AnirudhaLong But Efficient
As I have told you that Borglum employed over 400 workers for this job but the Italian immigrant Luigi Del was appointed as Chief Carver for the monument. Borglum cannot do everything and this man Luigi was known for his amazing talent that he possesses of showing the emotions and personality in his carvings. To be able to do that on these rocks is truly a talent that requires a master skill that Luigi was born with. To carve these faces, they were going to use the dynamites and the process which is known as honeycombing.
The Process Of Honeycombing
Well if you are wondering about what honeycombing is, let us tell you what it is. During this process, workers would drill holes so close to each other that they can remove all the tiny particles by using their hands. for cleaning and making the surface smooth they would use a bumper tool or a hand facer. It’s estimated that during all the honeycombing process the workers removed 450,000 tons of rock from the mountain. The project was going as they planned but suddenly a problem occurred. They could not fit Jefferson.
Complications During Construction
You can imagine what a huge task it was and that too on a mountain. Even a small mistake could have resulted in the fall of the whole project. When they were not able to put Jefferson everything stopped. Originally, Thomas Jefferson’s face was placed on the right from George Washington and later he was shifted. But why?
Working To Fit All In
The way you see the Mount Rushmore today is not what they had in mind. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum wanted Thomas Jefferson on the left of George Washington, but when they were blasting the dynamite they realized Jefferson would not fit in this spot. Today Jefferson is spotted in a different position and people find him squeezed in. Well, that’s because he WAS squeezed in. There was a moment when workers thought that he won’t fit in at all but thanks to Gutzon Borglum who used his mind and made Jefferson possible.
The National Parks Service
By the year 1933, the project officially came under the National Parks Service. The decision of bringing the project under its jurisdiction proved to be very helpful in improving the infrastructure, security, and further funding for the remaining project. It was this department that made it possible for the faces of George Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln to be in full completion and for the plans that were proposed to be successful.
Each President
If you are thinking that the completion of all the faces took place in one go, then my friend you are wrong. The first face that is of George Washington was completed in 1934 and it was during 1936 by which Thomas Jefferson face was finished. After Jefferson, it was Abraham Lincoln’s face that was finished up by the year 1937 and at last Theodore Roosevelt’s face was completed in 1939.
As the completion was going on there was another thing that was also getting completed. Gutzon Borglum was working on a secret project and he was waiting for the project to get finished as he wanted to add this secret project of his at the end so that no one can know about the mystery he was working on all these years.