Engineering:White House Big Dig
The White House Big Dig was the name used in press reports to describe a multi-year construction project at the White House that began in September 2010 and temporarily concluded in 2012, with a second phase planned for the future. According to the General Services Administration (GSA), the $376-million project, which involved a multi-story excavation adjacent to the West Wing, was to replace electrical wiring and update air conditioning. A second phase of the project, with an unannounced start date, will involve a similar excavation adjacent to the East Wing. Funds for the White House Big Dig were allocated by a congressional appropriation made in late 2001.[1][2]
Despite the utilitarian description of its purpose, the project came to be the object of intense media speculation. The Washington Post characterized the GSA description of the project as a "nothing to see here story" while The New York Times, citing an anonymous source, claimed it was "security-related construction".[3][4] The Associated Press reported that a privacy screen was placed around the construction site for its duration and sub-contractors on the project were required to cover identifying marks or logos on their company vehicles, measures which it implied were unusual.[2] ABC News, meanwhile, equated the construction project as a "mystery" on-par with "what happened to the dinosaurs". In a story set to the theme song from the science fiction television program The X-Files, reporter John Berman sarcastically commented "maybe it is a bunch of pipes and wires ... just like Area 51".[5]
In 2013, RealClearPolitics reported that a "clone" of the Oval Office would be built in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, as the Oval Office would be unusable during the second phase of the White House Big Dig.[6] White House press secretary Jay Carney subsequently rebutted that report as false.[7]
The Washington Post reported in 2026 that the work included the installation of a new bunker intended to replace the World War II-era Presidential Emergency Operations Center. Located more than 60 feet (18 m) underground and built into the bedrock, the bunker is accessible via a private elevator and designed to withstand a nuclear blast, has its own separate airflow system, and contains provisions for a group to survive inside for months.[8]
References
- ↑ "White House 'Big Dig': West Wing entrance fenced off". The Washington Post. Associated Press. April 4, 2011. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post_now/post/white-house-big-dig-west-wing-entrance-fenced-off/2011/04/04/AFvegfbC_blog.html. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Smith, Mark (September 12, 2012). "White House Big Dig Remains A Mystery As Construction Wraps Up". Huffington Post. Associated Press. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/12/white-house-big-dig-remai_n_1877484.html. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
- ↑ Storey, Will (October 17, 2011). "Big Hole in White House Lawn Prompts Equally Big Questions". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/us/big-hole-on-white-house-lawn-prompts-speculation.html?_r=0. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
- ↑ Davenport, Christian (November 27, 2011). "In the Nation's Capital, Underground is Where it's At". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/in-the-nations-capital-underground-is-where-its-at/2011/11/22/gIQABFo42N_story.html. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
- ↑ "Mysterious White House Hole". ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/top-secret-white-house-project-built-14767941. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
- ↑ Simendinger, Alex (February 1, 2013). "2nd Oval Office Readied in White House Rehab Project". Real Clear Politics. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/02/01/2nd_oval_office_readied_in_white_house_rehab_project__116887.html. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
- ↑ Boyer, Dane (February 6, 2013). "Clone Oval Office Report Denied". Washington Times. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/feb/6/white-house-no-duplicate-oval-office/?page=all. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
- ↑ Robertson, Noah; Diamond, Dan (August 23, 2026). "Secret White House bunker undercuts Trump’s ballroom lawsuit, ex-officials say". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/08/23/secret-white-house-bunker-undercuts-trumps-ballroom-lawsuit-ex-officials-say/.
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