How Was Mount Rushmore Carved?

90% of the mountain was carved using dynamite . The powdermen would cut and set charges of dynamite of specific sizes to remove precise amounts of rock. Before the dynamite charges could be set off, the workers would have to be cleared from the mountain.

How Was Mount Rushmore Carved?

Mount Rushmore is one of the most iconic landmarks in the United States, and its construction was a feat of engineering. The massive sculpture of four presidents was carved into the granite of the Black Hills in South Dakota, and is an impressive testament to the craftsmanship of the early 20th century. But how exactly was Mount Rushmore carved?

The first step in creating the monument was to choose a location. The site chosen was a cliff in the Black Hills of South Dakota, specifically the granite cliff now known as Mount Rushmore. The next step was to hire Gutzon Borglum, a sculptor from Connecticut. He drew up a plan for a sculpture that would feature the faces of four presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.

Once the design was finalized, Borglum and his crew began the hard work of carving the sculpture. They started by blasting away the rock with dynamite. This process was used to reduce the amount of material that needed to be carved by hand. The crew then used jackhammers and drills to carve out the general shape of the faces.

Once the basic shape was established, the workers began to chisel away more rock to create the details of the faces. They used a variety