Trump's 'Triumphal Arch' Faces Scrutiny Over Ambitious Timeline and Safety

Plans submitted by President Donald Trump’s team have revealed an ambitious timeline for the construction of his “Triumphal Arch” in Washington, D.C., with work ongoing 20 hours a day to make it happen.

The president has commissioned the 250-foot structure on Memorial Circle, a traffic island near Arlington National Cemetery, to honor America’s 250th anniversary.

Documents posted by the National Park Service now reveal that construction crews will be expected to work in two 10-hour shifts every day, all year round, in order to raise the arch within two to three years.

Large cranes will likely be required, with the Park Service mentioning the possibility of models that are 320 and 300 feet high being utilized.

With the arch’s position placing it directly under the flight path of Reagan National Airport, along which planes sometimes fly as low as 500 feet, safety concerns have already been raised about the use of the cranes, according to The Washington Post.

The Federal Aviation Administration has said it is currently reviewing whether the completed arch might ultimately pose a danger to flights crossing the area and concluded in a preliminary report published last week that it would need to carry red blinking lights to alert pilots to its presence at night.

The Park Service plans further reveal that the arch will be made from concrete clad in an outer layer of granite to further speed up the process, despite the Lincoln Memorial and other monuments around the U.S. capital being constructed out of natural stones such as marble and limestone.

Building experts cited by the Post said they considered the timeline “unusually aggressive” for a non-emergency undertaking, the newspaper adding that some construction companies and architectural practices have declined to work on the project because they doubted they could complete it within the requested timeframe.

University of Maryland architecture professor Matthew Bell told the Post that Trump is “obviously in a hurry to try to get this all done before he leaves office. Most of the major monuments in D.C. are stone.”

The Trump administration is reportedly not planning to seek authorization from Congress before pressing ahead, as was the case with the demolition of the White House’s East Wing and the renovation of the Reflecting Pool.

Its approach has angered the likes of Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who complained that such conduct showed “an inexplicable disregard for legal process” in a letter to the Park Service.

Brushing aside those concerns, White House spokesman Davis Ingle told The Independent: “The Triumphal Arch in Memorial Circle is going to be one of the most iconic landmarks not only in Washington, D.C., but throughout the world.

“It will enhance the visitor experience at Arlington National Cemetery for veterans, the families of the fallen, and all Americans alike, serving as a visual reminder of the noble sacrifices borne by so many American heroes throughout our 250-year history so we can enjoy our freedoms today.”

Despite his optimism, the project has polled poorly with the American public, attracted a protest calling for it to be stopped. It has also become the subject of a lawsuit from veterans concerned about its impact on Arlington.

Lawyers for the watchdog group Public Citizen, representing the retired service members, have urged a federal judge to intervene and halt the project.