WASHINGTON – Construction of the 250-foot-high triumphal arch that President Donald Trump wants built near the Lincoln Memorial could occur 20 hours per day, year-round, as officials push to complete the project within three years, according to a preliminary assessment by the National Park Service.
Tower cranes up to 320 feet tall, forklifts, concrete pump systems and other equipment would be needed to build the arch, which would be more than twice as high as the Lincoln Memorial. Work would occur year-round in two 10-hour shifts per day, the Park Service report said.
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The 24-page assessment by NPS staff was released last week as a part of a fast-tracked historic preservation review that began Friday. The park service oversees the land where the administration wants to build the arch.
The National Capital Planning Commission voted last week to seek more information from the Interior Department, which oversees the park service. The vote essentially kept the project alive as officials study how the arch could potentially impact air travel, as well as other specifics on construction and traffic in the area.
The June 4 vote came after nearly three hours of public comment from about 20 members of the public, some representing historic and architectural organizations, and most of whom expressed concerns about the arch that is one of several projects the Republican president is pursuing to leave his imprint on Washington.
Preliminary surveys and testing of the arch site began last month, and other approvals are underway. The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts — which only oversees designs and has no role in the actual construction or funding of the arch or any other project it considers — has approved the arch’s design.
Concerns over arch's height
The capital planning commission is seeking more information justifying the proposed height of the towering arch, as well as additional details about lighting, management of storm water and how traffic and parking would be regulated for visitors.
The planned site for the arch, across the Potomac River from the memorial, is on a flight path near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday it is reviewing whether the project’s planned height poses a risk to airplane travel in the area. An American Airlines jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided a year ago in crowded skies near the airport, killing 67 people.
The FAA review “found no adverse impacts to operations” at Reagan Airport from the proposed arch. but determined that the top of the structure would need to be lit with red obstruction lights -- a common safety tool, spokesman Donnell Evans said. The FAA will conduct a full aeronautical study in coordination with the National Park Service, he said.
The park service, in its report, said aviation-required safety lighting would be incorporated into the arch design “using the least intrusive technology available, ensuring compliance with aircraft visibility requirements while limiting unnecessary light emission."
Will Scharf, who has served as Trump’s White House staff secretary, heads the commission and has said he believes a federal law limiting building heights for new construction in Washington should not apply to the arch. The law restricts most construction in Washington to a maximum height of 130 feet.
The arch faces a legal challenge
Critics have argued that the arch would dominate the skyline and disrupt carefully designed views between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. It would be more than twice as tall as the Lincoln Memorial, which is 99 feet (30 meters), and close to half the height of the Washington Monument, which is about 555 feet (169 meters).
Trump has pushed for the 250-foot-tall arch to mark America’s 250th anniversary, and has said the project could be paid for with private donations left over from the project to build a new White House ballroom. The White House East Wing was demolished to make way for a large ballroom.
A cost estimate for the arch is still being calculated, but a mix of taxpayer and private funds is expected to pay for it. A group of veterans and a historian have sued the Trump administration in federal court to block the project over concerns about disruptions to the sightline.
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut criticized the administration about what he called its “persistent lack of transparency” in its efforts to advance Trump’s Washington-area construction projects. Besides the planned ballroom, Trump also is renovating the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool and rebuilding a public golf course along the Potomac River. None of projects have gone through usual legal reviews or Congress.
“Your disregard for legal process and public interest has been apparent in projects ranging from the construction of a White House Ballroom and triumphal arch to the resealing of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool," Blumenthal wrote in a letter Tuesday to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and acting park service director Jessica Bowron.
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Associated Press writers Meg Kinnard and Josh Funk contributed to this story.