Ground Zero suffered another incident when metal beams fell 40 stories from a crane during construction on the site. Work had to stop after a cable snapped on the crane lifting the beams, sending the metal freefalling onto a flatbed truck.
Tishman Construction Corporation, the company working on the site has stated no one was hurt in the incident but work had been partially shut down during the investigation. Workers on the site have reported that the fallen beams were 60 feet long and sent everyone ‘yelling and running’ on the site.
The construction taking place on the former World Trade Center site is to construct the new Tower 4 building and work is expected to resume by Friday after city inspectors and other agencies have investigated what happened.
Port Authority representatives have said the incident has negatively impacted the work and its schedule but noted that the site has the best safeguards for worker safety in the world. They went on to state that ‘accidents happen’ and everyone is glad there were no injuries reported.
The crane operator was checked out by medical personnel at the scene due to the traumatic experience that occurred. The operator believed someone had died when the beams fell even though the cable on the crane broke during operation. The area where the incident occurred is not accessible to the public.