First Big Contract for 9/11 Memorial Awarded

First Big Contract for 9/11 Memorial Awarded

By DAVID W. DUNLAP
Published: August 3, 2006

The first big construction contract for the 9/11 memorial — 118 footings from which the structure will rise within the deep hole at ground zero — was awarded today by the Port Authority and the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation.

Work is to begin this month, officials said. Last March, in a preparatory job that was then hailed by Gov. George E. Pataki as the start of “actual construction,” crews built protective enclosures around the remnants of the original perimeter columns that define the twin towers’ footprints. The memorial will occupy much of this area.

E. E. Cruz & Company of Holmdel, N.J., won the $17 million contract.

The company built the foundations for the Goldman Sachs tower at 30 Hudson Street in Jersey City, which made use of a slurry wall like that at the trade center, and part of the AirTrain light-rail system that burrows below the runways at Kennedy International Airport.

“This is the clearest sign yet that this memorial is actually being built and it is a powerful signal to our donors,” said Joseph C. Daniels, the acting president of the foundation, which is to raise $300 million for the memorial and museum ($130 million down, $170 million to go).

Less than a month ago, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the trade center site, agreed to take over construction of the memorial and museum, in the name of efficiency and economy.

“We’re excited about this because it’s the very first step in our partnership with the memorial foundation,” said Kenneth J. Ringler Jr., the executive director of the authority. “The starting of the foundations is a significant step.”

Last winter, bids came in unexpectedly high on an earlier footings and foundation contract put out by the foundation and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. That contract was shelved as officials began re-examining the overall cost estimates for the memorial. That process ultimately led them to modify the memorial design in order to meet a budget goal of $500 million.

There are a total of 142 footings for the memorial and museum, Mr. Daniels said. The balance will be covered by a subsequent contract.

From 5,000 to 10,000 cubic yards of dirt will be removed from the site through drilling, blasting and excavation, said Edward Cruz, the president of the Cruz company. The holes will reach bedrock, 4 to 10 feet below the lowermost level of the memorial. Concrete will be poured into those holes, into which about 500 tons of reinforcing steel will also be set. These concrete and steel footings will support the structure above.

Mr. Cruz recalled today that his workers were building the foundations for the Goldman Sachs tower on Sept. 11, 2001, when they watched as the terror unfolded across the Hudson River.

The company then sent equipment to Lower Manhattan to help in the cleanup, he said.

So the memorial project has a special resonance, Mr. Cruz said. “It’s something all our people want: to go back and finish the job.”