 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(August 2012) |
The Bathtub refers to the underground foundation area at the site of the World Trade Center and accompanying buildings in New York City. The term bathtub is something of a misnomer, as the area does not hold any water; rather the purpose of its design is to keep water out. The name is more so used to describe its shape of a deep basin with high walls, like a bathtub.
The Bathtub, built in 1967–1968, encompasses a large, roughly rectangular excavation down to bedrock surrounded by reinforced concrete walls, intended to serve as dams to prevent water intrusion from the nearby Hudson River (North River). It enclosed nearly the entire original World Trade Center. [1] The World Trade Center site was located on man-made water-clogged landfill that had accumulated over centuries, providing an extension of land out onto the Hudson River from the original Manhattan shoreline, with bedrock located 65 feet (20 m) below. Manually removing water from this area would have severely altered the water levels surrounding the World Trade Center site and thus would have jeopardized the foundations of nearby buildings, causing them to sink. This is why the Bathtub method was used. [2]
The Bathtub contains a 16-acre (65,000 m2) site, including seven basement levels, the downtown terminal of the PATH rapid transit line, and the preexisting New York City Subway's IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line ( 1 train). [2] The South Tower of the World Trade Center was actually built around the PATH tubes that passed through the foundation area, thus service was uninterrupted throughout the whole of the construction period. The waterproof walls were 3 feet (0.91 m) thick and 70 feet (21 m) high. [2]
The excavated material that was dug up to build the bathtub was again used as landfill to construct Battery Park City, and the same method was also used to construct the foundation area of the Willis Tower in Chicago.
There are several structures that penetrate the Bathtub wall: DWV, utility systems, and PATH trains. Today, a passageway leads between Brookfield Place and the World Trade Center Transportation Hub.
Once constructed, the bathtub walls relied on the presence of the basement floors of the WTC to give lateral support. When these were partially destroyed following the collapse of the Twin Towers during the September 11 attacks, it was feared that removing the resulting debris pile could weaken the walls and cause them to fail, endangering workers and possibly compromising other buildings and flooding a significant portion of the subway system. During the recovery and clean-up operation, dangerous degradation of the walls was discovered, prompting an emergency operation to install tiebacks to the bedrock to shore up the bathtub walls. [2] Excavation of a new Bathtub was conducted between 2006 and 2008, with the new Bathtub reaching 85 feet (26 m) underground. [3]
The World Trade Center site, often referred to as "Ground Zero" or "the Pile" immediately after the September 11 attacks, is a 14.6-acre (5.9 ha) area in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The site is bounded by Vesey Street to the north, the West Side Highway to the west, Liberty Street to the south, and Church Street to the east. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) owns the site's land. The original World Trade Center complex stood on the site until it was destroyed in the September 11 attacks.
A slurry wall is a civil engineering technique used to build reinforced concrete walls in areas of soft earth close to open water, or with a high groundwater table. This technique is typically used to build diaphragm (water-blocking) walls surrounding tunnels and open cuts, and to lay foundations.
Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business and culture, and the neighborhood is the historical birthplace, and serves as the seat of government, of New York City itself. Because there are no municipally defined boundaries for the neighborhood, a precise population cannot be quoted, but several sources have suggested that it was one of the fastest-growing locations in New York City between 2010 and 2020, related to the influx of young adults and significant development of new housing units.
The WTC Cortlandt station is a station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway in Lower Manhattan. The station is located under the intersection of Greenwich Street and Cortlandt Way within the World Trade Center. It is served by the 1 train at all times.
Exchange Place station is a station on the Port Authority Trans–Hudson (PATH) rail system in the Paulus Hook neighborhood of Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey. The station is on the Newark–World Trade Center line between Newark Penn Station and World Trade Center all week and the Hoboken–World Trade Center line during the day on weekdays to service Hoboken Terminal. Exchange Place provides access to the Jersey City waterfront and a station on the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail, where connections are available to Bayonne and North Bergen.
World Trade Center station is a terminal station on the PATH system, within the World Trade Center complex in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. It is served by the Newark–World Trade Center line at all times, as well as by the Hoboken–World Trade Center line on weekdays, and is the eastern terminus of both.
One World Trade Center, also known as One World Trade, One WTC, and formerly called the Freedom Tower during initial planning stages, is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, One World Trade Center is the tallest building in the United States, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, and the seventh-tallest in the world. The supertall structure has the same name as the North Tower of the original World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The new skyscraper stands on the northwest corner of the 16-acre (6.5 ha) World Trade Center site, on the site of the original 6 World Trade Center. It is bounded by West Street to the west, Vesey Street to the north, Fulton Street to the south, and Washington Street to the east.
The Downtown Hudson Tubes are a pair of tunnels that carry PATH trains under the Hudson River in the United States, between New York City to the east and Jersey City, New Jersey, to the west. The tunnels run between the World Trade Center station on the New York side and the Exchange Place station on the New Jersey side.
Westfield World Trade Center, also known as the Oculus, is a shopping mall at the World Trade Center complex in Manhattan, New York, that is operated and managed by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. The mall opened on August 16, 2016, as the largest shopping complex in Manhattan, with 125 retail spaces. It replaced the Mall at the World Trade Center, the underground shopping mall under the original World Trade Center, which was destroyed on September 11, 2001.
The Hudson Terminal was a rapid transit station and office-tower complex in the Radio Row neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Opened during 1908 and 1909, it was composed of a terminal station for the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad (H&M), as well as two 22-story office skyscrapers and three basement stories. The complex occupied much of a two-block site bounded by Greenwich, Cortlandt, Church, and Fulton Streets, which later became the World Trade Center site.
The construction of the first World Trade Center complex in New York City was conceived as an urban renewal project to help revitalize Lower Manhattan spearheaded by David Rockefeller. The project was developed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The idea for the World Trade Center arose after World War II as a way to supplement existing avenues of international commerce in the United States.
5 World Trade Center is a planned skyscraper at the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The site is across Liberty Street, to the south of the main 16-acre (6.5 ha) World Trade Center site. In February 2021 it was announced the new 5 World Trade Center will be developed in a joint venture between Silverstein Properties and Brookfield Properties. The proposed building shares its name with the original 5 World Trade Center, which was heavily damaged as a result of the collapse of the North Tower during the September 11 attacks and was later demolished.
4 World Trade Center is a skyscraper constructed as part of the new World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The tower is located on Greenwich Street at the southeastern corner of the World Trade Center site. Fumihiko Maki designed the 978 ft-tall (298 m) building. It houses the headquarters of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ).
3 World Trade Center is a skyscraper constructed as part of the new World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The tower is located on Greenwich Street along the eastern side of the World Trade Center site. The building was designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, and is managed by Silverstein Properties through a ground lease with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), the landowner. It is 1,079 ft (329 m) high, with 80 stories. As of 2023, it is the ninth-tallest building in the city.
One World Trade Center is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Construction of One World Trade Center was deferred until 2006 because of disputes between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the developer. Tishman Realty & Construction is the selected builder. The building reached ground level on May 17, 2008, and was topped out on May 10, 2013. One World Trade Center opened to tenants on November 3, 2014, and One World Observatory opened to the public on May 28, 2015.
2 World Trade Center is a planned skyscraper as part of the World Trade Center complex in Manhattan, New York City. It will replace the original 2 World Trade Center, which was completed in 1972 and subsequently destroyed during the September 11 attacks in 2001, and it will occupy the position of the original 5 World Trade Center. The foundation work was completed in 2013.
The World Trade Center Vehicle Security Center and Tour Bus Parking Facility, or simply the Vehicular Security Center (VSC), is a secure complex for truck delivery and underground parking at the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York City. The entrance to the VSC is located at street-level along the southern edge of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum on Liberty Street. The VSC is connected via tunnels that feed the entire 16-acre (65,000 m2) WTC complex, linking the security checkpoint at its entrance with the buildings and services at the complex requiring vehicular services. Underground garages provide parking for tenants, visitors, and tour buses.
The original World Trade Center (WTC) was a large complex of seven buildings in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed during the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. At the time of their completion, the Twin Towers—the original 1 World Trade Center at 1,368 feet (417 m); and 2 World Trade Center at 1,362 feet (415.1 m)—were the tallest buildings in the world. Other buildings in the complex included the Marriott World Trade Center, 4 WTC, 5 WTC, 6 WTC, and 7 WTC. The complex contained 13,400,000 square feet (1,240,000 m2) of office space and, prior to its completion, was projected to accommodate an estimated 130,000 people.
The World Trade Center (WTC) is a mostly completed complex of buildings in the Lower Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, U.S., replacing the original seven buildings on the same site that were destroyed in the September 11 attacks. The site is being rebuilt with up to six new skyscrapers, four of which have been completed; a memorial and museum to those killed in the attacks; the elevated Liberty Park adjacent to the site, containing the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and the Vehicular Security Center; and a transportation hub. The 104-story One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, is the lead building for the new complex.
The Chambers Street–World Trade Center/Park Place/Cortlandt Street station is a New York City Subway station complex on the IND Eighth Avenue Line, IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, and BMT Broadway Line. Located on Church Street between Chambers and Cortlandt Streets in Lower Manhattan, it is served by the 2, A and E trains at all times; W train on weekdays; 3, C and R trains at all times except late nights; and N train during late nights.