The design and construction of the World Trade Center, of which the Twin Towers were the centerpieces, marked a dramatic change in skyscraper innovation. The PBS website provides an 18-minute video, Building the World Trade Center, produced by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in 1983 with original footage of the steel-framed towers under construction.
To learn more about the engineering behind the World Trade Center, read an illustrated essay, Towers of Innovation.
Today, as the nation commemorates the 13th anniversary of 9/11, the World Trade Center site is largely rebuilt. Updates on its construction progress can be found at www.panynj.gov/wtcprogress.
One World Trade Center (1WTC), completed last July, is the tallest of the four buildings planned as part of the Ground Zero reconstruction master plan for Lower Manhattan. And it is indeed the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere with an overall height, from ground level to the top of the spire, of 1,776 ft. At 1,368 feet above ground, the main roof is designed to be the same height as the original towers.
In recognition of its particular accomplishments in structural engineering, 1WTC has been selected to receive this year’s AISC IDEAS2 Presidential Award of Excellence in Engineering. In honor of this achievement, members of the project team will be presented with awards from AISC during a ceremony to take place at the tower next Wednesday, September 17. Read more about 1WTC in MSC’s May 2014 IDEAS2 issue.
1WTC Photo Credit: Yoram Eilon (courtesy of WSP)