At the Jefferson Memorial, That Sinking Feeling

IT DOESN'T TAKE a structural engineer to know that the Tidal Basin walkway adjacent to the Jefferson Memorial is sinking. Might the confluence of America's obesity epidemic and successive years of heavily trafficked cherry blossom festivals be doing in the memorial? Probably not.

But as The Post's Michael E. Ruane reports, the National Park Service, which oversees East Potomac Park and the other adjacent former Potomac River tidal flats that were transformed into dry land a century ago, doesn't know exactly why the area is sinking back into the water. Parts of the sea wall that supports the walkway have slipped six inches in spots. The monument itself isn't thought to be in any immediate danger, but it's being monitored.

So don't expect some sort of "Casino Royale"-like fate for the Jefferson Memorial — in the movie's concluding action sequence, the foundations beneath an aging Venetian palace crumble, sending the place into the murky waters of the Grand Canal. (Fortunately, the Washington Monument sits on more stable foundations and shouldn't crumble like Venice's famed campanile, which tumbled into St. Mark's Square in 1902.)

At least not yet. But rising sea levels might ultimately bring the waters of the Potomac estuary closer to Mr. Jefferson's feet.

» "Jefferson Memorial's Signs of Sinking Raise Fresh Alarms" [WaPo]
» "A History of Problems" [WaPo]