WTC Tower Construction To Begin Mid-January

NEW YORK CITY-The Port Authority has substantially completed the excavation of the basement area for Towers 3 and 4 at the World Trade Center site. In a prepared statement, it noted that it would complete the entirety of the excavation of Tower 4 by mid-January, and Tower 3 two to four weeks later.

In keeping with this timetable, Silverstein Properties will advance procurement and other preconstruction activities in preparation for full-scale construction. The construction of the towers, including below- and above-grade retail and subterranean transit concourses, is expected to be completed in 2011.

The 12-month excavation and construction project–which involved the removal of nearly 300,000 tons, will be completed within weeks of its original schedule established in an agreement with Silverstein Properties in mid-2006. As a whole, the project is more than 90% complete. The excavation for the “bathtub” for Towers 3 and 4 must be dug to elevation 240. To date, 80% of the site for Tower 4 has reached elevation 240, and the remaining portion ranges from between elevations 241 and 248. The site for Tower 3 has been excavated to as low as elevation 264.