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News Release
USDA Forest Service
Washington, D.C.
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| FS-0134 |
Contact:
Heidi Valetkevitch, 202-205-1134 |
D-DAY MEMORIAL
USES GRANITE FROM NATIONAL FOREST
WASHINGTON, June 6, 2001 -- The
National D-Day Memorial, to be dedicated today in
Bedford, Va., uses 360 tons of green granite quarried
in the Superior National Forest, Minn., to form
the memorial’s 40-foot high “Victory Arch,”
and tons more of the striking granite were used
to fashion a life-size landing craft and other features
of the memorial.
The quarrying and preparation of the granite for
use in the D-Day Memorial is a joint effort of the
USDA Forest Service; and Cold Spring Granite, the
company quarrying the stone.
The D-Day Memorial also will use the green granite
in the two-story education building and amphitheater
now being designed. Paving, benches and other parts
of the memorial also already make use of the green
granite.
Only granite meeting stringent criterion can be
quarried for use in the memorial. The rock must
be capable of yielding blocks at least 4 feet by
4 feet by 8 feet in size without fractures, streaks
or other imperfections. The granite chosen for the
memorial was fashioned from select 6-by-6-by-8-foot
blocks. The blocks were trucked from the quarry
to Cold Spring Granite’s polishing facilities.
From there, the finished blocks were trucked to
Bedford for assembly in the Victory Arch and other
features.
The green granite is composed of large crystals
of quartz, feldspar and large amounts of green minerals.
The granite was formed over millions of years as
the materials underwent high temperature and pressure
and then rapid cooling. The source quarry for the
granite is producing 40,000 to 60,000 cubic feet
of the prized green granite per year. The Forest
Service collects royalties from the quarrying operation
for the U.S. Treasury. Twenty-five percent of the
royalties are returned to the state of Minnesota.
For additional information on the D-Day Memorial
and today’s dedication, see the Internet site:
http://www.dday.org.
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