TinWiki: 7 World Trade Center

The original 7 World Trade Center buidling (also known as WTC 7, Building 7 or Salomon Building) was one of the original buildings of the World Trade Center, which officially opened in March 1987. It was destroyed on September 11, 2001, either as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, or by some controlled means. A new structure by the same official name was built in place of the original and officially opened in May 2006.

The building was a 47-story building with a red granite façade. It was 610 feet (186 m) tall, with a trapezoidal footprint that was 330 ft (101 m) long and 140 ft (43 m) wide. The substation had a caisson foundation designed to carry the weight of a future building of 25 stories containing 600,000 sq ft (55,700 m²). The building was constructed above a Con Edison substation that had been on the site since 1967.

It was designed by Emery Roth & Sons. Tishman Realty & Construction managed construction of the building, which began in 1983. In March 1987, the building opened to become the seventh structure of the World Trade Center.

Collapse of the original WTC 7

When the North Tower collapsed on September 11, 2001, debris hit the WTC 7. This caused heavy damage to south side of the building, particularly to the area between the 8th and 18th floors. The building was fitted with a sprinkler system, but had many weak points in its system. As a result, it had to manually activated.

After the North Tower had collapsed, fire-fighters went into WTC 7 to search for survivors and to extinguish its many small fires. During that afternoon, fires were reported on floors on many floors. Fires between floors 7-9 and 11-13 were burning out of control. At around 2:00pm EDT, firefighters reported a wall bulging in the south west corner of WTC 7.

At around 3:00pm EDT, New York Fire Department Chief Daniel Nigro halted search and rescue operations within the building and its debris field. He ordered the evacuation of the building and surrounding area because of concerns of its structural stability and the safety of NYFD personnel. WTC 7 collapsed at 5:30pm EDT. No one was harmed during the collapse of WTC 7, but there are reports of dead bodies in the building prior to the collapse, as reported by Barry Jennings (Emergency Coordinator - World Trade Center).

Many describe the way the building collapsed as similar to how a controlled demolition occurs. It is also claimed, similarly, that the collapse of the Twin Towers seemed like controlled demolition. This is one of the central topics of the 911 Truth movement, since controlled demolition is not what is described in the official explanation for the collapse of these building.

Current 7 World Trade Center building

The new 7 World Trade Center has 52 stories and is 741 ft (226 m) tall. The building has 42 floors of leasable space, starting at the 11th floor, and a total of 1,700,000 sq ft (158,000 m²) of office space. The first ten floors house an electrical substation, which provides power to much of Lower Manhattan. The office tower has a narrower footprint at ground level than its predecessor so the course of Greenwich Street could be restored in an effort to reunite TriBeCa and the Financial District.

7 World Trade Center under construction in October 2004 David Childs worked in conjunction with glass artist and designer James Carpenter to create a design that uses ultra-clear, low-iron glass to provide reflectivity and light, with stainless-steel spandrels behind the glass to help reflect sunlight. Stainless steel used in the building facade is molybdenum-containing Type 316, which provides improved resistance to corrosion.

The building is being promoted as the safest skyscraper in the U.S. According to Silverstein Properties, the owner of the building, it "will incorporate a host of life-safety enhancements that will become the prototype for new high-rise construction". For example, the building has 2 ft (60 cm) thick reinforced-concrete and fireproofed elevator and stairway access shafts.



External links

Was the WTC 7 pulled?
The Controlled Collapse of WTC 7
WTC7 -- Not an Orange

[edit on 8-7-2009 by WikiEditor]