MOUNT Rushmore will become the first of ten World Heritage Sites to be rendered in 3D by a team from Historic Scotland, after the conservation body struck a deal to survey the US monument.
Using laser technology, the team, which includes experts from Glasgow Art School, will provide a visual record of the site in South Dakota as part of a heritage collection that will become known as the Scottish Ten.
It will include 3D models of
Scotland's own five World Heritage Sites – the Antonine Wall, New Lanark, Neolithic Orkney, St Kilda, and the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh – as well as four further international monuments yet to be confirmed.
Speaking ahead of a trip to Mount Rushmore to sign the survey agreement, culture minister Michael Russell said: "Scotland has great expertise and a wealth of experience in preserving, understanding and researching its historic environment.
"We have embraced 3D scanning to increase our awareness of heritage and are now able to share our knowledge in digital documentation with countries and organisations on a world stage."
The Scottish Ten project, which will begin in September and is expected to last five years, is part of a larger effort by CyArk, a US non-profit organisation, to digitally capture 500 of the world's most significant heritage sites.
The funding for the Rushmore survey, which is being arranged urgently because of concerns over the deterioration of the sculpture's granite, has been agreed on a partnership basis between CyArk, Historic Scotland and the US National Park Service.
It is understood Historic Scotland will cover its own costs from within its existing budget and provide training on survey techniques to experts based in the United States.
