WEBVTT 00:05.940 --> 00:08.560 Mhm . Ladies and gentlemen , now I have 00:08.560 --> 00:12.330 your attention please . I am Sergeant 00:12.340 --> 00:15.560 Wimbush of the 3rd Infantry Regiment , 00:15.940 --> 00:19.110 United States Army commander of the 00:19.110 --> 00:22.380 relief home of the unknown soldier . 00:22.630 --> 00:24.700 The tomb of the unknown soldier in 00:24.710 --> 00:26.550 Arlington National Cemetery is 00:26.940 --> 00:28.996 Absoluteal one of the most important 00:29.030 --> 00:31.252 public monuments in the United States . 00:31.540 --> 00:34.420 And it is certainly the most important 00:34.420 --> 00:38.330 war memorial in our nation . It's 00:38.340 --> 00:42.110 critical that the authentic memorial , 00:42.200 --> 00:45.100 the original stone be preserved . I'm 00:45.110 --> 00:47.670 robert knee wig . I am the director of 00:47.670 --> 00:49.620 the Southern Field office at the 00:49.620 --> 00:51.176 National Trust for Historic 00:51.176 --> 00:53.231 Preservation . You know , the public 00:53.231 --> 00:55.760 has always cared about and loved the 00:55.760 --> 00:57.982 too many unknowns at Arlington National 00:57.982 --> 00:59.927 Cemetery from the time that it was 00:59.927 --> 01:03.480 commissioned and installed in the 1930s , 01:03.490 --> 01:06.260 this was a place where veterans , 01:06.270 --> 01:08.640 millions of veterans and their families 01:08.640 --> 01:12.320 have gone to pay respects . The process 01:12.320 --> 01:15.500 of preservation um would 01:15.630 --> 01:19.170 retain the original would protect the 01:19.170 --> 01:22.360 authentic memorial into the future . It 01:22.360 --> 01:26.160 has aged , it has cracked and it's that 01:26.540 --> 01:30.250 character , that historic character of 01:30.250 --> 01:33.300 the stone that we can and should 01:33.310 --> 01:36.410 preserve for future generations . If we 01:36.410 --> 01:38.900 lose that original stone , we lose the 01:38.900 --> 01:41.260 connection to the families and the 01:41.260 --> 01:44.960 veterans who installed it or 01:46.040 --> 01:48.600 I'm Colonel Tory precedes the Arlington 01:48.600 --> 01:50.990 National Cemetery engineer . This is 01:50.990 --> 01:53.820 important because we had some work done 01:53.930 --> 01:56.041 on the tomb of the unknown and within 01:56.041 --> 01:58.263 the last year the work that was done in 01:58.263 --> 02:00.690 the field that was used wasn't the 02:00.690 --> 02:03.020 proper chemical mixture and didn't hold 02:03.030 --> 02:05.030 the way that we would have hoped it 02:05.030 --> 02:07.430 would have in order to completely seal 02:07.430 --> 02:09.541 the crack so that no further moisture 02:09.541 --> 02:11.708 and no further cracking would happen . 02:11.708 --> 02:14.770 So now we brought back the contractor 02:14.770 --> 02:17.020 as well as we've invited a host of 02:17.020 --> 02:19.160 experts to help us do this the right 02:19.160 --> 02:21.327 way . And it's important that we do it 02:21.327 --> 02:23.438 during the month of september because 02:23.438 --> 02:25.549 it provides us the right temperatures 02:25.549 --> 02:27.771 in terms of the weather and in terms of 02:27.771 --> 02:29.993 the marble temperature itself , this is 02:29.993 --> 02:33.550 the nation's grave site and the 02:33.560 --> 02:36.680 vision for is for us to preserve it as 02:36.680 --> 02:38.990 long as we can in the original state 02:39.000 --> 02:41.260 that it is in . We want to get into a 02:41.260 --> 02:43.316 habit of maintaining what we've been 02:43.316 --> 02:45.371 entrusted with . Not just getting to 02:45.371 --> 02:47.230 the point of of the catastrophic 02:47.230 --> 02:49.174 failure before we do something and 02:49.174 --> 02:51.341 that's the mindset that we're changing 02:51.341 --> 02:53.563 here , is that we've got to keep things 02:53.563 --> 02:53.450 on a maintenance schedule and that 02:53.450 --> 02:55.283 includes the tomb of the unknown 02:55.283 --> 02:55.060 soldier . 03:02.240 --> 03:06.040 Yeah , there is a 03:06.040 --> 03:09.370 crack that runs through and actually 03:09.370 --> 03:11.770 two cracks that run through the main 03:11.780 --> 03:15.310 sculpted stone of the tomb And they 03:15.310 --> 03:17.900 need to be filled so that water and 03:17.900 --> 03:21.090 bugs and dirt don't get into them . Uh 03:21.100 --> 03:23.290 my name is Amy Hollis and I'm the 03:23.300 --> 03:26.730 conservator for Mr Eisenberg and I am 03:26.730 --> 03:28.710 the superintendent on site for the 03:28.710 --> 03:31.210 works . The previous repair done in 03:31.210 --> 03:34.460 spring of 2010 um 03:34.940 --> 03:37.990 failed within a few months . It started 03:37.990 --> 03:40.150 to powder and fallout and there were 03:40.150 --> 03:43.030 some technical problems with the mix 03:43.040 --> 03:46.640 and how it cured in the stone . So 03:46.640 --> 03:49.250 we're going back with a new formula , 03:49.940 --> 03:52.420 there's a binder component and an 03:52.420 --> 03:55.150 aggregate component to the fill in the 03:55.150 --> 03:58.740 crack and the binder consists of lime 03:58.750 --> 04:01.790 and Portland cement and that's 04:01.800 --> 04:04.390 essentially the glue that holds the 04:04.390 --> 04:07.880 repair together . The aggregate is the 04:07.880 --> 04:10.220 crushed marble that we're using in the 04:10.220 --> 04:12.440 crack that is going to simulate the 04:12.440 --> 04:14.440 face of the stone and also keep the 04:14.440 --> 04:16.900 repair from shrinking and falling out 04:16.910 --> 04:19.000 using , using a crushed marble 04:19.000 --> 04:22.760 aggregate is going to act 04:23.540 --> 04:25.762 like the stone that's already there and 04:25.762 --> 04:27.984 you're going to be able to see it , the 04:27.984 --> 04:30.040 light will play off of it a lot like 04:30.040 --> 04:32.450 the stone that , that's there . This 04:32.450 --> 04:35.110 stone actually is in really good shape 04:35.120 --> 04:37.700 except for the crack . This particular 04:37.710 --> 04:40.070 crack is kind of an anomaly in the 04:40.070 --> 04:43.860 stone and it's not known exactly how 04:43.860 --> 04:45.971 this crack came about , but there's a 04:45.971 --> 04:48.620 theory that it's from shocks during 04:48.620 --> 04:50.640 quarrying or transportation or 04:50.640 --> 04:52.810 sculpting or something like that . One 04:52.810 --> 04:54.921 challenge is that it's outside . It's 04:54.921 --> 04:57.032 not like an object that you can bring 04:57.032 --> 04:59.199 inside and treat in the shop or in the 04:59.199 --> 05:01.366 lab . Um , you've got to work with the 05:01.366 --> 05:03.680 elements and uh , we are working at 05:03.680 --> 05:07.460 night because , because of the visitor 05:07.460 --> 05:09.820 experience during the day at Arlington 05:09.820 --> 05:13.570 Cemetery . Um , so that brings in 05:13.570 --> 05:16.650 some difficulties in seeing what we're 05:16.650 --> 05:19.200 doing . I mean we have lights on site , 05:19.210 --> 05:21.377 but it's not the same as daylight . So 05:21.377 --> 05:23.432 we have to make sure we have all our 05:23.432 --> 05:25.599 colour considerations . Taking care of 05:25.599 --> 05:29.120 the repair in 1990 , lasted 10 years . 05:29.120 --> 05:31.670 And we are essentially using a similar 05:31.670 --> 05:34.180 formula to that and hopefully hoping 05:34.180 --> 05:36.610 for the same life lifespan for the 05:36.610 --> 05:40.250 repair kill . Okay . Mhm . 05:40.940 --> 05:44.240 Okay . Okay . Yeah . Mhm . Yeah . 05:51.940 --> 05:52.150 No 05:58.140 --> 05:59.950 mm . Okay .