Iwo Jima Monument
The Iwo Jima Monument at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot on Parris Island, South Carolina is a one-third scale model of the United States Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia. The monument honors the six servicemen who raised the American flag on Mount Suribachi during World War II. The monument was designed by Felix Weihs de Weldon and erected in 1952. It is made of steel-reinforced concrete and overlooks the Peatross Parade Deck.
EverGreene was contracted as part of an interdisciplinary team gathered to conserve the iconic Iwo Jima Monument. The repair and conservation treatment was based on a comprehensive condition assessment EverGreene performed to understand the causes for the deterioration. The sculpture showed severe cracks caused from rebar corrosion and dissolution of the clay core due to continuous water ingress. In addition, impermeable and inflexible coatings prevented the escape of moisture from the saturated construction.
The consequent work entailed removing of coatings and previous repairs, partial disassembly of the sculpture sections, excavation of saturated and failed core material, corrosion mitigation and replacement of failed rebar, application of a corrosion inhibitor, re-construction of the original concrete sections, crack and surface repair, repair of the flagpole, and an application of a new coating system appropriate for concrete. All stages were thoroughly documented and maintenance recommendations were provided to the client. The monument was restored in 2016 after six months of repair and conservation treatments.
