Errors made during the installation of the coating on the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool caused at least 85 failures, according to a report commissioned by the contractor.
A report from Atlantic Coating Inspection found the “American flag blue” liner crumbled at eight of the pool’s 10 joints that divide the concrete slabs of the basin, blistered in nearly 40 places from moisture and chemical fumes stuck under the lining, and peeled away from the basin in nearly two dozen spots, according to The Washington Post, which obtained the report.
Atlantic Coating Inspection referred questions to Atlantic Industrial Coating, the company that installed the coating and commissioned the report, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
President Donald Trump facilitated the renovation of the reflecting pool, which has long had issues with algae and leaks, ahead of celebrations for the nation’s 250th birthday. Trump originally said the renovation would take a few weeks and cost $1.5 million. After two months of work that ended up costing $14 million, the pool filled with algae and the coating cracked.
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Trump has attributed the damage to vandals, and the administration charged four people in connection to damage to the pool. Those charges have since been dropped. The Atlantic Coating Inspection report completed on Aug. 6 doesn’t mention vandalism and blames the cracks in the coating on the use of improper materials and the installation’s quick timeline, according to the Post.
An Aug. 14 report from Atlantic Industrial Coating blamed its own work and a flawed repair plan for the issues with the blue liner, not bad actors, according to the The New York Times.
In a Wednesday statement to The Washington Sun, the Interior Department maintained Trump administration claims that vandals caused the damage to the pool and blamed previous presidential administrations for poor maintenance of the site.
“The Reflecting Pool will soon be opened in a condition better than ever before in its 100+ year history,” the agency said, noting the pool’s water valves, pipes and filtration system were replaced and a new liner had been installed.
The Reflecting Pool was last renovated in 2012 under a two-year, $34 million project aimed at clearing the water and installing a more sophisticated filtration system. Trump announced his renovation in April, declaring the “filthy” water his next beautification project in D.C. He wanted the work to be finished before July 4, giving the contractor just three months from the initial announcement for the project to be completed.
Atlantic Industrial Coating had never held a government contract before but had performed work on swimming pools at Trump’s golf course in Sterling, Virginia. After the initial installation failed, the same company was tasked with repairing the Reflecting Pool.
The Interior Department said Atlantic Industrial Coating was contractually obligated to fix the pool, and it would have been a waste of money to bring in a new contractor. The National Park Service refilled the pool over the weekend.
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