WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials say the Washington Monument is closed while workers repair its elevator.
The National Park Service says in a statement that a faulty bearing caused problems with the elevator Saturday morning before the monument opened.
It says that no visitors were in the monument and the time and no staff members were affected.
“This morning’s closure of the Washington Monument was caused by mechanical failure in the form of a sheave bearing that sits on top of the elevator cab and works with the hoist system,” said Michael Litterst, spokesman for the park service.
Litterst said that depending on the availability of parts, the monument will be closed until at least Tuesday.
“It’s not as easy as going down to Home Depot or Lowes and picking up a spare sheave bearing off the shelf. Hopefully one’s available, [then] we’ll be open on Tuesday. If not it could be a couple of days after that,” said Litterst.
WTOP’s Colleen Kelleher and John Domen contributed to this report.
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