New Technology Speeds Up Crazy Horse Timeline

When Mount Rushmore was constructed, it was done with explosives, then men rappelled down with jackhammers to chisel out the rest.

That is, now the Crazy Horse monument has been worked on, up into recent times when modern technology began speeding up the process. These new techniques will save years and a lot of money.

Construction on the Crazy Horse Memorial began in 1948 when sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski started the project. After all this time, all we see is his face and part of his outstretched arm.

About two minutes into the video below, they begin the explain the process.

Laser engravers and touch screen displays help workmen see where they need to work next, and how. It helps them visualize the monument inside the rock.

Explosives are still used, but then, a large tower crane and a robotic saw are helping the Crazy Horse Memorial carving by improving access and automating finishing work. The crane provides a new level of mobility for heavy equipment and a 20,000-pound robotic arm, which will be used for the difficult finishing process of the mountain carving, similar to how auto manufacturers mill clay for car designs.

If you ask someone at the park when the monument will be completed, they will tell you, THURSDAY. But they have no idea what Thursday is. That's the joke anyway.

There is no official completion date for the Crazy Horse Monument, but the most recent estimate suggests the upper features could be finished around 2037. The full completion is uncertain due to ongoing challenges with funding, equipment, and weather, but some hope for completion in the next century.