Los Angeles Times: Construction to Start at Ground Zero

[url]http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/ats-ap_us13may09.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dtopus[/url]

Construction to Start at Ground Zero
By SARA KUGLER
Associated Press Writer

May 9 2002, 7:39 AM PDT

NEW YORK -- The discovery of body parts has slowed to a trickle, the rubble is
almost gone and soon all that will remain is a pit seven stories deep.

Within a month, the painstaking, around-the-clock effort to remove debris and
search for remains at the World Trade Center site will be finished and the focus
will turn to building a new cultural, business and transit center.

Work already has begun on rebuilding the commuter train and subway stations
demolished by the fallen twin towers, which left an estimated 1.7 million tons
of rubble piled 10 stories high at the 15-block site.

No human remains other than small bones have been found in the past two weeks,
and city officials predict the recovery operation will end later this month.
Fewer than 120,000 tons of rubble are left.

Lt. John Ryan, who oversees the recovery of human remains for the Port Authority
police, said the slowdown has been discouraging in some ways.

"I guess it's just a matter of the site winding down," Ryan said. "There's a mix
of emotions, but we do still have about three weeks left."

Officials said they hope to have a master rebuilding plan completed by December
for the site -- one that is likely to include a permanent memorial, commercial
space and cultural attractions.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said it could take the city up to two years to design a
fitting memorial to the more than 2,800 people killed in the attack.

But transit officials said they couldn't wait for the final development plan to
begin rebuilding train lines that shuttled hundreds of thousands of commuters
before Sept. 11.

"If you tried to tie this into the future development, it would just delay the
whole thing," said Joseph Englot, chief structural engineer for the Port
Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site.

While most planners envision buildings less than half the height of the twin
towers, the new subterranean train lines will be able to bear weight equal to
the 110-story towers.

"We'll put back the columns that could support the original loads. Not knowing
now what the plans are, if somebody wanted to put back what was originally
there, these columns could handle it," Englot said.

-- continued --

Construction on an elevator for the PATH commuter train station began last
month. Workers will begin building the foundations for the station as soon as
the recovery operation is complete, Englot said. The $140 million project is
expected be completed by December 2003.

On the east side of the site, a repaired subway line will accommodate riders by
November, according to Cosema Crawford, deputy chief engineer for New York City
transit. Workers will build a new station at the trade center, which trains will
bypass until the new development is completed.

After city officials determine that the remains recovery operation is complete,
a 13-foot wall of structural steel with mesh panels will be built along the
site's perimeter to allow visitors to view the construction.

The medical examiner's office expects its work identifying remains will continue
for about eight more months after the recovery operation ends.

The number of identified victims surpassed 1,000 last week. More than 19,000
body parts have yet to be identified, spokesman Ellen Borakove said.

Copyright 2002 Associated Press

I personally would like to see the rebuilt facility be bigger and more grandiose than the older one.  That, to me, would be the best memorial to all who died there.  And a giant middle finger to the entire middle east.

You've got the right idea.  Especially about the last part of your statement.[:D]

I read this tonight also, I thought the site was privately owned.

What he said.

A Phoenix Building. . . what a prize for an architect!

build ONE tower, the base the size of the two towers combined.  Build it two stories higher than the tallest twin tower to represent the two fallen towers.  That'll show the terrorist f@ckers!

Oh yeah, put SAM stations on the top, manned by military crews.  Maybe also a SAM or two in the middle for those low flying planes.  

The immense footprint of the area would present the possibility of building the tallest skyscaper ever.

Think one mile high.  Seriously.

We should send in the MArines and seize the Kaaba, then transport it to the WTC ground Zero site, and incorporate it into the foundation of the new skyscraper.

That way, all muslims in the world will have to kneel 5x a day towards Manhattan.

Gunrunner,
The site is owned by the NY/NJ Port Authority and was leased to the management company that ran the WTC for 99 years

I like raven's idea. [:D]

I think that the replacement tower(s) should be the tallest structure in the world by a rather large margin. It is now possible to build litterally mile high structures, and that's what we should do.

Now /there's/ a good idea. I second that motion.

And if they ever have to level it? the building demo guys will have a BIG job. just so it wont collapse on other buildings. highly unlikley a replacement building would ever be leveled. but if a earthquake/tidalwave/tornado struck it all at once... bye bye building. bye bye life.