[TOPSHOTS An engineer rigs repelling gear on the Washington Monument in preparation by the National Park Service (NPS) to make temporary weatherization measures on November 10, 2011 in Washington, DC. The Difficult Access Team (DAT) from Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates will mobilize equipment and rigging to access the exterior of the Monument in order to install temporary weather sealant in cracks in the exterior marble panels in the Monumentâ·®s pyramidion next week.They will be using backer rod â·” polyethylene foam joint-filler â·” to temporarily fill these cracks, as well as joints that opened when spalls were removed during the assessment survey of the Monument in October. It is estimated that the weatherization will take about five days and cost about $240,000 USD. TOPSHOTS/AFP PHOTO / Karen BLEIER (Photo credit should read KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images)] *** [] ** TCN OUT **