A top official at the National Park Service says a liner along the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was cut with a sharp knife or razor this month, causing damage to the foam sealant installed as part of a $16 million rehabilitation project.
Preface: I am not an expert here and have not seen a specific list of materials used.
If the liner is rubber and they painted it ‘american flag blue’ without using paint that adheres to rubber, is waterproof, and allowed to cure properly… you would see exactly what we’re seeing with chunks of paint, not liner, floating to the surface.
Also not an expert, but in basically all fields surface prep before any adhesive or coating is applied isn’t an optional step. It’s obviously a rushed job and even if it were cut, the adhesion should be good enough to deal with… wind current induced at the top? The worst thing it’s gotta put up with is the people scraping for algae.
I forgot to include the bleach/peroxide they dumped in the water. I doubt this sleazeball bothered to make sure the paint would not be affected by bleach/peroxide.