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Work continutes to progress at the WTC Site from 2008 - 09
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A view of the National 9/11 Memorial, from any height around the World Trade Center (WTC), shows the multi-level structure taking shape faster than even its own construction managers expected.
Quentin Braithwaite, the Port Authority’s assistant director of WTC construction, called the Memorial’s progress “mind-boggling,” and compared photographs of the site from the past year -- when there was an open pit with a haul ramp in active use in late 2008, beside a current shot of structural steel and decking that outlines the future reflecting pools and plaza.
The update was part of Braithwaite’s quarterly update on WTC rebuilding progress to Community Board 1 on July 13th. Among his updates, he said that the Memorial steel fabrication is nearly complete and installation is steady, while final design decisions are now being made for the “interface” between visitors and the reinforced, exposed slurry wall below West Street.
North of the Memorial, the east-west connector -- the pedestrian concourse linking to the Winter Garden -- has taken shape, with just a few remaining steel arch components left to install. The structure has allowed crews to form the decking that will create Fulton Street. And as a much-needed east-west passage, the connector is on the Port’s fast track for early completion, perhaps by late 2012.
The Fulton Street roadbed ties into the plaza that will surround 1 World Trade Center (1 WTC). Steel rebar cages are being installed as the plaza floor, which Braithwaite said was a priority piece of the tower’s construction as a major staging area. The steel of 1 WTC is more than 105 feet above grade (with substructure as deep as 80 feet), and large concrete pours at the site continue.
Work on a Vesey Street Pedestrian Bridge extension is expected in early 2010. Bringing the bridge landing out to the south side of 7 World Trade Center (east of Washington Street) to allow truck movements in and out of the site. “This is the safest environment we can provide,” said Braithwaite. The northwestern most gates also were reconfigured recently to accommodate more truck traffic inside the site.
In the opposite corner of the WTC, Silverstein Properties continues building 4 World Trade Center, which is expected to be at grade by early September. Janno Lieber, Silverstein executive vice president, shared an update on that project. He said that four stories of sub-grade floors are built, with 250 workers on site, and 26,000 cubic yards of concrete poured. He stated that arbitration is expected for the final turnover of sites for 2 and 3 World Trade Center.
Meanwhile, north of 4 WTC in the east bathtub, the Port Authority continues to excavate for the WTC Transportation Hub, demolishing the temporary PATH station structure that was built after 9/11. Steel deliveries are happening there and a massive tower crane eventually will be installed for the hub’s construction.
On the site’s south side, Port Authority crews are nearly halfway done installing slurry wall panels that will form the south bathtub, where vehicles will one day enter the Vehicular Security Center. Work there is able to continue despite 130 Liberty Street deconstruction delays, with the various agencies working with the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center to help coordinate access and community outreach.
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