Tampa Museum - Skanska

Photo Per-Anders Pettersson
The WTC hub
Next year will mark the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks against New York City.
A new Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) transportation hub for trains is a significant
step in the restoration of the World Trade Center (WTC) area. Skanska is set to construct
underground structures and platforms for the new WTC hub.
At nearby Fulton Street, one block east of the WTC,
two Skanska teams are currently preparing the Fulton
Street Transit Center and the mezzanines for the A and
C subway lines for the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority (MTA) New York City Transit.
The Fulton Street-Broadway-Nassau subway station will
have new pedestrian bridges, platforms and three new
entrances. The illustration shows its status in December
2009.
These projects also connect to the Dey Street Concourse,
completed by Skanska in 2008. Norman Hirsch
is Project Manager for both.
“There is so much work, I could retire down here,”
Hirsch says.
The Fulton project has a tight schedule (to be completed
in 20 months, the A/C mezzanine in 40 months) on
an enclosed site, with high-rise buildings on three sides
and subway trains below and to the side. The horizontal
pipes in the illustration support the surrounding buildings,
so they will not sink. Tolerance is a maximum of an
inch.
“We’re ahead of schedule, thanks to some good planning,”
says Hirsch. “For example, to gain space, we built
two temporary decks on top of the hole. Using the deck,
we could use a backhoe to perform most of the excavation
from Broadway.
“It is also very helpful that we have the opportunity to
cooperate with Hsin Wu, who is MTA’s Program Manager.
He understands the job, wants to get it done and
knows all the people on the owner’s side.”
Some of the work is taking place at night and on
weekends to minimize subway disruption. Fulton Street
Transit Center is a hub for several subway lines in the
WTC area.
32 Worldwide # 1 2010