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Workers began preliminary surveys and geotechnical testing Monday at the proposed site for a Triumphal Arch sought by President Donald Trump, part of the latest step in the plans for the contentious project in Washington. The work took place between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, where equipment was brought onto the site and part of the area was fenced off as survey markings were placed.
The survey work was announced in a court filing this week in a federal lawsuit challenging the arch, according to the Associated Press. The filing said the activity is intended to generate information that would assist the National Park Service in completing procedural prerequisites that are part of the decision-making process for the project.
The proposal calls for a 250-foot-tall (76-meter) arch, which is intended to change a prominent view corridor in the nation’s capital. The design, as proposed by Trump, would rise from four lions at its base, with a torch held aloft by a Lady Liberty-like figure on top, flanked by two eagles. The filing and reporting also describe gold lettering planned for phrases including “One Nation Under God” and “Liberty and Justice for All” on either side of the monument.
Early approval for the concept has already been granted by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, whose members were appointed by Trump. Even with that review complete, the project has faced opposition tied to how the arch would be viewed from and around the memorial landscape.
In the lawsuit, a group of veterans and a historian are seeking to block construction. They argued in federal court that the arch would disrupt the sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House at Arlington National Cemetery, among other reasons.
The Justice Department filing on behalf of the Trump administration said the National Park Service had not yet issued a final agency action authorizing construction of an arch. The court papers said that if the agency does issue such authorization, it would provide at least 14 days notice before any work could begin.
The filing further said the plaintiffs had been notified of the survey work beforehand, and it characterized the planned activity as not amounting to construction or demolition in preparation for construction. Nicolas Sansone, a lawyer with the Public Citizen Litigation Group that brought the lawsuit, said the government taking preparatory steps is a confirmation that it intends to move forward, adding that the project would remain unlawful unless and until Congress passes a law authorizing the arch.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and the Public Citizen Litigation Group representing the plaintiffs did not immediately provide additional comment beyond Sansone’s remarks cited by the Associated Press.