LiRo at GROUND ZERO

Work at the World Trade Center Involves the Firm’s Top

Personnel

New York’s engineering and construction communities have been put to the test as a multitude of firms pour their resources into the recovery effort at ground zero. Nowhere has this been truer than at LiRo, where the firm’s personnel have been involved since the week after the tragedy.

The New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC) has divided the site into four quadrants for recovery operations and debris removal. Tully Construction, a heavy construction contractor experienced in emergency contracts, has the largest quadrant, encompassing nearly half the site. Included in Tully’s zone are the South Tower and World Trade Center Buildings Four and Five.

Having worked closely with LiRo on other City projects, Tully called upon the firm to provide demolition support, structural engineering, scheduling, accounting, and interface with the City’s primary engineering consultants, LZA/Thornton & Thomasetti, and Mueser Rutledge. In response, LiRo is supplying Tully with a broad range of personnel: structural engineers, architects, construction managers,

accountants, and safety inspectors. Over a dozen of LiRo’s top personnel – including the firm’s president, John Lekstutis – now spend most of their time at ground zero. The tasks have been difficult and varied.

Red Hot Debris. The removal of debris from the collapsed areas requires the safe lifting and maneuvering of very heavy steel beams, often twisted and tangled from the force of the collapse. Some beams pulled from the wreckage are still red hot more than 7 weeks after the attack, and it is suspected that temperatures beneath the debris pile are well in excess of 1,000°F. One group of beams fell end-first, embedding themselves deeply into the subway system below. The removal of these beams

– one of which struck an electrical equipment room – is a delicate operation requiring close coordination with New York City Transit . Although the 1/9 station below the Trade Center is heavily damaged, 1,200ft. are intact. LiRo is working with New York City Transit to shore up the station so that there will be no further damage.

Key among LiRo’s on-site engineering staff are structural engineers Dick Posthauer and Chuck Guardia, Jr., and civil engineer Mike Marsico, formerly with the Port Authority. Frank Franco, an architect with LiRo’s construction management group, serves as LiRo’s project manager, with Joe Pinto, a CPA, as financial manager.

Ramps and Bridges. In addition to the construction engineering required for the debris removal, LiRo’s on- site engineers have been faced with many structural design assignments. The firm worked with Mueser Rutledge to develop a means to support Church Street, which must be kept open for emergency vehicles. Accessing some of the collapsed areas has also proven to be a challenge, requiring the design of ramps to support heavy equipment. Then there were the two pedestrian bridges crossing West Street; with these now destroyed, residents of Battery Park City have no easy means to reach their homes. LiRo is collaborating with NYSDOT, NYCDOT, and Tully to provide a temporary pedestrian bridge over West Street at Rector Street. The bridge will include stairs, lifts for ADA access, and weather protection.

November 2001