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[chronicle_moderator]

A professor of structural engineering at the University of California at Berkeley says that, if the World Trade Center towers had been subject to local building codes rather than to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's, they would not have collapsed so quickly on September 11, 2001. Others in his field say he's wrong. Should the architectural plans for those buildings be more publicly available? Should builders of the new Freedom Tower, planned for Ground Zero, be forced to adhere to local codes?
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[pchoffer]

Absolutely correct, as I argued in my Seven Fires: The Urban Infernos that Reshaped America. Shortcuts to increase rentable space, in other words, design choices dictated not by fire safety, much less by NYC building codes, but by PA desire to increase profits, made the two towers fire hazards from their inception. These dangers by design included too few, too clustered, and too narrow fire stairs (the building should have had nine, but had only three, for example) slowed both the evacuation and the rescue attempt. Spray on fireproofing (that blew off in the explosion) instead of hardened tile and concrete subjected the steel floor members and end bolts to fatal heat levels (buckling floors brought the building down). Had the number of steel supports been increased, distributed throughout the building instead of at its curtain and core only, then the floors would not have buckled and thousands of lives would have been saved. Peter Hoffer, University of Georgia

[geekgurl]

As a person who has no knowledge of how buildings are built and everything involved for ensuring the safety of the workers and visitors of buildings; I would want to know and have public access to how the building was constructed and by what guidelines. Since 911 I do consider the building I enter more carefully. It doesn’t stop me from going places but it is a thought in the back of my mind.

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http://businessadminguide.blogspot.com/

Should the architectural plans for those buildings be more publicly available? Should builders of the new Freedom Tower, planned for Ground Zero, be forced to adhere to local codes?