Jacobs-Designed Expansion at Arlington National Cemetery Garners Diamond Award

Each year, more than three million people visit Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, to honor the more than 400,000 service members, veterans and their families laid to rest in these hallowed grounds and learn about the history of our nation.

Across 624 acres, the cemetery conducts about 30 funeral services each weekday and approximately 10 on Saturdays, totaling more than 7,000 burials per year. To keep the cemetery open and active well into the future, expansion projects have been a priority.

The Millennium project, the first expansion of the cemetery in more than 40 years, developed over 27 acres to accommodate an additional 27,282 interments located either above or below ground. This expansion, which Jacobs provided design services for in a joint venture with Louis Berger (former Amman & Whitney), extends the cemetery’s capacity to the early 2040s. It also supports the cemetery’s long term goal of optimizing interment space that is contiguous with the existing cemetery in order to maintain future operations and preserve the Arlington National Cemetery experience.

“It’s been a true honor to design the project to expand Arlington National Cemetery,” said Jacobs Senior Vice President Pankaj Duggal. “The final environment respects those who served in the Armed Forces and provides a place of peace and reflection for their families and visitors.”

The Millennium project at Arlington National Cemetery recently received the Diamond Award in the Special Projects category from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of New York. The awards honor member firms for design achievements of superior skill and ingenuity and that are judged on a rigorous set of criteria that includes complexity, innovation and value to society. The awards help to publicize the many significant contributions consulting engineers make to the built environment throughout the world.

With more than seven decades of work in built environments, Jacobs’ more than 5,000 strategists, planners, architects, interiors, designers, engineers, managers and constructors around the globe support government, commercial, institutional and industrial clients across diverse sectors and services. In addition to more traditional services, our expertise spans all aspects of specialty consulting to include asset management, economics, business development and scientific advancement. Jacobs is ranked No. 1 in Engineering News-Record’s list of Top 500 Design Firms and No. 8 in interior office design.