Return to Crazy Horse

by Godfrey Hall

Five years after I first visited the Crazy Horse Monument to the Indian Nation in South Dakota I have now returned to take a second look at this amazing sculpture. It is well worth a second look.

Set in the round, an entire mountain is being turned into the carving of Crazy Horse sitting on a horse.

Millions of tons of rock have already been blasted off Thunderhead Mountain to get the sculpture to where it is now. Millions more tons are left to go.

Laser aids and state of the art drilling techniques are being used, including a torch burning through the stone at 3,400∫C to shape and polish the face of Crazy Horse.

The monument was started back in 1948 by Korczak Ziolkowski, a Polish sculptor. He has since died and his family now continue his work. In the early days, Korczak continually fought against the elements as he clawed his way up and down the mountain with his drills.

The focus in the past five years has been on the removal of large amounts of rock from below the tunnel where the horse\'s head and leg will eventually be carved. This work is quite different to the face, which was cut out mainly by workers suspended on ropes using hand drills and finishing torches.

Work on the 22-story high horse\'s head is now well underway. Engineers are currently blasting out the sixth of 11 benches around the head. These provide access for drilling rigs and dozers. A computerised model of the mountain allows the engineers to see and plan the benches well into the future.

Bench 240, which is 240ft (73m) from the top of Crazy Horse\'s head, will be completed during the Autumn after clearing around 63,000 tons of rock. It will take 150 small blasts to remove the rock without damaging the stone needed for carving.

The horse\'s head is more than 70m high and the current blasting level is about 40m from the top.

New drills are being used that can be operated by one person and drill a 40mm blasting hole at rate of more than 3m a minute. Dynamite is not used for blasting. Instead, water gel explosives are used to allow more precise control when splitting the rock loose for the mountain and reducing vibration. Computers are used to keep detailed blasting records and for monitoring vibration.

It is an amazing feat of engineering. I left feeling very humble.