President Donald Trump wants to fast-track the construction of his proposed triumphal arch to be sited in Arlington, between the Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial, just across the Potomac River.
The plan, which would see work happen year-round and for 20 hours a day, was revealed in a 24-page assessment by the National Park Service, according to a report by the Associated Press. The goal is to finish construction in three years.
The assessment, part of a historic preservation review that began last Friday, includes details like the need for 320-foot-tall cranes to construct the 250-foot-tall arch, which be more than twice the height of the Lincoln Memorial. Work would be conducted in two 10-hour shifts per day.
Trump first announced plans for the arch, which would be located in Memorial Circle, last October at a White House dinner. In April, his administration submitted designs for it to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, a federal plan consisting of Trump appointees.
Describing the design of the arch, Trump reportedly said at the October dinner, “At the end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge, you have a circle that was built 150 years ago. You have two columns on one side, two columns on the other, yet in the middle, just a circle. And everyone in the past had said something was supposed to be built there. But a thing called the Civil War interfered. That’s a good reason.”
The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, which only approves the design, approved it in May. Preliminarily surveys and testing also began last month. It is currently being reviewed by the National Capital Planning Commission, which voted on June 4 for more information from the Department of the Interior after nearly three hours of public comment.
One of the NCPC’s biggest concerns is the proposed height of the arch as the proposed site is near a flight path for planes landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration said this week that it is reviewing if the planned height would impact air travel.
Trump has said that the height of 250 feet is meant to match the US’s 250th anniversary, which will be celebrated early next month. He has also said that it would be paid for via private donations, but an estimated cost has not yet been released.
The arch has also been the subject of a lawsuit by a group of veterans and a historian, who have claimed it will interrupt the sightlines of the nation’s capital area, given its proximity to the National Mall and the Arlington National Cemetery. Late last month, a group of House Democrats said that they would introduce legislation to stop the proposed arch.
