Construction crews building President Donald Trump’s proposed 250-foot triumphal arch would work two 10-hour shifts daily, according to a new National Park Service assessment.
The monument, slated for a traffic circle at the head of Memorial Bridge over the Potomac River, would take two to three years to complete under the proposed schedule.
The year-round construction timeline emerged from the NPS’s initial review of the arch’s impacts under the National Historic Preservation Act.
The Trump administration has fast-tracked that review process, which examines how historic properties and the Washington landscape would be reshaped by the towering structure.
Construction could run as many as 20 hours per day, with tower cranes reaching up to 320 feet tall, alongside forklifts, concrete pump systems, and other heavy equipment.
The arch, formally named “Independence Arch,” would stand more than twice the height of the Lincoln Memorial, reshaping one of Washington’s most recognizable skylines.
To accelerate completion, Trump plans to use concrete clad in granite rather than the natural marble and limestone used for other monuments across the capital.
The planned site sits just 3,000 feet from Reagan National Airport, placing the structure directly within the airport’s main approach and departure corridor, raising aviation safety concerns.
The National Capital Planning Commission has kept the project alive but requested further information from the Department of the Interior on potential impacts to air travel navigation and construction logistics.
A group of Vietnam War veterans and a retired architectural historian filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to block construction of the arch.
The plaintiffs, represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group, have labeled the proposed structure a “vanity project” that would disrupt the symbolically significant sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House.
Veterans Michael Lemmon, Shaun Byrnes, and Jon Gundersen argue the structure would “dishonor their military and foreign service” by intruding on a solemn view they visit regularly.
The lawsuit adds legal pressure to a project already drawing criticism from lawmakers who have raised concerns about cost, construction disruption, and the monument’s proximity to one of the nation’s busiest airports.
