Washington Monument - Construction Details

Construction Details

The completed monument stands 555 ft 5 1⁄₈ in (169.294 m) tall, with the following construction materials and details:

• Phase One (1848 to 1858): To the 152-foot (46 m) level, under the direction of Superintendent William Daugherty.

  Exterior: White marble from Texas, Maryland (adjacent to and east of north I-83 near the Warren Road exit in Cockeysville).

• Phase Two (1878 to 1888): Work completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, commanded by Lt. Col. Thomas L. Casey.

  Exterior: White marble, three courses or rows, from Sheffield, Massachusetts.

  Exterior: White marble from Beaver Dam Quarry (now Beaverdam Pond) near Cockeysville, Maryland.

• Structural: marble (0–555 feet (0–169 m)), bluestone gneiss (below 150 feet (46 m)), granite (150–450 feet (46–137 m)), concrete (below ground, unreinforced)
• Commemorative stones: granite, marble, limestone, sandstone, soapstone, jade
• Aluminum apex, at the time a rare metal as valuable as silver, was cast by William Frishmuth. Before the installation it was put on public display and stepped over by visitors who could say they had "stepped over the top of the Washington Monument".
• Cost of the monument during 1848–85: $1,187,710
  Cost of the monument during 1848–88: $1,409,500