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

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.

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.