The National Park Service (NPS) has approved a $227m project to repair and rehabilitate Arlington Memorial Bridge in Washington, DC, US.

Announced by the US Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, the project is expected to save $35m, as well as 1.5 years of estimated construction time.

Designed by the architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White, the Neoclassical bridge is 2,163ft long and 60ft wide.

Secretary Zinke said: “Repairing Arlington Memorial Bridge underscores President Trump’s commitment to rebuilding American infrastructure and is a major step in addressing the National Park Service’s $11.3bn maintenance backlog.

“The bridge is one of the largest transportation infrastructure projects in National Park Service history.”

For this project, NPS received a $90m FASTLANE grant from the US Department of Transportation, while Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) ensured another $30m with an amendment to the fiscal year 2017 Appropriations Act (P.L. 115-31).

“The bridge is one of the largest transportation infrastructure projects in National Park Service history.”

NPS will invest additional $107m from its annual transportation and construction funds to complete the project in a single phase.

From the total $227m investment, FHWA will be responsible for managing $192m under a contract with Kiewit Infrastructure, while the remaining $35m will be utilised for engineering, construction management, wetlands mitigation and contingency.

Scheduled to begin in the later half of next year, major construction works will include the replacement the drawbridge span and concrete deck and refurbishment of the concrete approach spans.

The existing bascule span will be replaced with variable depth steel girders to extend the life of the bridge, as well as reduce maintenance costs.

The stone curbs and light posts of the bridge are also scheduled to be reset to restore the historic stone and metal cladding.

Inaugurated in 1932, Arlington Memorial Bridge carries nearly 68,000 cars per day.