|
Buildings
Crews Restoring WTC's Infrastructure
(enr.com
- 3/11/02)
By Debra K. Rubin
In an effort to restore some normalcy
to the terrorist-damaged World Trade Center area, New York
city and state officials announced the rebuilding and reopening
of several surface transportation routes adjacent to the site.
 |
| FRESH
COAT Repaving of steel- damaged West Street starts. (Photo
by Michael Goodman for ENR) |
The $5-million reconstruction of an
approximately 1,000-ft-long temporary section of Route 9A,
also called West Street, that border WTC's west side, was
announced Feb. 27. The roadway was heavily damaged by the
Sept. 11 collapse of the twin towers. Falling steel girders
pierced through the concrete pavement to transit tunnels below.
The road's destruction had isolated the city's nearby Battery
Park City neighborhood and shut down the Brooklyn-Battery
Tunnel that connects lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Work on the six-lane roadway includes
new pavement, traffic signals, lighting, structural work and
underground utility reconstruction. Work is being managed
by the New York State Dept. of Transportation and the city's
Dept. of Design and Construction. The latter agency also is
managing Ground Zero cleanup. Its general contractor, Tully
Construction Co. Inc., is also the roadway contractor.
"The reconnecting of lower Manhattan's
roadway network...is a sign that we are moving forward,"
said New York Gov. George Pataki (R), in a statement. The
roadway will be used for about three to five years until a
more comprehensive redevelopment plan is enacted.
 |
| JOBSITE
Ground Zero is looking more like construction site. (Photo
courtesy of Seametric) |
The restoration also includes rebuilding
a destroyed pedestrian bridge across West St. leading to Battery
Park City. The 250-ft-long, $3.3-million span will be comprised
of two prefabricated box truss structures connected side-by-side.
It will be fitted with a stainless steel roof and be completed
by the end of April, say officials of the Battery Park City
Authority, which designed it. Cost reimbursement "is
expected" from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
WTC crews also are pushing to complete
onsite cleanup work within the next two months. A $2-million
temporary vehicular bridge into the WTC basement opened earlier
this month, allowing excavation of a dirt-packed ramp at the
site of Tower 2 for possible remains. One WTC official says
the bodies of two firemen were found just hours after excavation
began. Crews also have shut down one of two pier-based debris
recycling operations and have reduced steel deliveries to
the remaining site to once a week.
|
