
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 8, 1994                   TAG: 9404080127
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

REPAIRS ARE PLANNED FOR VIETNAM MEMORIAL

Overseers of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial are trying to find the cause of tiny cracks in the black granite wall and planning for the day when the entire wall might need to be replaced.

"What we are doing is preparing for the next 50 or 100 years," Jan Scruggs, president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, said Thursday.

Scruggs said the fund has hired an engineering company to assess possible structural problems that may be causing hairline cracks in the wall's 140 panels, and to draw up plans for long-term maintenance for Washington's most-visited memorial.

"There's no danger of panels cracking and falling on tourists," Scruggs said, but there are visible signs of wear, including cracks, chips, scratches and scuff marks.

- Associated Press

by CNB