More than five years after 9/11, passersby at Ground Zero will finally see demonstrable signs of progress in construction of the 1,776-foot-high Freedom Tower and adjoining buildings, the replacements for the World Trade Center.
This week workers will begin setting the massive 35-foot, 53-ton steel beams that will form the foundation. These include one signed by the victims’ survivors. Ground was broken for construction last April, but the early work was all preparatory to beginning to erect that actual structure.
The Freedom Tower is to be topped out in 2009, thus restoring a signature silhouette to the New York skyline, and completed in 2011. The building was delayed by political and financial wrangling, which was unfortunate.
Having a spectacular structure in place of the Twin Towers is both monument to the victims and testament of New York’s and America’s resilience and determination.
