Army preparing for largest military parade on the capital’s streets in decades, featuring 7 million pounds of hardware

Washington
CNN
 — 

Millions of pounds of military hardware are expected to roll down the US capital’s streets in less than two weeks, fulfilling a dream of President Donald Trump but also an effort that has sparked concerns about how the roads of Washington, DC, will fare under the literal weight of heavy tanks and fighting vehicles.

The largest military parade the city has seen in decades is expected to bring seven million pounds of vehicles and weaponry as well as a price tag potentially in the tens of millions of dollars, and this week the US Army has started reinforcing the roads that will carry the hardware downtown and along the parade route.

The parade on June 14 will feature dozens of M1-A1 Abrams tanks and Bradley and Stryker fighting vehicles rolling through the streets of DC, as well as Howitzers and other artillery pieces, officials said. Nearly 7,000 soldiers are set to participate.

Most of the tanks, vehicles and equipment are currently en route to Maryland from Fort Cavazos in Texas, and will arrive by train at the rail station in Jessup, Maryland, early next week. They will then be offloaded onto flatbed trucks for onward transport to DC. All told, the parade is expected to bring roughly 7 million pounds of military hardware to the streets of the nation’s capital, a non-military official involved in the planning said.

But the US Army Corps of Engineers, which has been leading on the effort to protect DC roads and infrastructure, is confident in the mitigation efforts the Army is deploying to minimize damage – efforts that have cost more than $3 million alone so far, Army officials said. The total cost of the parade could be as high as $45 million, officials have estimated.

The damage mitigation efforts include laying steel plates down on roads, particularly at spots where the tanks will make sharp turns; putting new track pads on every vehicle to relieve some pressure and create separation between the metal and the asphalt; and ensuring the tanks move only at a walking pace during the parade itself, the officials said.

Col. Jesse Curry, the director of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, told CNN that the Army has worked extensively with various agencies and DC utility companies in its planning to minimize potential damage.

The Army began laying down steel plates in roughly a dozen locations along the parade route on Wednesday night, Curry said, and is planning to put down matting at a staging area in West Potomac Park, near the National Mall, for the Abrams tanks to sit on before they roll down Constitution Avenue.

“Our concern from an engineer technical evaluation on anything below the surface of the road that’s going to be damaged is very, very low,” Curry said. “We’ve got the best (engineers) in the world.”

The Army’s 250th birthday celebration has been in the works for two years, Army officials said. But adding a parade was the Trump White House’s idea, so planning for that began only two months ago.

Trump’s desire for a large military parade – featuring all of the military services – dates back to his first term. But it was scrapped at the time because defense officials said it would cost as much as $100 million and damage DC streets.

This month’s parade will focus only on the Army, making it slightly smaller and less expensive.

The Army Corps of Engineers began assessing how to protect DC infrastructure during the parade back in April, Curry said. The initial worst-case-scenario estimate to protect DC streets was roughly $16 million, Curry said. That would have been the cost if the Army “did nothing to mitigate” the impacts, he explained.

Now, the estimate has dropped down to around $3.5 million, which will include the cost for putting down steel plates and reinforcing them into the pavement with railroad ties, removing the plates afterwards, and any cosmetic upkeep that needs to be done in the wake of the parade.

Two people who are not in the military but are involved in the parade’s planning told CNN there are still concerns among some agencies over potential damage to underground gas lines – particularly on the route from the rail station in Jessup to the holding area near the National Mall.

But Curry emphasized that the Army Corps of Engineers assesses that risk to be “very low.”

The Army has consulted with the National Park Services, the Federal Highway Administration, DC Water, Washington Gas, Pepco, the Department of Transportation and “all the associated authorities and utility companies that would have rightful concerns,” Curry said.

During those discussions, the Army went over the expected route with the companies, looking at their underground gas and electric lines, which Curry said largely run under sidewalks instead of in the middle of the road. That alone mitigated some of the concern over damage to critical infrastructure, Curry said.

“If we’re driving on sidewalks, something went really wrong,” he said.

Curry noted that the Army frequently transports tanks and heavy fighting vehicles on trucks all around the country, without causing infrastructure issues.

The parade is meant to tell the story of the Army through its 250-year history, beginning with the Revolutionary War, tracing through major conflicts and ending with present day. The parade route will begin near the Lincoln Memorial on Constitution Avenue, continue east to 15th Street, and end at the corner of 15th and Independence Avenue.

Here is a breakdown of what will be featured:

World War I

World War II

Vietnam War:

Gulf War:

Global War on Terror:

Modern Era 1

Modern Era 2

The parade will also feature an “extensive” flyover, Army officials said, involving more than 50 helicopters. Those will include AH-64 Apaches, UH-60 Black Hawks and CH-47 Chinooks.

Finally, the Army’s Golden Knights parachute demonstration team will jump and present Trump with an American flag – the only part of the parade that will involve the president directly, Army officials said.