WTC security and emergency response newspaper article

z z s o co

'2 o o “0 c CT o' tn "0 o ro ro ro tAi Engineers Say Buildings Near Trade Center Held Up Well 9L O o By ERIC LIPTON “7----- ------------ ------ ---------- — sideways instead, Mr. Levy said, "you o

6'W c Trade In^ctions iind lots of would have seen tremendous damage out­ 3 Center show evidence of .dgmage like blown- out windows or gashes on their facades, hone appear to be slumping, leaning or subsiding, and none are in danger of imml* cah^t be fixed. but little that ' ■ •W.Z i I- / 7/ side the zone, and you would have had those buildings possibly collapse.” The eight-page Depaftmerit of Buildings survey of 195 structures in and around the World Trade Center complex again and Q 3

nent cdllapse, engineers said yesterday af­ again reports “building is safe” or '''minor ter a detailed series of inspections. cleanup required” or "O.K. to occupy.” Isolated structural repairs wlIT be re- Through much of the area south of Park Buildings with those kinds of findings in­ fjuired On at least three large office build­ Placp, north of Albany Street and west of clude 4 World Financial Center, occupied in ings: Bankers Trust, 30 West Broadway and Broaidway, there are stretches where hun- large part by Merrill Lynch & Company. 3 WO^ld Financial Center. M,ahy others, like 22 Gortlandt Street, will require more mod- dredjs of Windows facing the' towers have been blown out. Roofs have been damaged front falling debris. Including airplane parts s and 75 Park Place, the home to the city’s Office of Management and Budget. Even i Liberty Plaza, a building with ept eerier repairs, as well as extensive work ip windows, heating or ventilating systems, or other datnaged parts. , ‘ But It is Unlikely that any of theS6 or other found on the Federal Office Building at 90 Church Street and another building across Barclay Streeti at 100 Church Street. Other •jI’ ’ h niMW '11 more than 50 stories across the street from 4 World Trade Center, which is partially collapsed, is listed as "structurally sound, hetirby buildings Will need to be detnollsir building exteriors are singed by fire or Just including facade,” despite rumors during the last ^eek that it was nearing collapse. said Richard Tomasetti, president if tfA/Thomton-Tomasetti, the engineering caked with soot. But the preliminary results of the city’s 11 •ft’ (The 4, 5 and 6 World Trade Center build­ ings are largely wrecked and will have to be flfthl lhe city hired for the assessments. detailed buildlng-by-buildlng assessment of the area support the conclusion that while demolished, an engineer said.) “Ail of them, in my opinion, there’s no li! ’ The Millenium Hilton Hotel Is alsO struc­ reason in the world that they can’t be damage to facades and interiors is occasion­ ally severe and plainly visible, many of the turally sound, the survey says, though it is saved,” Mr. Tomasetti said. “I can’t teil you missing some front windows and its lower what the owners will decide fof~the few builalngs could be occupied in several is no evl- facade is damaged. bdildings with limited structural problems, weeks r— -months. to several ---- r--------- —-—There----------------- These assessments do not mean that ten­ but these buildings don’t need to come dence that any biilldlngs have been compro- ants will necessarily be able to move back dOwn.” " mlsed structurally In a way that would - Frances Roberts for The New York Times soon. The 75 Park Place building needs an two reporters from The New York Times require demolition. Engineers say the collapse of the twin extensive cleanup, as does 4 World Finan­ obtained a copy of the city’s prellminary In part, the survey suggests, that is be- towers did little permanent structural cial Center, where employees may not able aSsessment Pf !95 buildings in the area cause the twin towers collapsed almost to return for two to three months, a Merrill yesterday, arid were allowed toTview struc- straight downward, a circumstance that the damage to buildings nearby. Lynch Spokesman said.. tiires iii and around what has come to be engineers said might have reduced the Engineers also cautiofifedahat after the called ground zero. The contrasts there death toll from the terrorist attack. of "Why Buildings Fall Down” (Norton, main structural questions h^ been ad­ evoked the i Hclous powen of an earth? . “I.f s like: controlled demolition,” said 1992), said the collapse of the towers was dressed, a Wide range of other ^anup and quake, witn .: ucturally Sound buildings Matihys Levy, a foundlng partner at Weld- “an uncontrolled demolition project, but it repair work Would remain, Inclutlirfc repair- Standlrig across the street from smoking linger Associates, a structural engineering acted like a controlled demolition project.” Continued on Ptjgc BS ) mounds of rubble five of six stories high. firm In New York. Mr. Levy, the co-author If the buildings had tipped or tumbled