Sculpture Preservation

Date: September 8, 2016
Contact: Maureen McGee-Ballinger, 605-574-3115

Keystone, South Dakota –The week of September 12th through 16th the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Preservation Team will be on the mountain. Periodically the Presidential Trail will be closed during the hauling process due to safety reasons.

Members of the preservation team will be visible on the faces and the mountain during this timeframe and visitors can expect to see them conducting their work. All facilities will continue to be fully operational and open to visitors during this time. Portions of the popular Presidential Trail will close periodically, as equipment is moved using a portion of the trail corridor. Haul lines utilized in transporting heavy materials down the mountain will also be visible. Team members will be replacing and discarding outdated monitoring materials. 

"The Mount Rushmore Sculpture Preservation Team is the only trained industrial ropes team in the National Park Service. The focus of their training is on safely and efficiently moving material to and from high locations," stated Superintendent Schreier. "The installation of updated fiber optics will provide enhanced preservation monitoring." 

The Mount Rushmore preservation team is composed of a wide variety of specialists from across park divisions. The rope access technicians are trained to use a dual rope system where each technician is attached to a working line and a safety, backup line at all times while performing work directly on the surface of the sculpture. 

For additional park information, please visit Mount Rushmore National Memorial's official website at www.nps.gov/moru or call [phone].