Exclusive: Firm that worked on past Reflecting Pool renovation passed on Trump project after deeming it 'unfeasible'

[LetMyPeopleVote]

trump demanded that this job be done before July 4th and that the bottom be blue. The firm that could do this job declined. It seems that the firm hired by trump ignored the japs between plates and used materials for tank liners that were not designed to be exposed to ultraviolet radiation. trump cheaped and we can see the consequennces.

Link to tweet

https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/25/politics/reflecting-pool-firm-renovation-unfeasible

Several months before blue strips started floating to the surface of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a company involved in its last renovation more than 15 years ago was approached with an opportunity to do this remodel as well. But the company said no.

Specifically, it balked at two requirements - the Trump administration wanted it done by July 4, and the pool bottom had to be blue, according to two employees with the New Jersey-based Sika Corporation, which provided the concrete construction and sealing products for a 2010 renovation project to the Reflecting Pool.

According to the two employees, who spoke to CNN on the condition they not be identified, both demands made the job "unfeasible."

Ultimately, Rhino Linings, which is most popular for its truck bed linings but also says on its website it can be used for water facilities, was chosen to provide materials for the latest Reflecting Pool renovation......

Sika declined the proposal after a routine assessment of feasibility and risk, the employees said. One of the Sika specialists assumed that was because Sika's solution was complicated and lengthy, not fitting the contractor's tight timeline of just a few months turnaround.

The main issue, one of Sika employees said, was the lining over the expansion joints featured in the Reflecting Pool and constraints on what material could be used and submerged in water. The Reflecting Pool features 2.5 miles of joints, which were recently replaced as part of the renovations, according to Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum......

The two Rhino Linings products ultimately used in the Reflecting Pool were Rhino 406 Primer and Pipeliner 5000, according to an advertisement for the company. The primer is made up of epoxy, and the pipeliner is made of a mixture of resin and isocyanate - polyurea.

The Pipeliner 5000 product is typically used for linings in water storage, wastewater facilities, and pipes - containers not exposed to sunlight on a regular basis. Some polyureas are not stable under UV light .

As for the Rhino 406 Primer, one Sika employee said that epoxy, which is a popular coating for garage floors, is rigid, and would not be a good solution for flexing joints like the ones in the Reflecting Pool.

This article also discusses that taking heavy vehicles over the redone surface may be playing a role in the failures.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. trump taking the Beast and other vehicles may have played a role in the failure

This is from the article cited in the OP

Online commentators have also speculated that the bottom of the pool may have been affected by the presence of heavy equipment and trucks — and a presidential motorcade that drove through at one point — shortly after the coating was applied.

Ravi Kurani, President of Standard Water Corp, an industrial technology company, told CNN he would never recommend driving cars out onto a pool surface, especially when renovations are being done.

“It’s like you’re putting flooring on your kitchen floor and then you’re take a really heavy tractor on top of it – it’s going to mess it up a little bit.”

Tim Auerhahn, a pool infrastructure expert and the chairman of the Aquatic Council, a consulting firm , said over email there isn’t enough information to definitively conclude that the vehicle traffic caused damage, but “it is one of several factors that should be considered as part of a comprehensive failure analysis.”

Auerhahn added that, “It’s important not to focus on a single theory too early.”

[RockRaven]

2. They didn't insist on a July 4 deadline, they insisted on a Dotard Birthday deadline.

The artificial and unnecessary time constraint was even worse than presented.