(WASHINGTON) — To complete Donald Trump’s “Triumphal Arch” by the time he leaves office, the National Park Service plans to have construction take place 20 hours per day over the next two to three years, according to planning documents released by the Department of the Interior.
The National Park Service last week released designs, renderings and reports related to the planned arch as it seeks public comment about the controversial addition to the D.C. skyline.
“Because the Arch is intended to celebrate 250 years of American independence. … smaller heights were not considered representative of this milestone, unlike the 250-foot Arch proposed in the undertaking,” one of the reports said about the size of the project.
The project is being challenged in federal court, though lawsuits challenging the arch, and other projects like Trump’s White House Ballroom, planned golf course renovations and the repainting and sealing of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool have so far been unsuccessful in stopping work.
Current designs call for the massive arch to be constructed out of concrete and clad with U.S.-sourced granite — a departure from some of the older D.C. monuments which are constructed from marble or limestone. According to planning documents, construction workers will require multiple cranes up to 320-feet tall — taller than the U.S. Capitol building — and other heavy construction equipment, including concrete pumps, forklifts, skid steers and other tools.
Because the monument will sit near the complicated flight paths for D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), architects included “aviation required safety lighting” into the design of the arch, using the “least intrusive technology available” to minimize light pollution, according to planning documents.
The FAA recently completed a feasibility study about the arch and concluded it would have “no significant adverse effect on airspace and visual/instrument procedures” for the airport and that it would only require red obstruction lights.
“Career safety experts found no adverse impacts to operations at DCA. Their review determined the only requirement would be the top of the structure would need to be lit with red obstruction lights — a common safety tool,” an FAA spokesperson said in a statement, adding that it will next conduct a full aeronautical study with the National Park Service.
According to the documents, the project will include seven phases of construction over a two-to-three-year period. After workers excavate the site, construction would involve about five months of “continuous heavy equipment operations” to drive the foundation system down about 75 feet to bedrock. The NPS report estimated that removing material for the foundation would require about 30 trucks to move 100 loads of soil per day for months.
Once the foundation is completed, workers plan to spend about 10 months constructing the primary concrete structure of the arch and then affix granite panels to the concrete.
“Work would occur year-round, with work occurring in two 10-hour shifts per day (20 hours per day, year-round) for the duration of the construction period,” a NPS report said.
Around the same timeframe, construction workers will begin to assemble the inner structure of the arch, including stairs, elevators, roofing, plumbing, and electrical work. After about two years of work, plans call for a 300-foot mobile crane to be used to install a gold statue atop the arch.
The National Park Service said the construction would likely result in significant traffic disruptions around the Arlington Memorial Bridge.
The design for the arch has not yet been approved by the National Capital Planning Commission. During a hearing last week, the commission asked the Trump administration to address a series of issues with their design, though Trump falsely claimed the design had been approved.
A group of Vietnam veterans also sued over the arch earlier this year and are asking a federal judge to block the construction, arguing the arch should be approved by Congress.
“With every passing day, Defendants’ arch moves closer to construction,” they wrote in a recent court filing.
The Trump administration has argued that a 100-year-old statute related to the building of the nearby Arlington Memorial Bridge authorizes construction of the arch. Department of Justice lawyers have also argued that the plaintiffs lack standing and that the lawsuit is premature.
“Forcing such disclosures of internal deliberations — before NPS has concluded its decision-making process — would ‘wreak havoc’ on the Executive Branch,” DOJ lawyers wrote in a court filing.
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
