The Anchor Point

In 2011, a 5. 8 magnitude earthquake rattled the East Coast, cracking the Washington Monument from top to foundation. Engineers discovered something remarkable during the three-year restoration: the original builders in the 1880s had sunk the foundation thirty-seven feet into bedrock. The visible structure stands 555 feet tall, but its hidden anchor had held firm through more than a century of storms, temperature swings, and now a seismic event that sent two million people scrambling into the streets.…