EPA press release on WTC cleaning hotline launch, June 2002

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document ■J££a2''--

Accidents Development X OKLAHOMA SPEEDS TO REPLACE CONSULTANTS SPAN FOLLOWING BARGE COLLISION PICKED FOR WTC THE PROCESS FOR REDEVELOPING THE World Trade Center site and revitalizing lower Manhattan, ravaged by last year’s Sept 11 terrorist attacks that killed more than 2,800 people, is BS»a si? . gaining momentum as Ground Zero stabiliza­

IM tion and cleanup winds down. New York City­ based Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Plan­ i S'?'

ners, in association with ±e local office of dvil lombardi ’e engineer Parsons Brine- • — kerhoff, were named to aid in urban design and transportation planning of the 16-acre plot and its surroundings. The team was picked from a field of 15 and named May 22, the day before the first of five public hearings on the redevelopment—a subject likely to be J■h FALLEN Oklahoma officials alm for fast fix of 1-40 span after fatal barge crash. one of the city’s most emotionally and politically charged undertakings ever. The team includes 11 subspecialists, all WHILE RECOVERY EFFORTS CONTINUED “The impact of the collision would assigned to produce a framework by following the May 27 barge collision and have been roughly equivalent to five year-end that identifies six landuse op­ collapse of a bridge over the Arkansas 2,000-lb cars slamming into the structure tions. Infrastructure improvements, like- River, the Oklahoma Dept of Trans- simultaneously at 60 mph,” says Steven ly to include a trans- 5 portation on May 28 hired engineer Poe Upton, an associate engineering profes- portation hub to & Associates Inc., Oklahoma Qty, to pre- sor at the University of Tulsa. Mary Beth H it- handle an expected 10 J pare repair plans within 16 days. Hudson, spokesperson for the U.S. Army H million aruiual visitors g ODOT Oiief Engineer Bruce Taylor Corps of Engineers, notes that the river to the future 9/11 me- g says he expects to hire a contractor as was flowing at 54,000 cu ft per sec, well morial, could cost an g soon as the plans are delivered. The re- below the normal 70,000-ar-ft-per-sec A? estimated $5.5 billion. & pair is estimated to cost $10 million. average. The Corps has lent a barge- Federal money is ex- « “We feel the very real responsibility to mounted 175-ton crane and sonar WHITEHEAD peCted. I put this bridge ba^ into commission as equipment to the recovery effort, led by Francis J. Lombardi, g fest as possible,” says Herschel Walker, a 14-member National Transportation chief engineer for the site’s public owner, £ ODOT secretary. “That thing took one Safety Board team and the U.S. Coast the Port Authority of New York and New | heck of a wallop, but it’s a very stable Guard. Jersey, said the hub might be above or be- | striicnue apart ^m the west end.” The four-lane bridge, which carries low grade or “moved”just east of Ground ® Ai least nine people were killed when 20,000 vehicles daily, is part of a truck Zero, to connect into New York City sub- I two attached barges struck and collapsed route between Barstow, Calif., and Wilm- way lines. g the Interstate 40 bridge in eastern Okla- ington, N.Q Traffic is being rerouted 20 John C. Whitehead, chairman of the | homa. A 104-ft-long tugboat was pushing miles away, heavily impacting interstate local Lower Manhattan Development | the barges, owned by Vicksburg, Miss.- commerce. Corp., began the May 23 hearing by 5 based Magnolia Marine Transport Co., Built in 1967, the 64-ft-wide, 1,988-ft- telling a p^ed house that LMDC’s pre- w up the river. The empty barges, we^Jiing long bridge consists of two post t-n- liminary blueprint released last month is | a combined 800,000 lb, were 300 ft fi-om sioned concrete decks set atop ;teei gud- only “a starting point” He then prom- 6 the bridge when pilot Joe Dedmon ers. The 13-span crossing, which has a ised to involve all constituencies in the | apparently blackea out 300-ft clearance, is support^ by 10 piers. redevelopment planning. LMDC, a sub- g At 7:45 a.m., the 54A-wide, 2804t-long each roughly 48 in. in diameter. It re­ sidiary of the state’s Empire State Devel- barges began drifting at 5 mph. They ceived a 78 of 100 rating when it was in­ opment Corp., was set up to oversee re- g j missed the navi^tion charmel by 300 ft spected last year, with negligible abrasion development (ENR 4/22 p. 7). | and hit three piers at the bridge’s west to the pilings. After listening to the speakers, many in I end. Two piers shattered and a third tilt- ODOT l^lieves it can still utilize fire the audience registered cynicism, saying | ed, causing 500 ft of deck sections to remaining bridge structure and span the officials had already left local groups and t pancake. Up to 15 vehicles drove into cavity with concrete girders. A contractor the poor out of the plarming process. □ p the 11-ft-deep river. or engineer has yet to be named. □ By Nadine M. Post |

JUNE 3, 2002/ENR 11

NYC-WTC_b00143055