New York State company forges steel for 9/11 memorial

Construction on the 9/11 Memorial is continuing to move forward. Granite installation has begun inside the large reflecting pools and the memorial is now completely framed in steel. Its two acre-sized squares set within the original footprints of the fallen twin towers are clearly visible, defining the 16-acre World Trade Center site that is being reborn through concrete, steel and the labor of hundreds of construction workers.

The memorial opens next year for the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror strikes.

In 2011, twin waterfalls that drop 30 feet will flow at the World Trade Center site. A network of pipes will feed the waterfalls with a series of ten pumps, each creating about 40 pounds of pressure. The pumps will circulate about 52,000 gallons of recycled water per minute. These pumps will be anchored on table-like steel bases weighing about 750 pounds each.  According to a report by the Times Herald-Record, these steel bases were created by D.C. Fabrication & Welding Inc., of Ferndale, NY, which is about 100 miles northwest of ground zero.

Reporter Victor Whitman of the Times Herald-Record writes that "none of the millions of visitors of the memorial will see them" but the steel bases will be "doing their job underground, beneath the [9/11 Memorial]." He characterized the bases as sturdy legs of the multimillion-dollar structure.

The company, which employs six, has completed all the bases for the memorial pool water pumps that will "send ribbons of water cascading over 30-foot waterfalls into pools below," according to the report.

Office Manager Bellinda Davis told the newspaper: "I am very proud we are part of this memorial. It is an honor."

By Michael Frazier, Sr. Communications Manager for the Memorial