美国有线新闻 CNN 华盛顿纪念碑关闭3年后重开 新电梯故障致游客被卡1小时（在线收听）

At the time it was completed in 1884, the Washington Monument was the tallest building in the world.

At 555 feet and 5 inches tall, the Washington Monument was opened to the public a few years later. It's been closed multiple times since then.

Sometimes for restoration, sometimes for natural events, like an earthquake that struck Virginia in 2011 that caused 150 cracks in the monument. And sometimes it's been closed because of its elevator. It broke down 24 times between 2014 and 2016.

The monument was closed again at that time while renovations, a new visitor's center and a brand new elevator were installed. And on the day after it reopened last Friday, the new fully automated elevator broke. No one was in it at the time, but some visitors were stranded for an hour at the top stop in the monument.

Workers don't know why the lift malfunctioned, but they did get it moving. And when it does that it's pretty fast. Takes just over a minute to ferry visitors up 500 feet. The original elevator was powered by steam and that ride took more than 10 minutes.