Driving to the Post Office along J Street this morning, I noticed a "detour"sign posted at 43rd St due to road work. Glancing down the road I saw deep piles of greenery and limbs blocking the middle of the street.

And there was a huge crane in the midst of it.

So I drove down another street to M St, approached 43rd, and then drove about a quarter of the way down it and parked, all the while keeping one eye on the crane.

I couldn't quite figure out what was going on at first when I saw this:

Is it a really really really long chainsaw blade thinning out the trees near the road?.

Then I looked at it from this angle:

Then it all came together once this happened:

There's one guy up in the tree with ropes, directing the segments of the tree being

cut to be hauled out.

Each segment weighs around 8,000 pounds and is carefully laid onto the street

and placed into a truck bed to be hauled away. The limbs were put through a

woodchipper onsite.

Being taken out is a redwood tree which has three HUGE branches. When the current owners of the white house

bought it 50 years ago they were told by the seller that their son had a small redwood in dirt, growing on the fireplace

mantel. He planted it to the side of the house as it got bigger.

As the picture shows it is extremely close to both homes.

The lumberjack adjusts the cables for the removal of the segment on the right side. 

It took a lot of chainsaw power on both sides.

Up up and away it goes.

Crews from Maxim Crane Works and Arborwell worked together. A stump

grinder finished the job once the tall parts of the tree were gone.

Photos | Kati Garner