WTC reconstruction begins
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First Steel Beam Goes Up at WTC
The first steel beam that will support the weight of office space was erected Thursday at 7 World Trade Center. The occasion marked the first beam of its type to be raised since the 9/11 attacks.
"7 World Trade Center was the last building to go down, and it will be the first building to go up," said Gov. George Pataki, at a ceremony marking the occasion.
It collapsed seven hours after the Towers fell, after it erupted into flames after it was hit by ruble.
"Raising steel beams here at 7 World Trade Center is emblematic of yet another milestone on our aggressive timetable," Pataki said.
Larry Silverstein, the leaseholder of the site, said that the building's steel will be topped out by the end of 2004, with it being completed by the end of 2005.
Pataki, Silverstein and the building's architect David M. Childs signed the white beam, while throngs of workers in blue, hard hats called on these high-profile men to sign their construction hats. A large crane dropped down and picked up the beam, despite the wind and rain.
Hanging below the beam, an American flag was draped, which was made by local craftsman in Afghanistan to mark Sept. 11.
The beam was erected for the 11th floor, where the first office tenants will rent space. The first ten floors will house transformers for a Consolidated Edison substation, which will supply electricity to much of lower Manhattan.
"David Childs knows how to build high-class expensive buildings," Silverstein said, with a smile. "This is the most expensive building built in the U.S.," he said.
In 2002, he estimated the cost would be $700 million; however, a spokesman for Silverstein would not update that number.
But its high cost is most likely to be on a per-square foot basis. He is building 52 floors, of which only 42 will be leased – containing 1.6 million rentable square feet. On a square foot basis it would be well over $400.
However, Childs plan is also costly because it incorporates a number of safety measures.
Earlier this week, Silverstein said the fires stairs will be widened, well beyond the 55 inches specified by the New York code – to make room for two-way traffic. Landings would be larger than required, and the stairwells pressurized, he added.
The two stairwells will put further apart than code requires to reduce the chances that both are damaged.
The contractor for the job is Daniel Tishman, president of Tishman Realty & Construction; Tishman's father, John, was in charge in the 1980s when it was created the first time.
But Daniel Libeskind, the master planner for Ground Zero, wasn't left of the proceedings altogether.
"We thank you for your vision," Pataki said. He later said that Childs and Libeskind have one more week to come up with design [of the Freedom Tower]." There are "two strong minds and two strong personalities," he said.
After the event, Childs acknowledge that the design for the top of the Freedom Tower is likely to change. "It won't have a glass top," he said, which was originally planned. It is likely to incorporate windmills and open air. He said that "it's important to utilize new energy-saving technologies and safety standards."
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