the site for the washington monument was at the intersection of an east west line through the center of the capitol and a north south line through the center.
Three different kinds of marble were used in the construction of the washington monument which was delayed by several problems.
Twenty five years later the u s.
In 1876 white marble from a different maryland quarry combined with granite from several quarries in new england to create stones that completed the monument.
They succeeded in layingonly 13 courses 26 feet of masonry consisting of marble thathad been rejected by the master mason.
Lighter at the bottom and darker at the top construction wrapped up in 1884 and the project was dedicated the following year.
As a result the monument is two different shades.
This 26 feet of marble was laterremoved from the monument when congress assigned responsibility for itscompletion to the engineer corps u.
A difference in shading of the marble visible approximately 150 feet 46 m or 27 up shows where construction was halted and later resumed with marble from a different source.
Once finished in 1885 the stones appeared to be the same color.
Washington monument obelisk in washington d c honouring george washington the first president of the united states.
The two sections closely resembled each other at first but time wind rain and erosion have caused the marble sections to weather differently thereby producing the difference in color.
The original design was by robert mills 1781 1855 of south carolina but he did not include his proposed colonnade due to a lack of funds proceeding only with a bare obelisk.
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