“It is important that we as an industry stay together and that we commit ourselves to participate in task forces and recovery efforts. We are faced with the same kinds
of long-term commitments the President talked about and we will need patience,” said Building Congress Chairman Jeffrey M. Levy.

Peter Marchetto, whose firm, Bovis Lend Lease, has been involved in the search and recovery operations at the World Trade Center from day one, praised the construction industry’s response, saying, “Anyone with a hard hat was coming down to help in the first 48 hours.” Soon after, the area was organized into four quadrants and each of the contractors tabbed by the City divided up their efforts. In addition to Bovis, the construction industry firms brought in by the City were AMEC Construction Management, Inc., Tully Construction, and a joint venture of Turner Construction Company and Plaza Construction. He added that the clean up of the site is expected to last up to one year.

Marchetto praised Richard Tomasetti, President of The Thornton-Tomasetti Group, Inc. and his colleagues, who were brought in to assess the integrity of the buildings in the vicinity of the World Trade Center. He noted that they were all there amid the rubble with hard hats and respirators assessing each building for structural damage and making sure that they were safe for rescue personnel to enter. “They went in the buildings, didn’t even question it and they made assessments immediately.”

Tomasetti noted that his firm had 400 engineers involved in building assessments and related efforts. “As devastating as the damage was, it was relatively well contained. Five or six buildings sustained structural damage but won’t collapse. They can be repaired and used again,” Tomasetti said, adding that 50 buildings in the immediate vicinity incurred collateral damage.

Engineer George Tamaro, a partner at Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers told the crowd
that the 70-foot deep containment wall, referred to as the “bathtub,” needs to be secured once the debris is removed to ensure that the Hudson River does not flood the area. Tamaro said an exploratory program is underway which will yield the design for the underground excavation.
Skidmore Owings & Merrill Chairman Marilyn Jordan Taylor and Parsons Brinckerhoff Chairman Robert Prieto updated attendees on their work with the New York City Partnership infrastructure task force devoted to rebuilding in the attack aftermath. Their task force and its subcommittees, which include numerous representatives from design, construction and real estate, will examine and make recommendations on such issues as changes in zoning rules, expediting permits, transportation networks and energy infrastructure.

According to Prieto, “We need to look past the immediate concerns and clean up, and we must be in the lead in deciding what comes next.” Added Taylor, “This is the time for the biggest scale thinking we will see for a lifetime. It will take all of us working together. We must do this, and I look forward to working with all of you.”

William Harkins from Consolidated Edison reported that the utility has laid 33 miles of voltage cable and installed temporary generators which helped to restore full power to the area by the eighth day. He said that the immediate need is for the utility to build two new substations by next summer, in time for the period of peak electricity demand.

Guest speaker Andrew Cuomo, the former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, summed up the feelings in the room when he said, “It is time to understand what we have gone through, but it is also time to go forward. For the past two weeks, we have not been Democrats. We have not been Republicans. We have not been liberals or conservatives. We have all been New Yorkers. We need to keep this energy and refocus on the positive.” “We need to rebuild New York and not just the 16-acre (World Trade Center) site. We need to build New York City back better than it ever was. Our plan should be bigger and broader than downtown,” said Cuomo, adding that issues such as education, affordable housing and transportation also must be addressed. With the energy in this room, we can do it. We do have broad shoulders, and we have always done things they said could never been done.”