Arlington National Cemetery Opens New Cemetery Section

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, VA, UNITED STATES

09.06.2018

Video by Mary Cochran 

Arlington National Cemetery   

The Millennium site supports the cemetery’s long term goal of optimizing interment space that is contiguous with the existing cemetery in order to maintain future active operations and preserve the Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) experience.

The Millennium Project was conceived in the 1990s to help extend the life of the cemetery as an active burial ground. The entire project consists of 27 acres, parts of which were transferred from the National Park Service, from existing ANC land, and from Fort Myer. National Park Service land was transferred to ANC in January 2002. The construction contract was awarded Sept. 24, 2013 and during the last five years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the prime contractor, Forrester Construction, along with many sub-contractors, have worked diligently to complete this critical project.
This 27-acre expansion provides 27,282 interment spaces that are located either above or below ground. Columbarium courts will offer 16,400 above-ground niche spaces for cremated remains, while the 10,882 in-ground burials will be split between traditional and over-size burials (1,422), in-ground cremated remains (3,189), and pre-placed concrete grave-liners (6,271). ANC hopes to be able to schedule up to three funeral services each day in this new area of the cemetery.

This is the first time the cemetery has used pre-placed concrete grave-liners, a burial system currently used by the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration. Pre-cast, concrete, pre-placed burial liners are a method to maximize burial space, reduce the amount of on-site excavation and ultimately conduct more burials for service members, veterans and their dependents.

Critical to the iconic look and feel of the cemetery were landscaping efforts. In line with the Memorial Arboretum's goal of plant diversity, the project involved the planting of many different species of trees up to six-inch caliper, thousands of shrubs and pollinator attracting perennials, and native saplings to provide valuable wildlife habitat. The stream running through the site was also restored, invasive species removed and an open-bottom bridge constructed over it.

For more information on Millennium and Arlington National Cemetery, please visit our website at: www.arlingtoncemetery.mil

• Date Taken: 09.06.2018
• Date Posted: 09.06.2018 11:27
• Category: Package
• Video ID: 623107
• VIRIN: 100906-A-ZZ998-001
• Filename: DOD_105988777
• Length: 00:02:37
• Location: ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, VA, US