March 16, 2009, 10:23 am
When Are They Going to Build the New World Trade Center? Just Look Up
By David W. Dunlap
David W. Dunlap/The New York Times Ironworkers on 1 World Trade Center, now more than 100 feet above street level.
The steel framework for the south core of 1 World Trade Center has reached more than 100 feet above Vesey Street. The north pool of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center is taking visible shape. And by the end of the month, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey expects to have placed an order for 22,000 tons of steel to build the World Trade Center Transportation Hub.
It seems safe now to say that the new World Trade Center is under way.
That doesn’t mean that it is anywhere close to completion. But the battleground has shifted largely from offices and conference rooms to the 16-acre site itself and the task of engineering and assembling an interlocking three-dimensional puzzle that begins 70 feet below street level and is to culminate at a point higher than any other in New York City.
The memorial plaza is to open on Sept. 11, 2011, followed by the underground memorial museum and Tower 4 in 2012; 1 World Trade Center, also known as the Freedom Tower, in 2013; and the transportation hub in 2014. Less clear, as the economic storm gains force, are the fates of Tower 2, Tower 3 and Tower 5. And it never hurts to add the caveat that a lot surefire plans at ground zero have been foiled by circumstance.
Taking that into account, The Times plans to follow construction (or delays) over the next few years in a series of video reports, beginning with this one. These reports will focus on the big milestones, on the fascinating details that must be resolved, and on the many men and women who are building the new trade center. If you have a few years to spare, stay tuned.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/20...st-look-up/?hp