The White House is upgrading the fence that surrounds the presidential mansion from its current six foot version to one that will be 13 feet high with 'anti-climb' technology.
The enhanced security measures were approved after a spike in the number of people who have been arrested for trying to scale the White House fence.
Construction has begun around 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue with parts of the street blocked off and a temporary wall in place in front of the White House while crews build the new fence.
A temporary wall is in front of the White House while a new fence is being built
Construction has begun and will end in 2021
The new fence will surround the 18 acres the White House sits on
At five feet higher than the old fence, the new wall is part of a larger plan to enhance security around the downtown Washington D.C. area known as the Ellipse, which features the White House, the Treasury Department, the Old Executive Office Building and Lafayette Park
The current metal fence, which had spikes added to the top after the September 11 terrorist attacks, will be replaced by one that has an 18-inch aboveground stone base at the bottom, with a 10-foot, 7-inch metal fence atop that and a one-foot-tall 'anti-climb' feature at its top.
The new fence is estimated to cost $64 million and will be approximately 3,500 feet long to surround the 18 acres the White House sits on.
The fence design won approval from both the Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission in 2017.
The fence will be 3,500 feet long and 13 feet high
The top of the new fence will have 'anti-climb' technology
'The proposed improvements seek to meet contemporary security standards while recognizing the historic and symbolic importance of the White House and the surrounding grounds,' the commission's report on the new fence noted.
Construction is expected to be completed in 2021.
President Thomas Jefferson erected the first fence around the White House - a wooden version - in 1801, according to the White House Historical Association.
In 1808, he replaced that with a stone wall. In 1833, a heavy wrought iron fence was constructed to replace the stone wall.
That type of heavy wrought iron has surrounded the White House in some form since.
But people have repeatedly tried to scale the fence and enter the White House ground.
A California man carrying mace was arrested in March 2017 after scaling the fence and making it all way to the exterior of the White House. President Donald Trump was in building at the time.
The design of the new fence was approved in 2017 and is part of plan to enhance security around the Ellipse area in down town Washington D.C.
The current fence surrounding the White House is being taken out for a new version
A mockup of what the new fence will look like
And in September 2014, a man named Omar Gonzalez climbed over the north fence and made his way deep into the White House.
He was tackled by an off-duty Secret Service agent in the East Room and found to have a knife in a pants pocket.
In October 2014, a man named Dominic Adesanya scaled the fence and was taken down by two Secret Service dogs.
Protests have also increased outside the White House.
Two people were arrested during a flag burning on the Fourth of July.
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