The military parade in D.C. that will mark the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary is just around the corner, which means preparations are now underway.
Tanks and armored personnel carriers will roll along Constitution Ave. as military jets fly overhead. To protect D.C. streets from those heavy vehicles, the Army Corps of Engineers is putting down some metal plates on parts of the parade route.
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WATCH HEREThe parade includes 150 different vehicles, and 60 of them are large, heavy, tracked vehicles. Some can weigh up to 70 tons — which is why the metal plates are necessary.
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SIGN UP Installations began overnight into June 5, and will continue until the day of the parade on June 14.
"Now the steel plating is the standard industry steel plating for construction zones, and it just provides an area for the track to come up onto and turn," said Lt. Col. Mark Pollak, a member of the Army Corps of Engineers.
"When a track turns, the inside track has to slow down, and it almost gets dragged sideways," he explained. The metal plates will be focused in 13 locations along the route where vehicles will need to turn.
"Where the long straightaways are, the tanks should have no issue because they have new track pads on the track that protect the road's surface from the tracks," Pollak said.
The large, tracked vehicles are the more modern Army vehicles in the parade, Pollak said. They include the M1 Abrams tank that most people most often think of, and smaller vehicles like the M2 Bradleys, Paladin Howitzers and M109s.
Roads should return back to normal and be completely open by Monday, June 16 during rush hour.
