With Rubenstein's donation and congressional funds that were approved in December,

The service said that immense scaffolding will be needed for the outside repair work, which will take 12 to 18 months to complete. Some of the repair work will include sealing cracks, removing loose pieces of stone & repairing joints.
"The challenge is most of those cracks are at the top portion of the monument & the ability to get workers up there to successfully repair it requires a major scaffolding work," said Bob Vogel, superintendent of the National Mall & Memorial Parks. "The monument is in lovely shape. It is going to be here for years to come, but in order to safely permit visitors to get up to the top, they must make those repairs."
At least nine of the marble panels on the outside near the top are cracked, according to a post-earthquake assessment. Others are chipped but not in danger of falling, the document said.
About 700,000 visitors go to the top of the monument in a typical year, Vogel said.
"It's disappointing," they said. "I listen to from people everyday asking how they can get in to it."


Indoor repairs are also necessary. Some interior tie beams as well as some cracked panels will be fixed.
A pedestrian walkway will be redirected to make room for a temporary road for construction vehicles.
The five.8-magnitude earthquake may have also caused the structure to sink a small.
In September, the monument was declared structurally sound by engineers.