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The first of 27 Freedom Tower perimeter columns is erected
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The pounding of backhoes paused only briefly today at Ground Zero, as Governor George Pataki, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and other leaders celebrated the installation of the Freedom Tower's first steel beams.
The ceremony marked the latest milestone in the World Trade Center's redevelopment and concludes the 4,700-mile journey of the first three 25-ton steel columns from their production in Luxembourg to fabrication in Lynchburg, Virginia, to installation in New York.
"The soaring tower that begins its 1,776-foot ascension today will for generations to come stand as tangible proof of the transcendent power of freedom," Pataki said. "Today, America's strength is evident in these columns of steel -- the footings for the great monument to freedom that is rising on this hallowed site."
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| Workers place the first beam |
Today's event was the second time Pataki has seen the columns up close. On December 8th, the governor toured Lynchburg's Banker Steel facilities alongside Port Authority Executive Director Ken Ringler, Virginia Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling, Banker Steel President Don Banker, first responders and other officials.
The steel arrived in Lower Manhattan last week and on December 17th was made available for families, first responders and the public to sign at a Battery Park City site.
Today, after watching workers bolt the steel columns into the Freedom Tower's foundation, Pataki and Bloomberg thanked the many elected officials and private entities that helped bring about the occasion. Among those in attendance were Governor Pataki's Chief of Staff John Cahill, Port Authority Vice Chairman Charles Gargano, Executive Director Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center Charles Maikish, Former LMDC Chairman John Whitehead, Larry Silverstein, Daniel Tishman, architect David Childs, and WTC master planner Daniel Libeskind.
The columns are the first of 27 "extra-large" steel columns that will define the tower's base perimeter by May 2007. Each column weighs up to 2,440 pounds per foot and ranges from 30 to 56 feet in length.
By the end of 2006, six more base columns will be installed and an additional tier of columns will be raised atop them. By mid-January, these first columns will rise to more than 65 feet -- nearly to grade.
A total of approximately 45,000 tons of steel will be used to build the Freedom Tower, and to date, 3,180 cubic yards of concrete have been poured on the WTC site.
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| Governor Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg greet WTC site workers |
When it is finished in 2011, the Freedom Tower will include 2.6 million square feet of office space, an observation deck, restaurants, and broadcast and antennae facilities. Below-grade will house retail and access to the PATH rapid-transit system, as well as a passageway to the World Financial Center.
Click here to learn more about the Freedom Tower. Additional renderings are available at www.wtc.com.
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