Army to place large metal plates on DC streets to protect them from tanks during June parade

[taxi]

21. Yes, the plates they are using are not designed to spread weight,

they are being placed where the tanks will make turns. The purpose is to eliminate the friction that will cause the pavement to buckle. No consideration is being given to potential underground damages.
At least that appears to be what is said.

Concerns over the tanks’ weight, and what that would do to D.C.‘s streets, ultimately kept them from being used for a parade during Trump’s first term. The metal plates are seen as the best way to protect the streets Each plate weighs hundreds of pounds and will be placed at points along the parade route where the tanks will turn — and where their metal and rubber-shoed tracking that helps them move can do the most damage, the official said.

This is the old switcheroo, they start out with talk about the weight, and then give a solution to a different problem.